July 3, 2009

Is the housing crash finally over, and is the market now recovering?

Yesterday David Miles – author of a Government-commissioned report on the mortgage market in 2004 and a new member of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee – said that “expectations are crucial in the housing market and they look a bit better now than a few months ago … My hunch – and I put it no stronger than that – is that we have seen most of the overall aggregate house price falls.”

The Bank, meanwhile, said that the availability of mortgage credit was expected to rise over the next few months. Earlier this week the Nationwide Building Society’s house price index registered a 0.9 per cent rise in prices during May – three out of the last four months’ figures have shown an increase; the Halifax and other indices agree.

Source: The Independent

Renting is all the rage

Familes are letting out their London home to live in the country, while young executives abandon buying altogether in favour of a more flexible lifestyle.

“There is a definite move towards renting,” says Liam Bailey, head of research at Knight Frank. “It is becoming more middle class. The hiatus in the market has caused people with bigger properties who can’t sell, to rent. There is a lot of it going on with bigger, better-quality family houses available to let.” Thrusting professionals and creatives are opting for it, too.

“If the mortgage market is difficult to access without a big 10 per cent to 25 per cent deposit, buying is only possible for those with large amounts of cash.” He anticipates the rented sector could grow from nine per cent to 25 to 30 per cent of the market.

Source: Daily Telegraph