Mortgage market mayhem
Following last weeks mini-Budget there has been turmoil in the money markets. On Tuesday 1000 mortgage products were withdrawn as lenders try to re-price their offerings as bank base rates head towards 6%. 12 months ago you could get a 2 year fixed rate mortgage for 1.6%. Today the NationwideContinue Reading
Jeremy Vine – BBC Radio 2
My comments to Jeremy Vine following the ‘mini-Budget’ that turned out to be anything but! We’re joined by Robert Colvile from CPS Think Tank who is a supporter of the changes being introduced.Continue Reading
What are the new stamp duty rates?
The amount of stamp duty you pay depends on the cost of the property. Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng announced new rates for England and Northern Ireland as part of the government’s mini-budget. These are: £0 – £250,000 (£425,000 for first time buyers) = 0% £250,000 – £925,000 = 5% £925,000 –Continue Reading
Queen Elizabeth II (1926 – 2022)
Announcement from Buckingham Palace. The Queen died peacefully at Balmoral this afternoon. The King and The Queen Consort will remain at Balmoral this evening and will return to London tomorrow. Thursday 8th September 2022Continue Reading
Supply still down
The supply of available properties is still almost 40% below levels of August 2019 according to Rightmove this week. Sales are trending slightly lower although most experts think that we will see around 1.2m transactions by the end of the year which is about average. The number of homes listedContinue Reading
House prices up!
Annual house price inflation is currently up either by a lot or by a hell of a lot depending, as always, on who you ask. At £32k a year the typical UK house is now earning more than the average occupier. Zoopla 8.3% Rightmove 9.3% Office for National Statistics 12.8%Continue Reading
OnTheRecord
Where I sit down with ex-Foxtons Jason Tebb who is CEO of website OnTheMarket.com and we discuss the market, the expansion of buying agents, the importance of using a good selling agent and my pet hate – the automated valuation widget we see on so many websites. I suspect weContinue Reading
Good news & bad
After two years of working with her dad I’m sorry to have to announce that Rosie will be leaving at the end of the month. As life after Covid 19 gets back to whatever we will call normal she is returning to her first love, to drama and the stageContinue Reading
Off-market sales continue to grow.
Buying and selling ‘off-market’ as it’s termed has traditionally been a strategy in prime parts of the country, predominantly in central London where privacy and pricing concerns are the primary motivation for most secret sellers. But this is changing. Of the 18 deals we have agreed in the first halfContinue Reading
Supply still tight.
The latest Hometrack market report suggests that whilst new supply coming to market is starting to pick up overall stock levels are still low. There are 7% more properties coming onto the market compared to the five-year average. However, stock of available homes is still 37% below average. The proportionContinue Reading
You can say “no”
You’d be amazed how many people think that they can negotiate but it’s an art and in reality not everyone can – especially when they have found something they have fallen in love with. This year we have had lots of clients who have been invited to participate in anContinue Reading