Latest industry news
The number of agreed property sales increased by its largest proportion since 2015, says Rightmove.
According to the firm’s latest report, agreed sales rose by 6.1 per cent in the year to August 2019.
All regions in England, Scotland and Wales recorded an increase in agreed sales, with the North East leading the way, rising by 13.6 per cent. This was followed by the East of England at 12.7 per cent and Yorkshire and the Humber, at 10.1 per cent.
Weekly rate watch: five-year fix drops four basis points
The average five-year fixed rate has fallen by four basis points, dropping from 2.83 per cent to 2.79 per cent, according to data collected by Moneyfacts.
Looking at the average two-year fixed rate, it has fallen for the first time since the start of July, dropping to 2.47 per cent.
This time last year the average two-year fixed rate was seven basis points higher at 2.54 per cent.
The number of people getting on the UK property ladder is at its highest level since 2007, according to data collected by Yorkshire Building Society.
First-time buyer numbers reached 170,080 in the first half of 2019, a 3 per cent rise on the same period in 2018.
The research shows that the number of people purchasing their first home has increased by 136 per cent over the last 10 years.
The number of new remortgages with equity withdrawn rose by 8.3 per cent in June compared to the same month a year prior, according to data collected by UK Finance.
In total there were 16,880 remortgages with extra borrowing completed and 15,230 without extra borrowing in June, the latter coming in 24 per cent lower than in June last year, however.
The number of mortgages for first-time buyers fell by 1.5 per cent in the same time frame, dropping to 32,760, with the total borrowed by this group coming to £5.6bn.
CPI inflation increased to 2.1% in July, rising above the Bank of England’s target of 2%, according to the latest ONS statistics.
CPI inflation had held steady at 2% for the previous two months, falling back from 2.1 in April.
CPIH inflation, The ONS’ headline measure which includes owner occupiers’ housing costs, increased from 1.9% in June to 2% in July.
Average UK house prices rose by 0.9 per cent in the year to £230,292 in June, the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics reveal.
While the annual rate of growth was unchanged from May, the monthly increase of 0.7 per cent was slightly higher than the previous monthly rise of 0.1 per cent.
London was once again the worst hit by the slowdown with prices dropping 2.7 per cent to £466,824 over the year to June, although this was lower than May’s fall of 3.1 per cent.
Average prices in the capital have now fallen on an annual basis in every month since March 2018.
The number of new properties listed for sale in July has plunged by 10.3 per cent compared to a year ago, according to analysis by Housesimple.
There were 59,710 new properties listed for sale last month, compared to 66,603 in July 2018, the estate agency found in its Property Supply Index.
A high percentage of borrowers are utilising a mortgage broker when they remortgage as economic uncertainty continues, according to the latest figures from LMS.
Similar to last month, 67% of borrowers picked a remortgage product because it had been recommended by a broker.
LMS says this is a “remarkable increase” from November 2018 when just 39% of borrowers chose a product due to broker recommendation, adding that the sustained growth £reflects the importance of brokers in the modern remortgage market and the value of advice”.
The average deposit amount for a first-time buyer is now £30,945, a rise of 17% over the past 12 months, according to new research from Experian.
Despite this, first-time buyer demand has remained relatively high, making up over half (56%) of all mortgage searches through Experian’s services in July.
One in five (17%) were looking for a mortgage for their next home and the rest (27%) searching for a remortgage.
The Bank of England’s monetary policy committee has voted unanimously to keep the base rate at 0.75 per cent.
The rate has now been at this level for nearly a year, having been raised from 0.50 per cent on 2 August 2018.
The minutes reveal that the MPC has cut UK growth expectations for 2019 from 1.5 per cent to 1.3 per cent, and for 2020, from 1.6 per cent to 1.3 per cent.
The MPC also believes that a no-deal Brexit would result in the sterling falling lower than its current levels along with CPI inflation increases and GBP growth slowing down.