Weekly Property Newsletter - Week Ending 15/01/16

Our weekly

newsletter on the property market will keep you up to date with all the latest news and legislations!

Our newsletter is published every Monday reporting on the most important news over the past week.

Zoopla Sponsors This Year’s Ideal Home Show

Friday 15th January

Zoopla has announced a partnership with the Ideal Home Show at Olympia from March 18 to April 3.

The Ideal Home Show is the largest consumer exhibition in the country, running over 17 days and attracts a highly relevant property-interested audience. Furthermore, Zoopla will also sponsor the Ideal Super Theatre, which will host a variety of experts and celebrity ambassadors.

Zoopla will be featured in the high profile 12-week campaign which will include radio, print, TV advertising and more, and the event is expected to attract in excess of 250,000 visitors this year, with each visitor spending on average five hours at the show.

As part of the package ZPG members will be given exclusive ticket offers for their customers in the lead up to the London show. ZPG will also be offering ticket offers to its members for the Manchester and Glasgow shows that take place later this year.

Quarter of first-time buyers opt for 35-year mortgages to get on ladder

Friday 15th January

The number of first-time buyers in the UK housing market has fallen for the first time in four years, with the typical deposit required to buy a property now above £30,000.

The estimated number of first-time buyers last year was 310,000, down 0.5% on 2014 and the first decline since 2011, according to Halifax. The decline is partly due to the lack of supply of homes for buyers to choose from and the increase in the deposit needed to buy a home. The average deposit for first-time buyers rose 13% from £29,094 to £32,927 in 2015.

David Gascoyne, Sales and Lettings manager of Residential Estates said “It is unsurprising that first time buyers are finding it harder to fund their purchase with house prices rising, it has been reported that first-time buyers raised larger deposits and took on longer mortgages than their counterparts in previous years to be able to afford the monthly repayments”.

Landlords Are Rushing To Buy

Thursday 14th January

A rush of landlords looking to purchase buy-to-let properties has been confirmed this week by new figures from a national surveying and valuation firm.

Connells Survey & Valuation carried out an astonishing 86% more buy-to-let valuations last month than in December the previous year.

While the figure represented a slight monthly decline of 1%, this was far less than the usual seasonal falls in other types of valuations – for home movers, first-time buyers and people re-mortgaging.

Steve Povall, Managing Director of Residential Estates said “A large factor to the spurt of buy-to-let sales is the April 1 Stamp Duty increase. It has probably nudged people off the fence to act sooner rather than later.”

Altogether in December, mortgage valuation activity was up 29% year-on-year. That figure compares with the 9% growth between December 2013 and December 2014.

The number of lenders operating in the market remained static at 33. However, the number of buy-to-let mortgage products available to borrowers grew slightly to an average of 975.

Housing Supply Falls To New Low

Wednesday 13th January

The supply of homes on the market has fallen to a new low, with just 386,000 properties currently for sale in England and Wales – 47% fewer than in 2008.

The claim comes from property search engine Home which says that while new supply ticked up, more properties came off the market than came on it.

Home, which gathers data from virtually every single estate agency website and all the portals in the UK, said that the shortage is responsible for pushing average asking prices this month up to £287,891 – 8.2% higher than in January last year.

Home also said that average asking prices across England and Wales are up 0.3% on December – the highest rise for January since the onset of the financial crisis and at odds with normal seasonal trends.

David Gascoyne, Sales and Lettings manager of Residential Estates said “High levels of interest in means it is difficult to imagine prices going anywhere but up. Furthermore, interest rates, which are a main influence in the market, remain at historic lows”.

Agent Goes Above And Beyond Expectations

Tuesday 12th January

An agent who befriended and supported a couple where the husband was dying has been awarded the title of ‘inspirational agent’.

Hannah Gill, of Newmans in Leamington Spa, took the concept of customer service to a new realm. She was completely unaware of her nomination until she received the call to say that she had won.

Hannah went to see the couple, Ray and Anna Cave, to value their property. Shortly afterwards, Mr Cave was diagnosed with cancer and they decided not to sell after all.

However, as his condition deteriorated, they put their home back on the market and the property was sold at the first viewing thanks to Hannah who knew the perfect applicant.

When Mrs Cave was told about Hannah’s win, Hannah said: “She cried and said I deserved it.”

The competition was run by Stephen Brown, a former estate agent. He donated £500 to a charity of Hannah’s choice.

Both Hannah and Mrs Cave decided that the money should go to Myrton Hospice.

We congratulate Hannah on her well deserved award.

About Residential Estates

For over 25 years, Residential Estates has been a prominent independent property management company based in Chester and operating across the North West. The company has expanded into the global market and therefore has clients all over the world. Residential Estates is Chester's first internet based agency and it uniquely combines extensive experience, local knowledge and a drive to have a proactive approach to managing property.

In addition to Residential Estates’ excellent reputation there is a diverse range of property management services available.

These include sales and lettings, property investment, land acquisitions, property management, serviced accommodation and international property sales and investments. Residential Estates has the expertise and knowledge to ensure that buying, selling, investing and renting is always a smooth and simple process.

For more information, please contact:

Victoria Wilson (Marketing & Communications Manager):

victoria.wilson@residential-estates.co.uk

t. 01244 343355

Residential Estates, Maple House, 23 Watergate Row, Chester, Cheshire, CH1 2LE