Although, UK house prices are falling, there is a concern that rented accommodation could experience a shortage.
The number of buy to let mortgages on offer has fallen significantly (40% fall), therefore, there is likely to be a fall in the number of available houses for rent.
Secondly, many first time buyers are seeking to rent rather [...]
I wrote an article here: about – who caused the housing boom and crisis.
There are many factors which led to the booming prices. In the UK, a large % of this represented the fundamental disequilibrium between supply and demand. But, it was also helped by:
Increased availability of unconventional mortgages
A strong social desire to get on [...]
Speaking in today’s Daily Telegraph, Peter King chief executive of the National Association of Estate Agents said:
“the irony is that there is no shortage of people wanting to move, but without mortgages they just can’t do it.”
The government are hoping that banks and building societies will relax their lending criteria and help to kickstart the [...]
Building societies showed the damaging effect of the tightening credit markets as the number of mortgage approvals fell dramatically. According to the Council of Mortgage lenders Building societies advanced net loans of just £580m in March, down from £1.8bn in the same month last year. The reason is the shortage of funds in the credit [...]
What do you think will happen to house prices in the UK?
How much do you think they will fall by and for how long?
Is it a good thing or bad thing if house prices fall?
What should the Government do to improve conditions in the Housing Market?
Feel free to leave a comment or ask a question [...]
Why House Prices in the UK have risen in the past 12 years.
1. Inelastic Supply. The number of new houses built in the UK, is approximately 160,000 a year. This may sound a lot but it has been much less than the demand. The % increase in the supply is much less than the % [...]
In the short term there are many factors which are dragging down house prices.
Lack of Mortgage Lending. This is probably the biggest constraint on housing prices at the moment. The freezing up of credit markets mean that banks have become reluctant to lend. They are requiring lenders to have large deposits; many homeowners with good [...]
The housing Market in the UK has been characterised by boom and bust cycles in prices. The average house price in the UK is now approaching £200,000. In the long term house prices have consistently risen above the rate of inflation.
Key Moments in the UK Housing Market.
The Lawson Boom of the 1980s.
The Lawson boom of [...]
The housing market will experience renewal under the following conditions.
Cuts in interest rates.
Lower interest rates increase the affordability of mortgages making it more attractive to buy and get a mortgage. Because house prices are a high % of disposable incomes, any change in interest rates can have a big effect. The Bank of England will [...]
The UK Housing Market faces many significant problems including:
Shortage of Supply, especially in certain areas like the South East. The shortage of supply has helped increase house prices making them unaffordable. It is has also made the housing market unaffordable.
Propensity To Boom and Bust. The UK market shows a worrying tendency to boom and bust. [...]
The UK housing market has enjoyed record price increases. Since 1997 house prices have increased by more than 217%, and in many areas by much more. However, evidence increasingly suggest that house prices are set to fall. Last month, March 2008, house prices fell by 2.8%; giving the lowest annual house price inflation since 1999.
Many [...]
This is a short history of the UK Housing Market during the late 1980s and Housing Crash of the early 1990s. It is useful to understand the reasons for this crash in predicting whether a future crash will occur.
The last real UK housing market crash occurred in 1991. After a period of rapidly rising house [...]
welcome to a new blog dedicated to the UK and global housing markets.
At the moment there is a lot of interest in the housing market because of fears about what may happen to house prices.
The housing market has always been a popular topic of conversation, mainly because homeowners would great joy talking about how much [...]