News

The number of mortgages approved by the big British banks in September fell to its lowest since May.
The fall is attributed to the shortage of homes on the market.
The NAEA also reported on a worsening shortage, saying that in September there was an average of 37 properties per branch.
This was a drop from 38 in August and from 55 in July.
According to the NAEA, the number of applicants also dropped, from 407 per branch in August to 342 in September. However, the organisation emphasized that this was not a cause for cheer.
NAEA managing director Mark Hayward said: “If we could just get supply and demand to meet in the middle, the housing market would be functional again; it’s a real issue across the market at the moment.”
He called the situation “completely unsustainable”.
The NAEA did say that sales to first-time buyers have improved. In September, it said that the average estate agency branch sold nine properties, of which three went to first-timers.
The British Bankers’ Association said mortgage approvals for house purchase fell to 44,489 in September, down from 46,567 in August.
Overall mortgage approvals were 24% up on September last year, stoked by a 40% rise in the number of remortgage approvals. It would appear homeowners are choosing to improve their existing home rather than move up market.
London’s property market is “literally grinding to a halt”, an agent has said.
Robert Nichols, managing director of Portico which incorporates the former brands of Bushells and Edmund Cude, said Stamp Duty changes and the dearth of interest-only mortgage are proving a “double whammy”.
Portico said that in the first half of this year, Stamp Duty reforms resulted in an immediate fall in transactions.
It said that the “contagion” meant property transactions were down in 31 out of London’s 32 boroughs.
Nichols said: “With volumes across London now down 18%, and the recent policy changes now firmly entrenched, the capital’s housing market is literally grinding to a halt.
“The law of unintended consequences may well be relevant here.
When the London market sneezes I guess we are in for a cold.