Housepresso 1 August 21
All you need to know about the housing market this week in one quick hit
House prices up in the year, but down in July
House prices increased by 10.5% or £23,293 during the last year, but fell by 0.5% or £1,203 in July as Stamp Duty Holiday relief is stepped down. Unluckily for those stepping on to or higher up the housing ladder, house prices had increased by £24,500 or 13 times the average stamp duty saving of £1,900 before the benefit was reduced
Fixing the housing market ladder: Part 2 - Help more to sell
In our first article we looked at how to help those trying to a foothold on the broken lower rungs of the housing ladder. In this article, we look at how to fix the often ignored broken rungs at the top of the housing ladder.
How the pandemic changed our homes
The Future of Home is a collaborative report, published by the Nationwide Building Society, which looked at the impact of the pandemic on the housing market and how it has changed our homes.
The report also used the pause caused by the pandemic as an opportunity to bring together a range of experts and organisations to take a fresh look at the key issues facing the UK housing market today: Availability, Affordability and Sustainability. Read the Nationwide's full report here or our summary here.
Mortgage approvals almost double
Mortgage approvals in June 21 were 81,338 almost double their level a year ago (41,047), but were 6.5% lower than May 21 as we headed towards the first of two Stamp Duty Holiday cliffs. However, the new stamp duty holiday threshold of £250,000 is still higher than the average UK house price as reported by the Nationwide yesterday of £244,229, so plenty of house purchases will still benefit from the stamp duty holiday. Mortgage approvals in June were 26% above their 10-year average and we expect them to remain above average until the stamp duty holiday comes to an end on 30 September this year.
UK Mortgage rates move up and down in June....
The latest data from the Bank of England today reported that the overall average mortgage rate for new business fell from 1.96% to 1.95%, not a big fall, but in a historical context rates are very low and every little helps...
Meanwhile, fixed mortgage rates increased from 1.90% to 1.95%. Once again in a historical context rates are very low.