House prices, HomeOwners Alliance, and high-flying yields. This week in property.
Average house prices up by +3.3% in 2024: Halifax
Newly released figures from Halifax revealed that the price of a typical home in the UK dipped by 0.2% in December.
According to the data, annually, property prices are up +3.3% (vs +4.7% last month) with the price of an average home ending the year at ￡297,166.
Amanda Bryden , Head of Mortgages, Halifax, said: “The housing market was broadly steady at the start of 2024, with house price growth taking off from the summer onwards. In the latter half of the year, house prices grew in response to the falls in mortgage rates, alongside income growth, both leading to financial pressures somewhat easing for buyers.
"Impending changes to Stamp Duty thresholds have also given prospective first-time buyers even greater motivation to get on the housing ladder and bring any home-buying plans forward.
"Together, these elements meant mortgage demand picked up, hitting the highest level in over two years and back to levels seen pre-pandemic."
In other news
New report accuses property portals and estate agents of failing consumers
A new report from the HomeOwners Alliance says that consumers are not getting the critical information estate agents are legally required to provide about the property upfront.
The report, What Buyers Need to Know? reviewed 150 leasehold property listings in London and Manchester across the three main portals - Rightmove, Zoopla and OnTheMarket.
According to the findings, Zoopla and OnTheMarket ’s listings tended to be more comprehensive than Rightmove .
Paula Higgins CEO of HomeOwners Alliance, acknowledged that location, price and parking were of the greatest importance among house hunters, but went on to add "Homeowners shouldn’t have to wait until they are three months down the line, have spent hundreds on legal fees and surveys, to find the ground rent is due to double, the house will cost more to heat than their current home, and they can’t get a mortgage because of cladding.”
Buy-to-let market optimism remains high as yields continue to rise
Newly released regional data from Fleet Mortgages has shown that average yields continued their upward trajectory during the final quarter of 2024.
领英推荐
The total average yield for England and Wales is 7.4%, showing an annual increase of 0.6% on the same quarter in 2023, and 0.2% up on the previous quarter.
Fleet said rental yields remain almost universally positive, with only one region in England and Wales, the West Midlands, showing a year-on-year fall. However, compared to the previous quarter, three regions – Greater London, the North East and the West Midlands – have all seen reducing yields.
“There is certainly a greater degree of positivity around the buy-to-let market now than at this time last year, even with the Budget decision to increase stamp duty surcharges for landlord purchasers," commented Steve Cox , Chief Commercial Officer at Fleet Mortgages, adding "Our Rental Barometer reflects that optimism over the last quarter of 2024, with average rental yields – on the whole – continuing to improve, albeit at a slightly slower rate, but also in terms of Fleet’s figures for average monthly rents, average rates, average loan sizes, rental cover, and application numbers for property purchases."
The average UK tenant spent ￡10k on rent in 2024
Tenant and landlord services provider, Canopy analysed data from over 60,000 individual renters, measuring the average take-home salary of employed tenants against their share of rental costs, to create a rent-to-income ratio.
According to the findings, the average UK tenant spent over a third of their take-home salary on their rent this year - however, this rises much higher in some areas with London and the South-East emerging as the most unaffordable regions of the UK.
Christopher Hutchinson , CEO at Canopy, commented: "This disparity highlights the widening gap between rental prices and income levels, particularly in popular cities where demand vastly outstrips supply. The shortage of affordable rental properties, coupled with rising living costs, leaves many renters with little left to save or spend on other necessities"
New specialist buy-to-let lender ModaMortgages launches
ModaMortgages launched this week and, working exclusively through intermediaries, will lend to a wide variety of landlords, including small and large portfolio, limited company, HMO/MUFB, individual and first-timers.
The lender has now widened distribution and is currently accepting buy-to-let mortgage cases from clubs including 3mc, Brilliant Solutions, L&G Mortgage Club, Paradigm, PMS and SimplyBiz and networks including Connect, Cornerstone, HL Partnership, InPartnership, The Mortgage Group, New Leaf and Sesame.
Darrell Walker , ModaMortgages’ director of sales and distribution, said: “The official launch of ModaMortgages is the culmination of two years of hard work and dedication, so it’s an incredibly exciting time for us,” he said. “The controlled launch period was hugely successful and the traction we’ve had has been really pleasing."