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Entries in August 2010
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In their latest survey, Hometrack reports a fall in house prices of 0.3%, following July's 0.1% drop. Annually, prices are still up 1.5%, but Hometrack analysts expect the current downward trend to continue for the next six to twelve months. More here.
Technorati Tags: property, real estate
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"There are no buyers," says the grim-faced estate agent. "Transaction levels are going through the floor." "Well at least you have the lettings side to see you through," I say cheerfully. "Ah yes, lettings", he says. "That's kept us afloat the past few years. But no more, I fear." "But aren't rents going up, and aren't we increasingly becoming a renting society?" I ask. "Hmm, yes… theoretically. I'm advising landlords to raise rents 8%. But I've got nothing to rent out. All the tenants who used to move out to buy, can't, so are staying put. The tenants who moved out to better places are staying put because there's nothing else out there."
"Not only that," he continues, "but over the last few years the market has been replenished by all those amateur buy-to-let landlords. It drove down rents but it kept a constant new stock supply. They've gone." He continues sombrely, "I make my money when tenancies change, be it new stock or old. So things for the business, sales and lettings, are pretty dire. The only real winners in this market are the landlords. They're starting to hit pay dirt." I throw him a sympathetic glance. "Oh don't worry about me," he says. "Got myself a nice little portfolio in 2008… when all those amateur buy-to-let landlords panicked."
Tracy Kellett runs leading buying agents BDI Homefinders. Follow her on Twitter, here.
Technorati Tags: property, real estate
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More in this Category - House prices
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The Land Registry's July house price data shows a rise in the monthly index by 0.4%, leaving the annual inflation rate at 6.7%. In London, house prices are up 12.1% on the year, and there's significant geographical variation, from the London gain to an annual loss in the North East (-1.4%) and monthly losses in the North East, East, North West and Wales. Download your copy of the report here.
Technorati Tags: property, real estate
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The house was valued at £2m, but it was about to sold for just over £1m when the "vendor" tried to withdraw the money using a fake driving license. Turns out the "vendor" was - in fact - the "tenant"... the real owner was ex-Olympic yachtsman Vernon Stratton. Not only that... sounds as if he's done it before.
Technorati Tags: property, real estate
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You've 15 minutes to stick on the telly and hunker down for Nightmare Tenants (ITV, 7.30pm), Jonathan Maitland telling tales of arrears, evictions and filthy French tenants who let pigeons move in with them. Alternatively, catch it later on ITV Player.
Technorati Tags: property, real estate
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By Baumraum, Maple tree-top living on the banks of the Hudson River, accessible via a bridge from the rocky cliffs, and featuring it's own decking/garden, too.
[via apartmenttherapy]
Technorati Tags: property, real estate
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Remember this? Well here he is clutching a letter from Barnet Homes which assures him they won't be seeking to evict. Which is either nice... or soft-headed authority rolling over in the face of sentimental social media bullying. Let's go with "nice".
Technorati Tags: property, real estate
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More in this Category - Linkage
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Details, in fact, of "10 hectares of new parklands, wetlands, and open space featuring more than 2,000 new trees and over 100,000 wetland and wild flower plants". For a full rundown of parks, wetlands, play areas and planting, go here.
Technorati Tags: property, real estate
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US home sales data for July shows a 27% annual fall, far more than was expected, leaving sales at their slowest since 1995. The effect on Wall Street was immediate, and UK markets followed. The Footsie closed 78.89 down. More here.
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More in this Category - Celebrity homes
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First, it was the Policy Exchange thinktank, with concerns that the Bank of England would be looking to raise interest rates rapidly to keep post-quantatitive easing inflation in check. The PE forecast was for 2.5% base rates by next year, reaching 8% in 2012. Now, Moneyfacts has applied current profit margins, added a little to offset the greater risks the banks would be taking, to calculate what that could mean to the borrower, and painted a picture of 14% mortgages. Do we believe this is credible? Not really. The Bank of England's job - officially - is to respond to inflation, but we all know that it does so with one eye on the property market. And would the lenders really want to devalue their collective assets by cracking the market? We don't think so. Do you? More here and here.
Technorati Tags: property, real estate
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I bet some vetting took place before this contract was signed. David Cameron apparently has tenants, in his Notting Hill home, earning him around £6,000 a week. More here.
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According to this in Estate Agent Today, the London rental market is sizzling. A major agent reports a 34.7% rise in registration and a 14% drop in rental properties in Docklands. Meanwhile, in the west, "bidding wars have become the norm again".
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Let's end the week by giving thanks... a big "thank you" to our sponsor, Primelocation.com. Remember, Primelocation.com isn't just about searching properties listed by 4,000 leading estate agents, the website's a mine of useful advice, information and links. An example? Go here to search up-to-date real life completion prices for UK property. Snoop on your neighbours. Do the maths before making an offer. It's useful, it's free... you need to register, but it's quick and easy. If you've feedback, let us know and we'll pass it on with pleasure.
And don't forget Primelocation's very popular iPad app, which offers just about the most fun it's possible to have searching for a property with your clothes on.
If you want to know more about advertising opportunities on the Rat and Mouse, drop me a line. Or if you just want to chat with the Rat, we're on Twitter here, or email us tips here.
Technorati Tags: property, real estate
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And for the sixth consecutive month, according to LSL Property Services. However, across the 12 months, they're up just 2.3%. For what it's worth (considering the geographical nature of the letting, and the difference between, say, letting a house and a studio), they say the average yield is now 3.5%.
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Lily Allen's said to be looking in the south Cotswolds, possibly Stroud area, with £2m in her pocket. Meanwhile, Amy Winehouse is apparently back in Camden, after spending £1.8m on a new home. More here.
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More in this Category - N5
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Makes a change from the old converted broom cupboard story... this Manor Park garden shed, marketed as a "cosy" studio flat, at £150 a week. Particulars here.
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It's on Gauden Road... a two-bedroom flat in a large house, with big rooms, a very nice bathroom and (the pièce de résistance) a giant garden and heated swimming pool. It's with Marsh & Parsons. Guide price: £375,000. Particulars here.
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Just bought a new home and in the process of an interior renovation/redesign? Fancy being on the telly? Then the Dragonfly Productions is interested in hearing from you, with regard to a new series for the BBC. Contact Alice Wikham here, or call 020 7033 2317.
Technorati Tags: property, real estate
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He's 83, he's lived in the property for the last 74 years, except for the years he spent fighting in the Second World War, but now - following the death of his sister, with whom he shared the property - he's facing eviction from the Cricklewood home to make room for a family, with "more need" for the three bedrooms. It's a logical request, but it seems like an unusual request, where some compassion might be applicable. Edward Meakins is reported as saying he fears he'll die if he's forced to give up his home and garden. It's a sad story. Coverage here and here (plus photos). (Inevitable) Facebook petition here.
Technorati Tags: property, real estate
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The National Statistician (available for after dinner speeches, bar mitzvahs etc) has begun his investigation into the efficacy of our house price indices. He'll spend this year focussing on the two reports issued by the Government: the Land Registry index, and the index published by the Department for Communities and Local Government. After that, he'll look at the Halifax and Nationwide indices (formulated by examining loan data), the Rightmove index (formulated by examining asking prices) and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors report (formulated by throwing tea leaves against a brick wall while chanting).
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Residents of the Razor in Elephant & Castle have been getting overheated about the overheating. A building that wears its sustainability on its sleeve, it's already been criticised for its all-show, little-blow wind turbines. Now, aspersions are being cast on its ventilation. Londonist has the full story.
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More in this Category - Linkage
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More in this Category - Celebrity homes
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An interesting piece in Bloomberg, about how UK buyers are evening up the score by employing their own representatives... the buying agents. According to Savills' Noel de Keyzer, buying agents have quadrupled over the last five years, led by the prime market, but not exclusive to it. Earning hefty commissions on top deals, many - apparently - are going solo, realising just a handful of deals a year are enough. The piece also points to the possible conflicts of interest arising when large estate agency chains run buying as well as selling agents. Read it here.
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According to Savills, £850m of £5m+ homes were bought-and-sold in London between April and June, the second highest quarterly figure ever (after the same period, 2008). So far this year, the running total's at £1.6bn. But Savills' Lucian Cook doesn't expect the frenzy to last into the second half of the year, and predicts a sharp cooling off, leaving prime market house prices down slightly on the beginning of the year. More here.
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More in this Category - Letting
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An extraordinary piece in the Guardian claims increasing numbers of low-paid London workers are spending their week nights in satellite London campsites. The suggestions isn't one of shanty towns and misery... but nicely appointed camper vans, well organised sites, public transport into the city, and happy campers. Meet Bob, who works in Hackney, lives on the Lee Valley camp site, but owns homes in east London, Suffolk and France.
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Damn... high house prices might be enough to keep the non-Boden set out of Muswell Hill, but what can you do about extra-terrestrials? Apparently fed up with visiting the snaggle-toothed, tailgating inbred of the country, people-of-other-planets are pointing their UFOs at a more chi-chi environment. So often, in fact, that - according to this - the people of Muswell Hill have informally renamed the nabe.
Technorati Tags: property, real estate
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It was a party, apparently, to celebrated her daughter's engagement. The "Noise Patrol" apparently visited first to find "sound tests" taking place in the afternoon. They were back again at 10.45am, the next day, after more complaints from neighbours. Must have been one hell of a party. More here.
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Buy-to-let lending in the second quarter reached its highest level since the end of 2008, rising 13% on the previous quarter, and 15% on the same period a year earlier. Buy-to-let mortgages accounted for 12% of all new mortgages... the highest proportion since records began. Data, courtesy of the Council of Mortgage Lenders. Meanwhile, Acadametrics shows house prices recovering June losses with a gain of 0.1% in July, leaving the index 8.1% up on the year. Accompanying comment points to a "flat" market through the rest of the year. Repossessions are down, for the third consecutive quarter. CML data shows a 4.1% fall in the second quarter of the year. The outlook, however, isn't great... with unemployment likely to rise, interest rates in danger of rising and the Government's plan to cut support for borrowers. Oh yeah... good morning.
Technorati Tags: property, real estate
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In the Telegraph, the thorny and endlessly entertaining issue of house prices. And we're right to care, without feeling guilty. I know, I know... as a society, lower house prices would be to our benefit, and it's not fair that there's a generation priced off the property ladder and forced to dance to the tune of the nation's landlords. But remember the honest, decent families, vulnerable at the moment to job losses, who have bought a property in the last few years, and whose lives could be ruined (no exaggeration, check this out) by falling house prices coinciding with mortgage arrears. There's little pleasure to be gained from their suffering. So - as I said - concern about falling house prices isn't necessarily something to be ashamed of. And yet... how do you square a sentence like this:
Henry Holland-Hibbert, of Strutt & Parker, said he had just had "the best June ever".
With one like this, from the Guardian?:
Homeless migrants from eastern Europe in London who are unable to get benefits have become so impoverished that they are eating rats and drinking lethal cocktails of alcoholic handwash, a homeless charity has warned.
It's a shocking piece. The cliché would be to say that it puts the former feature in perspective, but that's all it would be... a cliché. It doesn't... it lives alongside in a bleak commentary on our complex, sophisticated, failing front line between economics and society.
Technorati Tags: property, real estate
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More in this Category - Letting
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More in this Category - Linkage
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It was a riot. Literally. When the bailiffs failed, the riot police turned up and were pelted with missiles from a Skipworth Road property. The house apparently belongs to the Crown Estate, which is planning a major 1,300 property fire sale across London. More here.
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Congratulations Steve.
Technorati Tags: property, real estate
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Katie Price is selling her 8-bedroom Surrey home. She bought it in 2008, with Peter Andre, renovated it (it had previously been a retirement home), but headed out for the States shortly afterwards (and things soon turned bad with Andre). So it's got to go. It's in 1.3 acres, it's new, with a nod to Tudor, a nod to Gothic, a nod to the 30s, and it comes with an indoor swimming pool, and much less pink than you might expect. Guide price, £2.95m. Particulars here. Oh - and yeah - there might be a couple of sitting tenants.
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More in this Category - House prices
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According to This Is London, there's a deal worth £140m, making it the most expensive apartment in the world. No details regarding the buyer, other than he or she is "international". And presumably not the owner this time. More here.
Celebrity moves - Brand and Britney (don't panic, not together) and One Hyde Park [July 20, 2010]
Exclusive! Rat and Mouse tipster inside 1 Hyde Park
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He's Charles Overend, and together with his brother Jonathan and solicitors' clerk Carrol Thompson, he's been found guilty of a massive £4.6m mortgage fraud. He'd secure properties at discount, apply for buy-to-let mortgages at the asking price, while Thomspon would assist in the fraudulent applications. The former police financial adviser was sentenced, today, to five and a half years. Jonathan got one year. Thompson got a suspended sentence and 200 hour of unpaid labour.
Technorati Tags: property, real estate
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RICS sees an overall fall in prices for the first time since July 2009, as buyers sit tight and vendors gather. On its own, the report isn't enough to have anyone reaching for the tin hat (believe it or not, RICS questioned just 242 member-estate agents), but the finding are in keeping with other indices. For the record, 28% more surveyors expected falls, over price rises, in the coming months.
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More in this Category - Estate agents
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I'm back... great holiday, thanks, and I really hope you found something to interest you in the interview series I published while I was away. Nor is there any reason to save interviews for holidays, so if there's somebody in particular you'd be interested in seeing featured in a Q&A, do email me and I'll see what I can do.
Back to the business in hand, and it seems as if mortgage fraud is both the old black and the new black for 2010. KPMG Forensic's Fraud Barometer shows £96m of mortgage fraud, so far, in 2010, compared to a total of £77m in the whole of 2009. Okay... lending was at a low in 2009, so there wasn't much of an opportunity, and one single case, worth £50m, is part of the 2010 figure, but before you go dismissing the data, how about the fact that there've been 166 cases of serious mortgage fraud in the first half of 2010, the highest six-month figure in the Barometer's 22-year history. And go here to read a spokesperson for KPMG explain why he thinks the only way is up.
Technorati Tags: property, real estate
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Ben Harris - who blogs at HousingDabble - works daily to help agents move with the technological times. Here, he talks to the Rat and Mouse about new search and old agents.
So, what's your professional background?
 I began my working life as a negotiator and passed through the ranks in estate agency before leaving to do what I had always wanted to do – become a sales rep! I was lucky to be able to do this in property and in the last nine years have worked on some great products and services for the profession, all focused on bringing additional profits to agents.
Over at your Housingdabble blog, you describe yourself as a 'property geek'. What are the more exciting ways the property business and technology are intersecting?
The most interesting crossover for me is the change in the way people search online for property information. By this I mean not only the type of information they want and how they find it, but also their means for searching and the actual devices they use to do so.
And presumably it’s creating new opportunities for specialization? Your own work, for example, wouldn’t have existed ten years ago.
That’s right, many agents simply aren’t technology-minded. For example, recent research has shown that around 50% of estate agents don’t even know how many visitors they have to their web sites.
The good news is that many of the tools they need are free to use provided they can learn how to do so and can commit the time. The alternative is to outsource some of these tasks to companies that know the technology and the property profession.
How much of a challenge is it to work with the agents? Estate agency, particular in the UK, seems very conservative and slow to change… and perhaps there’s a reason for this: consumers might be quicker to experiment with new ways to buy smaller-ticket items, but buying a house is not just giant purchase but a long term financial commitment too. Are agents reluctant to change the way they do things?
Continue reading, after the jump.
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While the rest of us have been talking sup-prime, double-dips and the credit shortage, a group of landlord-entrepreneurs have been busy launching a property-related start-up... Rentbuddy.co.uk, for landlords who like to do it online. Continuing our series of summer interviews, we chatted with co-founder Dawood Ahmed, about security, networking with tenants, and valuing our landlords.
Rentbuddy.co.uk … what’s the elevator pitch?
 RentBuddy is a web-based service that helps landlords manage their properties from anywhere in the world, all they need to do is log in. Features range from providing standard legal documents and recording financial transactions to, uniquely, communicating with their tenants online, and soon, with their tradesmen.
Could you explain PMP²?
Actually, we’ve listened to the newest RentBuddy landlords and dropped the PMP² name for the more self-explanatory Property Manager to complement the straight talking nature of our key partners. The Property Manager is an on online property management programme that facilitates communication with tenants, i.e. by way of sharing payment information and documents and recording maintenance requests.
Why does a landlord need Rentbuddy?
It is a one-stop powerful platform where you can manage and keep on top of all the information relating to your properties and we are constantly looking to improve the Property Manager application through development. As we build out a broader set of applications, we will move towards providing the whole plethora of services in a joined up way that is required by the modern landlord, from credit checking tenants to listing properties on the landlord’s very own customised profile page.
Your background’s in law, right?
Read the rest after the jump.
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"It's such a worry," says the up-market central London estate agent today. "I am in an office of young commission-driven sharks. With this lack of stock, even when I've agreed a sale, they are showing it to their applicants. Every deal I do, I am waiting to be gazumped by my own office." But surely, I say, you mark it "under offer" on the web etc? "Nope, management won't allow until exchange. They were successfully sued by a gazumped buyer who had in writing it was off market, but the vendor then sold to a friend." Caveat Emptor. The agent you deal with may be a smiley dolphin but beware the shark-filled sea in which he swims...
Tracy Kellett runs leading buying agents BDI Homefinders. Follow her on Twitter, here.
Tales from the property front line... the art of estate agenting [July 12, 2010]
Yes, I'm still on holiday... but couldn't resist posting this guest contribution. Interviews continue tomorrow.
Technorati Tags: property, real estate
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