Archive for March, 2008

The number of houses waiting unsold on the books of estate agents is rising as sellers refuse to drop their price and struggle to find a buyer as a result.Property listing website Rightmove have calculated that estate agents have an average of 64 properties for sale where it was 54 a year ago. In a similar way, properties are taking 93 days to sell on average – compared with 78 days a year ago.This is wide fear that property prices may be about to tumble, but vendors are holding up the market with their refusal to drop their prices.Despite the rising number of properties on estate agents’ books, Rightmove said that the last four weeks have seen the lowest number of new listings since the start of 2005.Rightmove’s Miles Shipside:

“Most sellers obviously want to achieve as much as possible for their property, and traditionally they have chosen to test the market at an ambitious price in February, as they have plenty of time to adjust it down later.This is normally compounded by estate agents being eager to have fresh property on their books and sellers tempted to try a higher figure. Yet the current concerns in the capital’s financial sector appear to be restraining the traditionally high levels of seller and agent optimism normally seen at this time of year.”

Other figures from Rightmove show that asking prices in London have gone up by an average of £3,757 in the last month, in spite of the troubled stock market and tightening mortgage conditions.Hammersmith saw the biggest increase, with an average £23,589 increase in a month. Wandsworth saw a rise of £17,308, Hounslow £14,192, Ealing £13,038 and Camden £12,933.The other end of the housing spectrum in the capital saw a fall of £13,691 in asking prices in Hackney. Thus, asking prices in the Olympic borough are now about the same as they were a year ago.

Tags: property.price

Mortgageguide.co.uk has a few important ideas on how to use your money carfully in the mortgage market:

You have to work pretty hard to earn your salary, so make sure you don’t waste your effort by losing money unnecessarily. These are some tips that will make the best use of money and maximise your financial welfare

Spend Wisely

It is easy to get into a mode of overspending, buying things that we don’t really need. If you have a wordrobe with 100s of shoes you never wear, think carefully before buying anything on impulse. Try avoiding credit cards and carrying cash around; when you have to part with notes, it often gives us a sharp reminder about the true cost. Avoid marketing tricks of companies; buy goods that you really need and value, not just goods which are cleverly marketed. see: 7 Ways to avoid overspending

Borrow With Caution

Tags: mortgage