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New mortgage deal available today with only a 5% deposit click here to find out more!”
Follow up on the First Time Buyer Info evening at Lisburn Civic Centre - 18th February 2010
Our evening was attended by 88 people who were all looking to make that first step onto the housing ladder. They were able to benefit from free advice from our mortgage advisors, from N.I Co Ownership advisors, local estate agents and local developers in the area. There were also two £100 gift vouchers given away by Creations to help with starting the important job of furnishing your first home. Everyone went away much more informed than when they came and agreed it was an enjoyable informal way to gain further information rather than just surfing the 'net. There were also 2 apartments sold on the night by a local estate agent.
We are planning to run further evenings in different areas in the province so if you are interested please click here and we can register you.
Housing Purchases and House Prices still rising despite the Chancellor announcement
In the past few weeks lenders have been putting back up the “open for business” signs in their windows again with the biggest fall in fixed rates since the start of 2009 and the number of first time buyer products at their highest since May. This is unlikely to be affected by the Chancellor’s announcement this week that Stamp Duty Land Tax is being re-instated at the £125,000 level again from January 2010.
This means that any purchases over this amount with incur stamp duty starting at a rate of 1%. This means a minimum of £1,250 is added to the cost of purchasing a house above the value of £125,000. From September 2008 until 31st December 2009 this was charged on purchases above £175,000.
House prices are rising slowly but are still very affordable and with lenders’ criteria easing we hope to continue to see our first time buyer enquiries rising in 2010. It is even more important now that a first time buyer taking their first step onto the housing ladder seeks independent mortgage advice as there are several new deals available for those with 10-20% deposits and these are on the increase
Co-ownership housing to get £48m to help First Time Buyers!
The money will provide 15,000 affordable homes Northern Ireland's co-ownership scheme is to get £48m in new funding, it has been announced.
The money will help first-time buyers purchase 1,500 affordable homes over the next three years.
The money has been provided by Bank of Ireland and Barclays who are working alongside Co-ownership Housing.
Co-ownership Housing Chief Executive Alan Crowe said it was a an exciting arrangement which offered people the opportunity to own their own home.
"At just £23,571 the typical Co-Ownership first time buyer income is two thirds the Northern Ireland average," he said.
Co-ownership helps people who cannot afford to buy their own home outright get onto the property ladder.
In March 2008, the scheme stopped accepting new applications for a time because demand for the scheme was much higher than its then £15m budget.
Source BBC News: 06/11/09 See full article
House prices 'rise another 1.2%'
House prices have risen by £11,000 in the past six months, the Halifax says UK house prices rose by another 1.2% in October, according to the Halifax, which the bank says is the fourth monthly increase in a row.
The Halifax said that the average price of a house was £165,528, which is still 4.7% lower than October last year.
Since the spring house prices have been recovering from the sudden slump caused by the international credit crisis.
The Halifax said prices were rising because of a combination of increased demand and fewer houses for sale.
"Nationally, house prices have risen by 2.9% since the end of 2008 [and] they are now 7.1% higher than six months ago when prices reached a trough in April," said Martin Ellis, the Halifax's housing economist.
"Demand for houses has risen in recent months due to the very low level of interest rates, the decline in property prices since the summer of 2007 and a pick-up in consumer confidence on the back of better economic news," he added.
House sales seem likely to continue rising in the coming months.
Figures published by the Bank of England last week showed that the number of mortgages approved but not yet lent - a key indicator of future sales - rose by 3,000 in September to 56,000.
That was their highest level since March 2008.
The figures suggest that if increased demand for home loans is combined with a continued lack of choice for buyers, then house prices may keep on rising too
Source BBC News 3/11/09 See full article
House purchase market share at seven-year high.
12 October 2009.
The level of house purchase activity, worth £7.2bn in August, represented the biggest proportion of total mortgage activity since 2002.
But the figures also show that remortgaging activity continues to decline with 32,000 remortgage loans advanced in August, a 22% drop from the previous month and a 57% fall from August 2008.
There were 53,000 house purchase loans in August, down 5% from July but 29% higher than the same time last year.
House purchase activity remains below the average 100,000 loans recored in August over the last seven years, but has doubled since the start of this year.
There were 19,200 loans to first-time buyers and 33,400 loans to home movers.
Gross mortgage lending, including house purchase, remortgage, and buy-to-let lending, reached £12.3bn in August, a fall of 36% from August 2008.
First-time buyers typically had a 25% deposit and borrowed 3.03 x income.
Home movers typically borrowed 66% of the property’s value and 2.74 times their income.
The profile of new lending remains cautious with over three quarters of loans taken out at fixed rates and on a full repayment basis.
Paul Samter, economist at the CML, says: “House purchase activity has revived from its moribund state at the beginning of the year.
"It will be a drawn out recovery process with seasonal ups and downs, but house purchase activity is now on a firmer footing.
“But remortgaging demand has fallen away in the low interest rate environment and this is dragging down gross lending levels overall.”
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