March 2010
24th March, 2010
Southern regions of England will benefit most from stamp duty threshold change: Halifax
Commenting on the announcement of a raising in the threshold level for stamp duty in today's Budget, Martin Ellis, the Halifax's housing economist, highlighted a number of consequences for the housing market.
"Approximately 96% of first-time buyers would have been exempt from paying stamp duty in 2009 if the starting threshold had been £250,000", he said.
"This compares with the 56% that would have been exempt if the lowest threshold had been at £125,000. (It was actually £175,000 due to the temporary increase that existed between September 2008 and December 2009).
Removed
"Therefore, an additional 40% of first-time buyers will benefit from the lowest threshold being £250,000 rather than £125,000.
"The southern regions of England – Greater London, the South East and South West – will benefit most. The average price paid by a first-time buyer is highest in these parts of the country; above the current £125,000 threshold. Around three-quarters of first-time buyers in Greater London and the South East would be removed from the stamp duty tax net as a result of increasing the threshold from £125,000 to £250,000.
"The average price paid by a first-time buyer is below £250,000 in all regions. The average price is above the current threshold of £125,000 in Greater London, South East and South West".
Source: Halifax
16th March, 2010
Winter chills do little to curb house hunters enthusiasm: NAEA
Britain’S house hunters continued to brace the bad weather conditions in search of a new home in February, according to estate agents.
The National Association of Estate Agents' market report for February showed that the bad weather did little to curb the enthusiasm of eager house hunters looking for their dream home.
While the bad weather had an impact on the number of people registering with an agent this month, the number of houses sold increased from six (5.7) in January to seven (6.8) in February. Only 258 house hunters registered with an agent, compared to 291 in January, the lowest number recorded over the last twelve months.
Appetite
The number of houses available for sale increased slightly from 55 per branch in January to 56 in February, meaning there were still four house hunters for every property. The percentage of sales made to first time buyers increased in January from 23 per cent to 24 per cent this month.
President of the NAEA, Gary Smith, said: "It’s encouraging to see that the bad weather hasn't deterred agents from making sales this month even if it has stopped some house hunters from registering with an agent. These figures suggest that there’s an increasing appetite for property which will feed recovery over the next few months as the weather improves. This growing confidence is reflected in the fact that first time buyers now take up a quarter of the market".
"Supply and demand continues to be an issue and one we are taking up with the Government ahead of the budget. More needs to be done to make house building a top priority over the next twelve months if we want the market to strengthen rather than stall".
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February 2010
January 2010
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