Bank Lending Rate
It has been confirmed that the Bank of England Monetary Committee have decided that the Bank Base Rate is to remain at 0.5% for a further month. It has been at this level for over two years, i.e. since 05th March, 2009.
Source: Bank of England
Mortgage Lending by the Major UK Lenders
According to initial data from the major UK lenders, (which comprises Banco Santander, Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group, Nationwide and Royal Bank of Scotland), total mortgage approvals for house purchase climbed slightly to £4.6 billion in April. Remortgaging saw a decrease, from £3.7 billion in March to £2.9 billion in April.
Source: Bank of England
Land Registry Average Property Prices in England and Wales
The Average Price of a property in England and Wales is now £163,083 as at the end of April 2011.
Source: Land Registry
Percentage Changes of Property Prices in England and Wales
The Monthly change in April in England and Wales was 0.8%.
The Annual change to April in England and Wales was –1.3%.
Source: Land Registry
RICS survey overview.
The RICS Housing Market Survey for April suggests that the housing market is still stable. Both supply and demand for property have stayed low. Every region of the UK except London has seen falling prices, with East Midlands and Yorkshire / Humberside continuing to see the largest falls. Scotland had the largest increase in new buyer enquiries, while East Anglia had the highest level of new vendor instructions during the month.
Source: Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors
New Mortgages granted – April estimates
The Council of Mortgage Lenders reports that April’s estimated figures for gross mortgage lending in the UK is £9.8 billion. This is a drop of 14% from March’s figure of £11.4 billion, and a fall of 5% since last April.
The CML’s chief economist, Bob Pannell described April’s figures as “an unfortunate temporary loss of signal†because the Easter holidays and the extra Bank Holiday in April made the month atypical.
Source: Council of Mortgage Lenders
Regional trends in Rightmove Estate Agents Asking House Prices in England and Wales.
The largest increase in May is in the East Midlands, where the average asking price is up by 5.9% to £170,348. This is now 2.6% higher than May 2010.
The largest decrease in asking prices by Rightmove registered estate agents in May is the North West region, where the average asking price is down by 1.9% to £166,133, and is now 0.7% lower than in May 2010.
Over the year to May 2011, the largest increase in house asking prices was in the North, which has seen asking house prices rise by 3% to £156,064.
The largest annual regional decrease is Yorkshire & Humberside region, which has seen asking house prices fall by 4.4% since May 2011.
Source: Rightmove
Halifax House Price Index figures.
The average price of a house by the end of April 2011 was £160,395, according to the Halifax House Price Index. House prices in April were 1.4% lower than in March. The quarterly figure showed a 1.2% drop. The figures show that house prices are 3.7% lower than this time last year, measured by the average for the latest quarter against the same period a year earlier. The average price is 20% below the peak of August 2007.
Source: Halifax
Nationwide House Price Index figures
Seasonally adjusted figures published on 27th May showed that the average cost of a home in the UK was £167,208 during the month of May. This is a monthly rise of 0.3%, and the annual rate now stands at –1.2%, very slightly better than April. The quarterly figure, said to be a better indicator of trend, stands unchanged at 0.6% against the previous 3 months’.
Source: Nationwide
Rightmove House Price Index figures
Rightmove’s May survey shows the asking price of a typical UK property in the period from 10th April to 7th May 2011 was £238,874, an increase of 1.3 % from the previous month. House asking prices are 0.7% higher than a year ago. Asking prices are only 1.5% (£3,626) below the peak of May 2008.
Source: Rightmove
Outstanding Mortgage Debt
Average outstanding mortgage for the 11.4m households who currently have mortgages now stands at £109,003.
Source: Credit Action
Home Builders Federation figures
Home Builders Federation’s latest Housing Pipeline Report states that the number of new home planning permissions granted in England in the first quarter of 2011 was 33,450, which is 17% down on last year and half the level it was five years ago.
However, the number of approvals was higher than the previous three months and substantially higher than the low of Quarter 2 2009.
Source: HouseBuilder
Next Monthly Market Fact File due in early July.