Another dagger (hopefully) into the high priced property market is that average interest rates are on the increase (And will continue to increase) despite the BoE reducing the base rate down to 0.5% over recent months. In January 2007 with the base rate at 5% the mortgage rate was 6.20% and now despite the base rathe shrinking to 0.5% the mortgage rate has rised to 6.23% !!! The main reason for these high rates is because the people in the know (apparently) are well aware of the current house price market and feel prices have some way to fall yet.

People say it’s all negative talk, but it’s reality. House prices are too high, first time buyers are out of the market, the plug is conituining to be pulled from the housing market.

It is quite clear what is happening in the housing market. Prices nearly trebled from 1997-2007; there is a correction taking place and the bottom will not be reached for some time yet.

If news reports filter to the media that there are ‘grass shots’ then these will inevitably come from those with vested interest in property and property gaining in value. As a buyer I would recommend that you wait at least another 6 months before you buy and even then you will still see a drop in house prices for another year or so. We have yet to see the market bottom out and remain flat, then will be the best time to buy.

It is greatly predicted that house prices will continue to fall well into 2010, a further 10% than figures of present. There is not be any kind of recovery until 2012.

The Council of Mortgages Lenders recently released figures showing a nearly a 50% drop in mortgage approvals at the beginning of this year compared to last year. This goes inline with decreasing mortgage options, rising umeployment, more repossessions, more bankruptcy etc, etc. First time buyers are drying up at the bottom of the property ladder and the chain above them is weakening. Yes, Halifax did their best to stimulate interest in the property market by recentl releasing headlines that houses are now affordable more than ever, “Housing affordablility has trebled since prices began falling 18 months ago”. But are the Halifax just staing the obvious?

If house prices have fallen, then why would they not become more affordable? Would it also be correct to state that house prices will be even more affordable in 18 months time?

Whatever the future holds, it would seem that house prices are due to fall even further to go inline with demand and affordability. Banks are more regulated now days and there are very few lenders out there which offer silly rates of 10 x your salary borrowing, we are now looking towards more sensible lending rates of 4 x salary borrowing…. obviously house prices must accustomize themselves to this fact.

Estate agents will no doubt yell from the roof tops on the slightest hint of positive news from the housing market, but my suggestions is to take your time and compare. What is on the market today is very much likely to be what is on the market still next month and even cheaper!

I am seeing increasing cases of Swine Flu globally including a rising number of cases in th UK. Will this lead to further down falls in the economy should the out break worsen? If everyday fears aren’t enough, the public are cautious to walk their very own streets breathing the free outside air without the concern of catching a life threatening disease.

In the UK the is no doubt a weakening confidence in the property market and despite those trying to claw on to varied notions that there are grass shots appearing, then general slide is down for average property prices. Will the added effect of a worsening virus entitled ‘Swine Flu’ add to the nations misery and lack of confidence?

Watch this space should the outbreak of Swine Flu worsen globally, there will be effect on worldwide markets and property prices….

Prices were allowed to spiral upwards at too faster rate on the back of nothing, but a ‘feel good factor’ under the Labour government. People were spending credit as opposed to their earnings. Each year increasing their mortgages to accommodate their new upgrades on cars, multiple annual family holidays and plasma televisions in every room. These kind of people added to the national debt and now find themselves in negative equity (rightly so?) and are now starting to loose their treasured possessions (which they never really owned or worked for?) and the worst case scenario is many situations, repossession of their property.

Yes, many people will feel sorry for the ones losing their homes, but just how many of these people are actually in this situation for genuine reasons? How many of them simply spent, spent, spent with absolutely no regard for future finacial situations?

People tag them as vultures, but these people that are now buying up cheap property from auctions and taking advantage of giveaway prices of cars etc because other people are trying to stay afloat should be looked up to and thanked for having been safer with their spending. Families that studied their monthly bills, never were tempted to take advantage of their limitless credit spending, that may even have rented foreseeing this property price crash, are the ones that will profit.

I think that over the next 2-3 years house prices will adjust to or maybe even below the inflation band. At present it will be those with cash that are king and those that borrowed too much that will be poor. This unfortunately is a cycle that has occured many times before and it’s a cycle that will continue in years to come.

These figures are released at more or less the same time as the RICS (Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors) stated that house sales were at their lowest levels between December and February this year, that’s a new 31 year low.

“Around two-thirds of the homes will be built by housing associations, as private builders suspend developments until the market picks up”, NHF states.

This further cements the worsening Property Market in the UK and a very bleak outlook for 2009 and beyond. With self builders, house building companies and first time buyers all out of the picture it points towards increased property price falls. First time buyers are finding it near an impossibility purchasing as Bank’s lendings have become more difficult to obtain.

The average property price figures due soon also will no doubt show a downturn as the recession starts to take grip.

Auction websites such as Ebay are seeing more and more ’sell my house by raffle’ listings. If you think of it, your chances of winning the lottery each week is practically zero, ie 1 in 13,983,816!!! Now if you buy a raffle ticket to a house a house say at £15, 15 times a lottery ticket price and the value of the house is say £150,000 your chances of winning are immensley reduced to 1 in 15,000. so to sum up the chances of winning a lottery that could change your life:

Lottery ticket priced at £1 gives you 1 in 13,983,816 of winning the jackpot.

House sale lottery ticket valued at £150,000 at £15 ticket price gives you 1 in 15,000 of winning the jackpot.

For me, buying lottery tickets to potentially win a house is sound common sense and serves you a better chance of changing your life than a lottery ticket.

Mostly, property auctions are for vendors whom require a quick purchase or desire to sell property with varied complications. Nowdays, property auctions are being flooded with property that just simply aren’t moving due to the present economical climate, so purchasing from a property auction need not be a daunting experience.

At a recent property auction I attended (I never bought the property I was after cause bidding suprisingly went crazy!), nearly all the property were made up of repossessed property, most ofwhich guide priced at 30% BMV (Below Market Value).  So, literally, think of a property auction as a ‘quick buy’ scheme, rather like a speedy estate agents, cause the portfolio of property these auction houses have are increasing each time they have a new sale.

Do not forget with property auctions, that you can also purchase property that were not sold or did not reach their reserve. These property usually offer great value for money. A guide price not reached at auction, might go for less after the auction as the owner (usually a bank) just wants to clear their stock.

Do I have to pay to receive auction catalogues or to know where to find auctions? No! And I repeat, No! Why you ask? Well, if you search for property auction, for instance in the uk, ie ‘property auction in UK’ you will obviously get search results. Now, if you have time on your hands, say two hours, you can filter through all the ‘pay us for sending you a property auction list’ and find all the actual property auction houses that will have either an online auction catalogue of their next up and coming auction or give you the opportunity to subscribe for a catalogue to be sent by the post.

If you would like some more information on property auctions then reply to this blog and I will forward you a list of UK property auction houses totally free, so you can also be searching for cheap BMV property and importantly, you will not be paying for this information!

Good luck buying property and do not forget that houses/flats/land etc are not only for sale in Estate Agents!

The government is trying to combat these fast increasing figures, but really are fighting a loosing battle as inflation still remains very high and the massive increase in job loses all round the country. Add to this that many home owners who pruchased over the last few years already see themselves in negative equity, times for home owners looks very bleak for the short to mid term future.

My personnel opinion? A lot of these repossessions are those that stretched themselves too far with their house purchase, that never planned ahead and thought about potential bad times that could lay ahead. Ones that never read the small print on their mortgages they took out, just lived for today and didn’t think about when the higher interest payment rates were to come about. Never saved, but just used their plastic friends to buy the new car, new kitchen, new flat screen TV’s, SKY TV fees, the holidays to sunny shores???

I just feel sorry for the very few that are genuinely hitting hard times, that did lose there jobs dispute many years loyal service and the inflation increase has taken them well above their comfort zone. That they now find themselves in negative equity and quite literally find themselves in a ‘no move’ situation or they admit defeat and give the keys to their homes back to the bank… but where some lose, some are to gain and at last young families can afford a house to live in as we see house prices falling, and as one house sells for cheap in an auction and somebody has lost everything, someone will gain a new start in life and a cheap property to live in.

What we are seeing today is unpresidented falls in house prices as we suddenly all realise that prices we were paying for far too over inflated and suddenly we are starring into the barrels of a despression/recession. So you house, that was once a prized asset, now becomes a doom of debt that you just can’t get rid of, and every day that goes by the value falls and your debt increases. So, how do you beat the present climate and how do you get your property to stand out from others and get a positive result in it’s marketing?

Advertise your property online with a video tour, OneStopView.com allows you to upload a video of your property and market it for free to a worldwide audience. You need to get your property set at a selling price for todays climate, do not try and get back money that you lost simply by increasing your property’s value – it will not work.

Marketing your property online with a video tour will mean that you home is available online as a 24/7 open house, meaning that people can view your property as if they were actually there at anytime of the day from any place on the planet. This will gaurentee you serious enquiries and most certainly make your property more findable and more appealing that others using simply photos and descriptions alone.