‘Acute’ Shortage Of UK Homes Expected To Run Until 2022

There is an “acute” shortage of homes available for sale, Zoopla said, with the market facing its greatest shortage since the property listing portal’s records began in 2015. This comes as the average price of a house went up by 7.6% over the last 12 months. Buyer demand remains strong, up 20.5% in July compared to the 2020 average. Stock levels are down 26.4% compared to last year's average, and down even more (33%) compared “with the more normal” pre-pandemic markets of 2018 and 2019, Zoopla said. Read more on Yahoo Finance.

https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/acute-shortage-of-uk-homes-expected-to-run-until-2022-230141094.html 

House Prices Now 30% Higher Than Pre-2008 Crisis Peak

UK house prices hit a new high in June and are 30% higher than the peak they reached before the 2008 financial crisis, according to the latest snapshot of the market. The property website Zoopla said the average price of a home was £230,700 – as much as 5.4% higher than the same month a year ago. It said the sharp increase had come as the number of homes being put on the market for sale had dropped by 25% in the first half of the year compared with the same period in 2020. Read more on the Guardian website.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/jul/27/uk-house-prices-now-30-higher-than-pre-2008-crisis-peak 

House Sales Up 10% As Buyers Rush To Beat Stamp Duty Deadline

 Momentum in the housing market shows no sign of slowing with housing sales 10 per cent higher than this time last year, according to the property website Zoopla. Its latest figures show the annual rate of growth in property prices reaching 4.3 per cent, the highest level seen since April 2017. The market is being driven by buyer demand, as people look to take advantage of the temporary stamp duty holiday. Zoopla says with demand continuing to outstrip supply, house prices rose by 0.3 per cent in January, with the average property now costing £226,000 according to its house price index. Read more on the Mortgage Strategy website.

https://www.mortgagestrategy.co.uk/news/house-sales-up-10pc-as-buyers-rush-to-beat-stamp-duty-deadline/

Renters Snap Up Properties 30% Faster Amid Flight For Green Space

UK renters are driving a more decisive market, as houses for rent are snapped up on average 30% faster than one year ago. That’s according to new stats from real estate website Zoopla’s quarterly rental market report. The COVID-19 pandemic has driven a once in a lifetime reassessment of housing needs, with houses average across the UK let nearly a week (6 days) faster than the same time a year ago. The time frame has shortened across all cities. Meanwhile, the time to let out a flat remains largely unchanged, with these letting out just 2% faster. Read more on the Yahoo Finance website.

https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/zoopla-quarterly-housing-rental-market-report-000134248.html 

Value Of House Sales Up 26% In 2020

The total value of homes sold in 2020 will rise 26% by the end of the year compared to 2019 as the market has surged in the wake of the spring coronavirus lockdown. The latest figures from property portal Zoopla indicate the total value of 2020 house sales will top £300bn, £62bn more than last year. The firm said that with the total number of sales having only risen by 9%, the bulk of the difference came from the fact more expensive properties were being transacted, with the market strongest in the wealthiest areas. Read more on Housing Today.

https://www.housingtoday.co.uk/news/value-of-house-sales-up-26-in-2020-says-zoopla/5109639.article 

Housing Market Expects 100,000 Extra Home Sales In Early 2021

More than 100,000 additional house sales are expected during the first three months of 2021, as the rebound in the property market continues and buyers rush to complete their purchases before the end of the stamp duty holiday. The number of new sales being agreed remains 38% higher than it was a year ago, according to property website Zoopla. The UK housing market has rebounded since the summer because of pent-up demand following the first UK-wide lockdown, and after the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, decided in July to introduce a stamp duty holiday on properties up to £500,000 until March 2021. Read more on the Guardian website.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/nov/25/uk-housing-market-expects-100000-extra-home-sales-in-early-2021 

Share Of Homes Bought By First-Time Buyers Expected To Drop

The share of homes purchased by first-time buyers in the UK looks likely to drop for the first time in five years, as major banks pull low-deposit mortgages off the market in response to the Covid-19 crisis. Forecasts released by property portal Zoopla show that, despite a surge in demand earlier this year, first-time buyers will make up around 33.9% of home purchases in the UK for 2020, down from a 10-year high of 34.9% in 2019. If forecasts prove correct, that will mark the first decline in house sales to first-time buyers since 2015. Read more on the Guardian website.

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2020/sep/28/share-of-uk-homes-bought-by-first-time-buyers-expected-to-drop-covid-mortgages 

Demand For New Build Homes Bounces Back

Demand for new build has rebounded by 66% since the property market reopened on the 13th May, Zoopla research has found. Demand recovered nationwide, with the North East recording a 139% rebound, the West Midlands 121%, and East Midlands 108%. Persimmon Homes, one of the UK’s largest housebuilders, reported a 215% month-on-month uplift in demand via Zoopla buyer leads. Read more on the Property Wire website.

https://www.propertywire.com/news/demand-for-new-build-homes-bounces-back/

House Prices To Rise Further Over Next Three Months

Zoopla predicts that the price strength that has been seen since the reopening of the housing market is likely to continue at least until the autumn. Another two to three per cent on average is likely to be added to prices in the coming three months, it anticipates, and if there are to be price falls they will not be noticed until the tail end of the year. New sales agreed, subject to contract, have grown the most in England where the market is open for business. The rebound in sales has been strongest in northern England led by Leeds, Sheffield and Manchester where sales are up to 20 per cent higher than in February this year, before the virus outbreak. Read more on Estate Agent Today.

https://www.estateagenttoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2020/6/house-prices-to-rise-further-over-next-three-months--zoopla

Housing Market Rebound "Off The Scale" Says Zoopla As Sales Increase By 137%

Pent-up demand for homes following the UK wide lockdown has resulted in an unprecedented rebound in new sales agreed, with figures close to early March levels. The latest data and analysis from Zoopla has revealed that the suppressed demand has also translated into stronger prices, with average asking prices of sales agreed in the last week 6% higher than June 2019, an indicator that house price indices might not register immediate price falls in the short term. According to the portal's research, demand for housing is now 54% higher than at the start of March. Read more on the Property Reporter website.

https://www.propertyreporter.co.uk/property/housing-market-rebound-off-the-scale-says-zoopla-as-sales-increase-by-137.html

Coronavirus: 'Short-Lived' Rebound In House Hunter Demand

Demand from property hunters rebounded as curbs on the sector were lifted in England - but the trend may be short-lived, analysis suggests. Buyer demand rose by 88% in the week estate agents were told they could resume viewings and people could move again, property portal Zoopla said. However, actual sales remained sluggish, and the analysis suggests demand could fall again. A tough outlook for jobs could affect people's ability to move home. Read more on the BBC website.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-52809239

Coronavirus Outbreak Wipes Out 40% Of Housing Demand In A Week

Figures reveal that the housing market had the strongest start for four years during the first two months of the year. However, Covid-19 has led to a 40% drop in demand for housing in the past week [seven days to 22.03.20 compared to seven says to 15.03.20] and housing transactions are set to drop by as much as 60% over the next three months, as the market reacts to the impact of the outbreak. According to the latest data and analysis from Zoopla, the market has since witnessed a dynamic shift, with consumer confidence and market activity hit hard in the wake of Covid-19’s impact from early March onwards. Read more on the Property Reporter website.

https://www.propertyreporter.co.uk/property/coronavirus-outbreak-wipes-out-40-of-housing-demand-in-a-week.html

Budget Fails Tenants Say Landlords

Tenants will continue to face a rental supply crisis as the Chancellor’s Budget has today failed to boost the supply of privately rented homes. Following years of tax hikes on the sector, organisations including the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, Hamptons International, Zoopla and ARLA Propertymark have warned that private sector rents are set to rise as the demand for such homes outstrips supply. The Residential Landlords Association and the National Landlords Association warn that this only makes it harder for tenants to save for a home of their own. Read more on the NLA website

https://landlords.org.uk/news-campaigns/news/budget-fails-tenants-say-landlords

Average House Price In Major UK Cities Has Risen By Nearly £90,000 In A Decade

The average house price in major cities has risen by nearly £90,000 in the past decade, research shows. This is an increase of 54 per cent, according to housing website Zoopla, which looked at the 20 biggest cities. At an average rise of £89,987, this is also greater than the average uplift across the whole of the country in the period, which comes in at £62,218. Read more on the Mailonline website.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7819983/Average-house-price-major-UK-cities-risen-nearly-90-000-decade-research-reveals.html

Where Help To Buy Made The Biggest Impact

Zoopla has calculated where Help To Buy has made the most dramatic impact on the housing market - and the West Yorkshire town of Wakefield is top of the list. In the 12 months to the end of the second quarter of this year Wakefield was the most popular area for Help to Buy loans, followed by Central Bedfordshire. In London the borough of Tower Hamlets saw the capital’s most Help to Buy loans followed by Barnet. Zoopla found Waltham Forest saw the largest H2B increase in demand in one year - up 241.3 per cent. Read more on the Estate Agent Today website.

https://www.estateagenttoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2019/12/revealed-where-help-to-buy-made-the-biggest-impact-on-the-market

The UK Cities Where Rent Is Rising The Fastest

The cost of renting a home rose fastest in Nottingham, Leeds and Bristol in the past year, research indicates, while Aberdeen recorded the biggest fall. The survey, from property website Zoopla, said tenants moving into a Nottingham home this summer paid 5.4% more in rent than a year earlier. Leeds and Bristol (up 4.5%) were the only other UK cities where rents rose faster than UK average wage growth. On average, renting a UK home has become more affordable, Zoopla said. Part of the reason lies in an increase in the number of people buying their first own home, relieving some of the pressure on the rental sector. Read more on the BBC website.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-50056177

Housesimple To Sell Homes For Free

The UK’s 5th largest single-brand estate agency, Housesimple, has announced that it aims to save sellers over £3,000 in commission by selling homes for free. The free service, which has been trialled in selected postcodes in Yorkshire since January 2019 and the North West since April 2019, will now be rolled out permanently across these markets before the business makes its move into other regions in the coming months. Sellers will continue to receive local expert valuations, photos and floorplan, ads on Rightmove, Zoopla and others, a ‘for sale’ board, negotiations and sales progression, and the support of a dedicated team from valuation through to completion. Read more on the Property Reporter website.

https://www.propertyreporter.co.uk/business/housesimple-to-sell-homes-for-free.html

Major Bank To End ‘No DSS’ Private Landlord Mortgages

A major buy-to-let mortgage provider has said it will end rules meaning it does not lend to private landlords renting to people on benefits. Metro Bank made the announcement following a roundtable meeting with housing and homelessness minister Heather Wheeler in Downing Street. The government said the move could help thousands of families relying on benefits to access private rented housing. Property websites Rightmove and Zoopla have also agreed to ban ‘no DSS’ adverts from letting agent listings. Read more on Inside Housing.

https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/major-bank-to-end-no-dss-private-landlord-mortgages-61874?utm_source=Ocean%20Media%20Group&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=10631918_IH-DAILY-12-6-2019-GR&dm_i=1HH2,6BVN2,8CKJV9,P0FHN,1

The Most Affordable Rents In Great Britain

An analysis from Zoopla has reported trends in the affordability of private renting across the UK since 2007. The study is focused on working households where almost 75% of private renters work full or part-time and tracks the average rent for a 1-3 bed property over time, which is expressed as a percentage of average weekly net earnings for a single full-time worker. Rents have grown the most in the East of England (23%) and the West Midlands (20%) since 2007. London and the South East, however, have seen the highest absolute average rents, with both registering rental growth of 18% since 2007 – although growth has weakened in the last two years. Read more on the propertyinvestor today website.

https://www.propertyinvestortoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2019/4/the-most-affordable-rents-in-great-britain-revealed

Rightmove Asks For ‘Conversation’ With Housing Minister Over ‘No DSS’ Listings

Rightmove has asked for a “conversation” with the Ministry of Housing about ‘No DSS’ lettings listings. The portal is concerned that while the ministry has called for an end to all ‘No DSS’ advertisements, the Competition and Markets Authority guidance is that all ‘material information’ should be communicated in listings. ‘Material information’ includes having to disclose any restrictions on the type of tenant, such as housing benefit claimants. Zoopla has said it will be banning ‘No DSS’ adverts, and amending its property software so that the option cannot be selected. Rightmove has now written to its letting agent members saying that they can still explain that there are restrictions on certain tenants, but asking them to review their listings. Read more on the  Property Industry Eye website.

https://www.propertyindustryeye.com/rightmove-asks-for-conversation-with-housing-minister-over-no-dss-listings/