Opal Lettings Property News round up brings you up to date with what has been happening in Property this summer. Huntingdon House Prices: The average property price in Huntingdon is £296,016 now in August 2019, according to latest figures from Zoopla. Since May this year, it has fallen 0.93% and since August 2018, it has fallen by 1.83%. Flats have sold for around £154,777 and terraced houses have sold for around £202,885.
Zoopla Cities House Price Index: Zoopla have also released their Cities House Price Index for July 2019. This concentrates on housing affordability. It compares the house prices with average earnings in cities UK and nationwide. So it seems that London, Oxford and Cambridge’s affordability levels have improved since 2015. This could indicate that investing in those cities now, would work. Elsewhere, Portsmouth, Bournemouth, Bristol and Southampton have also indicated housing to be more affordable. But in Leicester, Birmingham, Nottingham and Sheffield house price inflation has slowed down in the past year.
Sajid Javid: Will he or won’t he? Sajid Javid, our new Chancellor of the Exchequer, evoked discussion a few weeks ago. He hinted that he might have property sellers pay stamp duty instead of buyers. Seems like he has decided not to make the change according to a recent tweet from him!
Zero Deposits: Zero Deposit have introduced a new product which allows tenants to take back their deposit mid tenancy! But, they would have to replace it with a Zero Deposit Gurarantee. Zero Deposit Gurarantee is an insurance policy. The policy is FCA regulated and apparently provides enhanced protection. Zero deposits are becoming more popular – great idea as tenants can enter their new tenancy more cheaply. But if there is a problem, will the insurance companies pay out?
Faster DIP’s? Axis Bank UK, who lend to portfolio landlords, have upgraded their Decision in Principal process, to make it more efficient and faster for borrowers to obtain mortgages. Good news, as the current UK system is painfully slow.
House Prices, Deal or No Deal? Finally, Reuters news agency have said they have interviewed prominent UK landlords about the Brexit effect. They asked for their views on what Brexit will bring, deal or no deal. Briefly, the Landlords think no deal will cause a drop in house prices for 6 months or so. They also think Brexit with a deal will bring a slight rise in current prices. More details here: https://thenegotiator.co.uk/reuters-no-deal-brexit-property/?utm_source=BriefYourMarket&utm_medium=Newsletter%2c+Email&utm_term=&utm_content=Fees+ban+hits+hard+%7c+No+Deal%c2%a0and+property+%7c+Universal+Credit+impact&utm_campaign=Instance%3a+thenegotiatorv2.briefyourmarket.com+-+MessageId%3a+885