Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors says estate agents expect stronger activity to translate into higher prices.
Property transactions are at their highest level for 18 months as first-time buyers seek to complete home purchases before the stamp duty holiday expires at the end of March.
The latest snapshot of the residential property market from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors showed estate agents expecting stronger activity to translate into higher prices later this year.
For the first time in almost two years, Rics said its members were no longer expecting house prices to fall and were seeing transaction levels edge up.
Alan Collett, Rics's housing spokesman, said: "With the recent upturn in activity brought on by the end of the stamp duty holiday, it seems that a renewed sense of optimism may be slowly returning to the property market. Chartered surveyors' price predictions were more optimistic in almost every area of the country in February.
"However, with affordable mortgage finance still out of reach for many potential first-time buyers, it remains to be seen whether the more optimistic outlook for future sales can be sustained beyond the expiry of the stamp duty holiday."
Read More - http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/mar/13/rics-property-stamp-duty-holiday-ends?newsfeed=true
Tuesday, 13 March 2012
Thursday, 8 March 2012
House buyers ‘could pay twice’ with HSBC
SOLICITORS have slammed a bank’s decision to prevent mortgage lenders from using their chosen law firm.
HSBC mortgage customers will no longer be able to use a Cumbrian law firm for conveyancing, following changes to the way the bank runs its residential mortgage division. New house buyers with an HSBC mortgage will now either have to agree to use one of the lender’s selected firms in another part of the country or pay twice to use their own solicitor.
A total of just 43 law firms will sit on HSBC’s panel for the whole of the UK, none of which are in Cumbria.
The Law Society, which represents solicitors, labelled the bank’s decision as absurd and said it limited consumer choice and could lead to delays in the home-buying process.
Sue Pyne, a partner and head of conveyance at solicitors Poole Townsend in Barrow, accused HSBC
Read more - http://www.nwemail.co.uk/news/house-buyers-could-pay-twice-with-hsbc-1.931366?referrerPath=news/
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