Housing market and business lending give mixed signals
It is difficult to say exactly where we are as mixed signals have been coming from the Government. Mortgage lending has gone up over the last month or so yet the amount of credit being advanced to businesses fell for the second month running which is worrying.
There are small signs that the housing market could be returning to normal after the council of mortgage lenders increased their lending by a staggering 17% in June alone to a massive £12.3bn. This was the highest level since December earlier this year.
Yesterday the property website Rightmove said asking prices rose by 0.6% to an average of £227,864 on July 12th which is the fifth monthly rise of the year. The most effective method of advertising is through online marketing and Estate agents from around the nation have been investing time and money into getting these campaigns working for them. For example, companies will be concentrating on developing their local search terms such as ‘property to rent in clapham’ or ‘estate agents battersea’. By focusing on developing these search terms online, estate agents are actually still benefiting from sales and leasing.
Apparently, mortgage approvals have risen to 51,100 in June from 45,000 in May 2009 which is an encouraging figure for first time buyers. South West London Estate Agents have been extremely busy over the last few weeks and have been overwhelmed by the demand to rent rather than to buy as people are still becoming more and more reluctant to buy properties.
The CML have released statements saying that it expects mortage lending to go up throughout the summer and help first time buyers get their own property.
Either way we are all hoping that things can change for the better in this country. Housing prices have been an absolute shambles for months now and we can’t see this getting any better. However, the recent news does give us a slight glimmer of hope.
