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May 23, 2006

Housing confidence reaches two year high

Confidence amongst home buyers and sellers has reached a two year high with buyers’ confidence exceeding that of sellers for the first time in more than two years.

Research carried out by Propertyfinder.com, the UK’s premier property portal, indicates that for the first time in two years buyers believe that house prices will increase at a faster rate than do sellers over the next twelve months.

Buyers are forecasting a rise in prices of more than 7.5% over the next 12 months demonstrating continued confidence in the housing market.

The continued rise in buyers’ positive outlook highlights the pent up demand in the market place resulting from a shortage of properties available on the market.

Warren Bright, CEO of Propertyfinder.com said

This acceleration in buyer’s price expectations should be good news for sellers as it suggests that buyers will want to purchase properties before further price rises make them less affordable

Propertyfinder.com’s survey results over the past two years have proven to be a reliable predictor of future market activity. The latest month’s numbers suggest the market shall remain competitive into the summer  months and that prices should continue on their current upward trend.


May 02, 2006

DIY Disasters: 200,000 people end up in hospital each year

Whist the dream of finding a bargain property and adding your own touch is the flavour of the month, it might be worth bearing in mind the non-glamour side. A survey from The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents reveals that DIY results in 200,000 hospital visits each year.

More than 200,000 people end up at hospital each year through DIY and cleaning disasters; 87,000 are from power tools and other machinery, and 30,000 are from falling off ladders while cleaning windows. 

Top ten tools for accidents per year are:

  1. Knives and scalpels (25,000)
  2. Saws (15,000)
  3. Grinders (6,500)
  4. Hammers (6,000)
  5. Chisels (4,000)
  6. Screwdrivers (3,500)
  7. Power drills (3,000)
  8. Equal position - planes, axes and welding equipment (2,000 each)

If this list made you cringe, there are a few useful sites to help get into the swing of DIY, in particular www.diynot.com which provides a forum for everyone who is dealing with home improvement. And if you want to read about some horror stories, like the guy who shot himself in the heart with a nail gun have a look at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4145572.stm.

And if you have any stories of your own please tell us about it.