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Over the past few days many of you will have seen headlines about Home Information Packs (HIP's). Do you know how HIPs will effect future buyers & sellers? Read what the Minister had to say The Ministers statement. Some people had plenty to say about it!
The Association of Home Information Pack Providers
The National Association of Home Inspectors
The National Association of Estate Agents
Have a read and let us know if you think it is HIP or not ...
For sale: One bedroom flat in Lake Shore Towers, Dubai
With Britons bracing themselves for the hottest day for the year so far, summer holidays are high on the agenda. According to holiday-rentals website these are some of the UK's most popular holiday destinations:
A quick poll of the folks at Propertyfinder place Spain, Ireland, Greece in the top three ... if you are on your lunch or just feel like reminiscing please tell us where you are spending your summer holidays.
Propertyfinder has thousands of overseas properties for sale. If you are thinking of a retreating why not do a quick search.
An overwhelming majority of Britain’s homeowners firmly believe that prices in their area will outperform the national average, according to our latest research. 
Six times as many people believe their district is up and coming compared to those who think that it is doing less well than other areas.
People put local factors above macroeconomic ones to explain their view that house prices are on the up, clearly regarding their own area as highly desirable.
In a list of the top five factors explaining their optimism the notion that their area is special dominates home owners’ perceptions. Not only do people believe their area is up and coming relative to other areas but also that it is a honey pot for property investors. The belief that investors will propel prices upwards is rated second. Next on the list is the expectation that more and more people want to move to their area, thus pushing up demand and naturally, house prices. A shortage of second-hand homes on the market comes fourth.
Wider economic factors attract much lower priority, even though they are the key determinant of the overall health of the housing market – only the fact mortgages are affordable makes it into the top five.
1 My area is up and coming relative to elsewhere
2 Property investors are buying more property where I live
3 More and more people want to move to my area
4 There is a shortage of homes being put on the market
5 Mortgages are affordable
Nicholas Leeming, Director of propertyfinder.com said:
People see their own area through rose tinted spectacles, favouring it above similar areas nearby. In every town in the UK, local rivalries foment.
However, the notion that an area is up and coming is a relative one: if some areas are doing better than average, others must be doing worse. Prices can’t beat the market everywhere! People mistake general improvements brought about by economic growth and a healthy housing market for special local factors favouring their district.
What’s more, their belief that an army of property investors is snapping up every available home in their area to make a killing is clearly illogical. Just 10-15% of buyers are investors while the overwhelming majority are owner-occupiers.
This is just an extension of age-old house pride. People are emotionally attached to the area they live and highly territorial about its merits. And of course, no-one wants to think they’ve bought in the wrong place!
Looking at the overall housing market, confidence steadied in July, according to propertyfinder.com’s monthly survey of househunters. After a weaker level of confidence in June, July’s househunters expected prices to rise 5% over the next year, up from 4.3%. Overall, the proportion of respondents expecting prices to rise remained steady at 79% in July.
Crucially, buyers and sellers remained firmly in agreement on the outlook for prices. This is a key determinant of a healthy market. When buyers and sellers disagree, the number of transactions in the market drops sharply. This measure has proved a very reliable predictor of activity levels in the property market over the last two years.
Nicholas Leeming concluded:
We detected a slight cooling of the housing market in June. July suggests conditions remain steady.
We have had a few people posting and emailing with reported issues accessing our game. If you have had problems you might find the following useful.
In order for users to play the Propertyfinder win a £500k house game the user requires the following;
Macromedia Flash Player 7 or higher
Javascript enabled
A web browser that supports CSS
The above should ensure that users can play the game on both Mac and PC.
It should be pointed out that certain individual security settings or corporate firewalls may result in users not being able to play the game – this is something people should be aware of but not something we can give a general solution for due to the specific and individual nature of personal/corporate security settings.
I hope this helps and wish you luck playing the game.
Buyers demand bigger discounts to asking prices
• Sharp fall in expectations for house prices – from 7.7% in May to 4.3% in June
• Buyers balk at asking prices and demand bigger discounts – 6.1% in June compared to 0.7% in March
• Buyer enthusiasm cools far faster than sellers’ – signifies slower market to come
• Bank of England suggestions that housing market is not linked to consumer spending are incorrect
• Property investors make lowest offers, but cash-strapped first-time buyers also try to drive a hard bargain
After a red hot start to 2006, the housing market is set for a cooler period as confidence slipped for the first time in six months, according to research from Propertyfinder.com, the UK’s leading property portal.
On average, house hunters have slashed their expectations for property prices over the next year from 7.7% in May to 4.3% in June. 78% of respondents expect the market to rise over the next twelve months, still a healthy proportion, but down from the 84% seen in May. This is the first such
While asking prices may have been rising all year, buyers have begun to respond by demanding bigger discounts when making offers – an average of 6.1% below the asking price during June compared to 0.7% in March. This is the lowest point in over 9 months. Those buying property for investment purposes are the toughest as they are driven by investment returns, not the emotional considerations of owner occupiers.
Investors are making offers averaging 10% below the asking price. First time buyers are also driving a hard bargain offering 6.3% below the asking price, perhaps because they have the tightest budgets. Those who are moving home are more generous, offering on average 4% below the asking price.
Warren Bright, Chief Executive Officer of propertyfinder.com said,
Buyers are clearly backing away from high asking prices. At the peak of the recent mini-boom, they were prepared to pay almost the full price, but the picture has changed rapidly. These figures show that asking prices are not a reliable guide of where the market is heading. As market conditions change, the prices actually paid can diverge significantly.
Buyers are trimming their optimism on the market more sharply than sellers. This is a major indication of cooler market conditions to come. Back in May, buyers were significantly more optimistic than sellers which indicated a tight market as buyers were prepared to chase prices upwards. This has changed in June with the two groups much more closely aligned, suggesting a more balanced market.
Warren Bright added,
Fears over interest rates and stock market volatility may explain much of the cooling, but the World Cup effect should not be underestimated. The number of people looking for property on propertyfinder.com fell 35% during the latest England game!
‘Women in the Property Market’’, is a show in which women from all areas of the property market will discuss their experiences and share their top tips for how to succeed in the property market.
Each show will consist of studio based chat between the presenters and a female guest who has successfully made her mark within the world of the property.
Ideally the show is looking for female property developers or designers that would be happy to chat about their experiences.
I am currently researching ‘Women in the Property Market’’, a show in which women from all areas of the property market discuss their experiences and share their top tips for how to succeed in the property market. Each show will consist of studio based chat between the presenters and a female guest who has successfully made her mark within the world of the property.
Ideally the show is looking for female property developers or designers who are happy to discuss their experiences on TV.
If you are interested please email pr@propertyfinder.com who can put you in touch with the TV station.
