catmandu Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 I often think we need a general thread for media headlines in Scotland - a single place to monitor the sentiment. So feel free to add any news articles to this thread in the future. Many of you may have missed this - it was the front page headline on Boxing Day. The number of first-time home-buyers in Scotland has fallen to the lowest level in more than 30 years despite an improvement in affordability, according to a report.About 17,000 people bought their first house this year, 4% lower than last year and less than half the peak figure of 39,100 in 2006. 30-year low for first-time buyers I don't really follow the first time buyer market so don't know if they really are becoming affordable. (I know they're getting cheaper in Edinburgh, but I imagine most still couldn't afford at current prices and deposit requirements). I don't really see asking prices coming down further up the ladder though - slow drops on Property Bee, but new property still seems to come on at peak prices initially. I suppose the lack of FTBs has to feed through eventually though. As an aside, there has clearly been a change in sentiment over the last months - I wonder if that will result in lots of properties coming on the market from new year - vendors finally realising that there is no point in "waiting for the market to improve". Hope so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ccc Posted January 10, 2012 Share Posted January 10, 2012 Reporting scotland mentioned the RICS report this morning at half 7 but gone by 8. They stated sales were expected to rise and people with high price expectations were holding the market back - also stated prices were expected to fall in 2012 and had been for last few months of 2011. Anyone still read the scotsman ? What are their stories like these days ? Dont bother their website is a mare to look at. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Cavey Posted January 16, 2012 Share Posted January 16, 2012 Scottish homes 'at most affordable' since 2002 We must be at the bottom: price falls and “an exceptionally low Bank of England Bank Rate over the foreseeable future” – time to fill yir Ghillie Brogues. Has to be true: it's from the BBC ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scunnered Posted February 11, 2012 Share Posted February 11, 2012 (edited) Here's the Herald for a change. Scots house price rises biggest in UK. SCOTLAND experienced the biggest increase in house prices of anywhere in the UK during the past 10 years, a new survey has revealed.Figures from the Bank of Scotland have shown £70,000 was added to the value of the average house between 2001 and 2011, meaning property prices more than doubled during the boom years. While some value has dropped off the price of many homes after the housing bubble burst in 2007, the fall has been nowhere near as dramatic as the climb. Recent estimates show prices have dropped by just 5% to 10% since the end of the boom five years ago. However, Bank of Scotland analysts say that overall, house prices have soared by 111% since 2001, beating London's property hotspots where the increase was 88%. The survey also found the number of houses in private hands rose almost one-fifth as people took advantage of easily available credit in the years it was available. ... Estate agents have welcomed the news that the value of Scotland's housing stock is now on a par with much of the rest of the UK, as it had historically lagged behind many other areas. Andrew Smith, partner in Strutt & Parker's Edinburgh office, said: "It is good for market confidence to hear the value of housing in Scotland has risen. "In addition, housing prices in Scotland 10 years ago were substantially lower than London and the South-East of England. "It can only be good news that the value of Scotland's housing stock has risen so substantially and these figures illustrate the importance of taking a long-term view on the property market rather than short-term speculation. Over the past 25 years, to look back further, property has proven to be a fantastic long-term investment." ... I'm not entirely convinced by the "good news" quote. Edited February 11, 2012 by Scunnered Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catmandu Posted February 13, 2012 Author Share Posted February 13, 2012 (edited) Homebuyers 'still offering less' than asking price S1homes/BBC article. Quick Summary: House prices lower and heading down. Edited February 13, 2012 by catmandu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Cavey Posted February 14, 2012 Share Posted February 14, 2012 From the Herald Optimism as house sales show an increaseHOUSE sales rose slightly last month as a higher number of first-time buyers looked to make purchases before the end of a duty concession, according to a report. The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) Scotland said the looming end to the current stamp duty holiday partly lay behind a small increase in newly agreed sales in January. From March 24, first-time buyers purchasing homes worth between £125,000 and £250,000 will no longer be exempt from paying the 1% duty. However, despite the findings, Scottish sur-veyors said they did not expect the withdrawal of the two-year duty amnesty to create a huge rush from buyers. The details were contained in RICS's latest UK housing market survey. In other findings, surveyors recorded a steady increase in the number of new buyer enquiries in January and reported prices and sales are expected to remain steady going into spring. In addition, the number of surveyors who reported homes were coming on the market rose to its highest level since April last year, which RICS said suggested sellers were feeling more con-fident about the housing market. RICS Scotland director Sarah Speirs said: "The good news is that sellers are returning to the market after the usual end-of-year break and surveyors in Scotland expect house prices to remain fairly steady. Ok - Headline has "House" and "increase" in the title - that should boost confidence. Can't get onto the RICS site to see what the actual increase was. ...also – the RICS interpretation of sellers confidence by the increase in homes coming onto the market could have another interpretation that does not include “confidence” . Desperation perhaps? Furthermore, why is “confident” spelt “con-fident” :- perhaps a clue to what this article is all about? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catmandu Posted February 14, 2012 Author Share Posted February 14, 2012 Here's a great quote from one of the surveyors in the Scottish section of the RICS report: "General depression in the market" (p10) It must be said though, that there is a fairly mixed picture when you read the other surveyors quotes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catmandu Posted February 25, 2012 Author Share Posted February 25, 2012 Fall in Scottish Mortgage Lending The number of mortgages taken out in Scotland last year fell by 7% but remortgaging rose sharply, according to data from mortgage lenders.A total of 44,500 mortgages were secured in 2011, while remortgaging increased by 18% to 36,900 loans. In the final quarter of last year, a total of 11,700 loans worth almost £1.4bn were taken out - down 8% by volume and value on the third quarter. The UK as a whole fared slightly better than Scotland, with a 5% volume fall. Data from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) Scotland also showed the average first-time buyer in Scotland spent 11.1% of their income on mortgage interest payments in the last quarter of 2011 - lower than anywhere else in the UK. The number of first-time buyers fell by 4% in the final quarter to 4,500. This figure was up from 4,200 in the fourth quarter of 2010. Over 2011 as a whole, Scotland accounted for 9% of the total UK house purchase market and 10% of all UK remortgaging. 'Challenging year' Jim Dunn, chair of CML Scotland, said: "Scotland, as well as the rest of the UK, continues to see a constrained mortgage market. "However, it is encouraging to see positive signs, such as better affordability for first-time buyers and a decrease in average deposits for home movers, emerging. "2012 will still be a challenging year but we hope to see the slight easing of constraints continuing throughout the year." Mark Dyason, from independent mortgage broker Edinburgh Mortgage Advice, said the growth in the number of remortgages last year was down to competitive fixed and tracker rates coming on to the market. He added: "We are already seeing rates tick upwards, in no small part due to the ongoing problems in the eurozone. "Lenders are becoming more nervous by the day and this is feeding through into mortgage rates. "Compared to this time last year, there is more demand for mortgages but the landscape remains fragmented. 5% drop in UK overall (which I'm pretty sure conflicts with some other recently released data showing an increase. Perhaps it's caused by the surveys being number of mortgages vs amount lent out. Anyway, a 7% drop in mortgage levels in Scotland - surely the year before was also a pitiful number of mortgages meaning that no one is moving. No good news for property bulls here! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ccc Posted March 13, 2012 Share Posted March 13, 2012 RICS today on reporting scotland was fairly bearish - however they did manage to leave out the fact that most members expect prices to fall in next 3 months - they managed to mention it on ceefax and online. Amazing after almost 5 years some in the media [far less than before] still just cant bare to face up to it - ah well - who cares - its happening whether they like it or not Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abroad Posted March 15, 2012 Share Posted March 15, 2012 (edited) http://www.scotsman.com/news/scottish-news/top-stories/scottish_house_sales_up_by_a_third_1_2152387# House sales up a third..... ....really Sales driven by price drops, several paragraphs later, house prices rose by the highest amount since 2008...more affordability spurring the market...several paragraphs later.....RBS raise interest rates to 4% due to costs of borrowing... Edited March 15, 2012 by abroad Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ccc Posted March 15, 2012 Share Posted March 15, 2012 http://www.scotsman....hird_1_2152387# House sales up a third..... ....really Sales driven by price drops, several paragraphs later, house prices rose by the highest amount since 2008...more affordability spurring the market...several paragraphs later.....RBS raise interest rates to 4% due to costs of borrowing... "Typical first-time buyer flats – in areas such as Gorgie and Leith – which were on sale for around £130,000 can now be had for around £100,000.” Come on Dave - we know these can be had for 80-90k no problem. Still - good to hear people are finally starting to realise that they can't sell their place for 2007 prices anymore. Best for all concerned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catmandu Posted March 17, 2012 Author Share Posted March 17, 2012 Sharp fall in the construction of new housing in Scotland There's only one solution....and we all know what it is.... That's right, we need the taxpayer to subsidise the poor building companies. A friend expressed serious interest in a new build circa 350k...and was told there were no discounts. Little wonder why they are not selling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scunnered Posted March 17, 2012 Share Posted March 17, 2012 (edited) Purely for the headline... Scotsman: House building at its lowest hereggggg. Edited March 17, 2012 by Scunnered Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catmandu Posted May 1, 2012 Author Share Posted May 1, 2012 Front page of Herald today. Household debt fears as mortgage rates rise Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scunnered Posted June 24, 2012 Share Posted June 24, 2012 Scotsman: Revealed: Scotland’s costliest neighbourhood is Aberdeen suburb http://www.scotsman.com/emarket/property-news/revealed-scotland-s-costliest-neighbourhood-is-aberdeen-suburb-1-2369080 The usual kind of article about Scotland's most expensive areas, but The list placed two locations in East Lothian in second and third place respectively. Humbie, near Haddington, had an average house price of £388,076, while North Berwick had an average property value of £313,556 Humbie? Really? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Democorruptcy Posted August 21, 2012 Share Posted August 21, 2012 (edited) Scotland could be about to introduce a scheme to make 95% mortgages available to home buyers in an effort to increase house building. Mark Horden, from the Glasgow Solicitors' Property Centre, said: "The way it works is that the developer or builder contributes a bit on top of the 5% deposit and the Scottish government provides a guarantee above and beyond that for another 5 or 6% of the property value. "That way the mortgage lender has greater security, they think they are taking less of a risk and as a consequence they will find it easier to lend." http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-19322274 In other words it's a taxpayer bank bailout in advance if prices fall. Builders add their contribution onto the selling price so they have higher a profit margin, buyers have to pay more and have more debt to service which again increases bank profits. Edited August 21, 2012 by Democorruptcy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catmandu Posted August 21, 2012 Author Share Posted August 21, 2012 Your analysis is correct. Better a quick fix than a proper fix it seems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ccc Posted August 27, 2012 Share Posted August 27, 2012 Reporting Scotland had a piece tonight. Apparently in Scotland its a great time for FTB's to buy. They went on to tell us prices have fallen over the past 5 years - funny - in those 5 years they barely mentioned this fact. As a % of income it is much cheaper to buy now than in 2008. They showed some horrendous flat in some hole that could be had for £5k cash to show this point. Not exactly a relevant example for 99.9% of Scottish people - but heyho. They did end to show that this was only the case for some parts of the country - where the cost to FTB's was the lowest in the UK. Apparently 10 best places are all in Scotland ? Then ended by saying the complete opposite was the case for areas like Edinburgh and Aberdeenshire that were amongst the worst in the UK. Pretty strange piece really. I think the general jist was this was a good time to be FTB'er. However I don't think their chat really backed this up a great deal. It definitely is a better time than 2008 to be a FTB'er if you have a deposit though. Thats clear. Only going to get better IMO though... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catmandu Posted August 29, 2012 Author Share Posted August 29, 2012 With interest rates so low, it's a dangerous time to borrow. It is storing up issues down the line. People are no doubt calculating what they can afford now without thinking of the future when rates could be 8% instead of 4%. Saying that now is a great time to buy because rates are low and houses are currently affordable is not responsible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dances with sheeple Posted September 13, 2012 Share Posted September 13, 2012 (edited) The Newsnight Scotland piece was the best bit of hpc TV I have seen in a while. The ESPC guy was challenged to explain why falling prices would be "just a blip" , and of course couldn`t come up with anything remotely sensible, as could no other VI if challenged properly by presenters when spouting their high prices here to stay claptrap. Still, the tone of the media discussion about property prices is starting to change, and it will all feed into sentiment. A very large correction is now waiting in the wings IMO. http://www.bbc.co.uk/i/b01ms650/ Edited September 13, 2012 by dances with sheeple Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catmandu Posted September 13, 2012 Author Share Posted September 13, 2012 Good post - so basically, "we were in a very unrealistic situation a few years ago" with excessive lending. But houses prices will drop just a little bit and not for long. The presenter tried but didn't quite manage to get a proper answer out of the ESPC guy. I wish people would just say it out loud. Prices are too high and need to come down significantly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dances with sheeple Posted September 13, 2012 Share Posted September 13, 2012 (edited) Good post - so basically, "we were in a very unrealistic situation a few years ago" with excessive lending. But houses prices will drop just a little bit and not for long. The presenter tried but didn't quite manage to get a proper answer out of the ESPC guy. I wish people would just say it out loud. Prices are too high and need to come down significantly. There seems to be a tendency by some commentators to put the housing bubble/credit bubble/financial collapse in the past tense, whether deliberately or otherwise, as if it no longer should trouble us and we can carry on believing that prices in Morningside will never crash As for the ESPC guy, I couldn`t figure out if HE was the only thing staying high, or if trying to defend the stupidly high asking prices that many muppets seem to think is their birthright was just too much to deliver with a staright face? Edited September 13, 2012 by dances with sheeple Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TTD Posted September 13, 2012 Share Posted September 13, 2012 Humbie? Really? Yes, really. With (so far) 2 sales in 2012 (see Sold Prices on Zoopla) at £450k and £850k, and 60% of the 2011 sales at over £300k ..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dances with sheeple Posted September 13, 2012 Share Posted September 13, 2012 Yes, really. With (so far) 2 sales in 2012 (see Sold Prices on Zoopla) at £450k and £850k, and 60% of the 2011 sales at over £300k ..... Did the folks in Humbie see Newsnight the other night Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catmandu Posted September 13, 2012 Author Share Posted September 13, 2012 (edited) Here's a good news story which illustrates that things are slowly changing. This house was on Secret Agent TV programme. The presenter told the owner she needed to reduce price. She was on at offers over 520k and utterly refused to entertain any discussion of reducing the price. All the cliches came out - "stamp duty threshold is the buyers problem not mine" "not giving it away". After the programme aired she finally agreed to change the offers over (but kept the price). Then 500k. Briefly went under offer but now reduced to 460k. If this stubborn vendor has finally accepted that she cannot beat the market, there is hope for all others too. http://www.espc.com/properties/details.aspx?pid=306490&sid=2578283262213 September 2012 Brief Description changed: BELOW HOME REPORT VALUE. Three bedroom detached house located in the Braid Hills residential area, a prime, sought after location to the south of the city centre. This property comprises vestibule, entrance hallway, upper hallway, lounge, dining room, kitchen, three bedrooms, bathroom, utility room and attic space.... room... Price changed: from '£500,000' to '£465,000' 30 August 2012 Brief Description changed: Three bedroom detached house located in the Braid Hills residential area, a prime, sought after location to the south of the city centre. This property comprises vestibule, entrance hallway, upper hallway, lounge, dining room, kitchen, three bedrooms, bathroom,... bathroom, utility room and attic space.... 17 August 2012 Brief Description changed: *** CLOSING TUES 21st @ 12 NOON *** Three bedroom detached house located in the Braid Hills residential area, a prime, sought after location to the south of the city centre. This property comprises vestibule, entrance hallway, upper hallway, lounge, dining room, kitchen, three bedrooms, bathroom, utility room and attic space.... bathroom,... 23 July 2012 Price changed: from '£520,000' to '£500,000' 27 May 2012 Brief Description changed: ***Unique Open Viewing Opportunity. Friday 25th May 3.00pm - 4.00pm.*** Three bedroom detached house located in Channel 4's 'Secret Agent' series the Braid Hills residential area, a prime, sought after location to the south of the city centre. This property is featured comprises vestibule, entrance hallway, upper hallway, lounge, dining room, kitchen, three bedrooms, bathroom, utility room and the production film crew will be present during the above times. Viewings outside these times are possible, please contact MOV8 for more information. The... attic space.... 23 May 2012 Brief Description changed: Three bedroom detached house located ***Unique Open Viewing Opportunity. Friday 25th May 3.00pm - 4.00pm.*** This property comprises vestibule, entrance hallway, upper hallway, lounge, dining room, kitchen, two double bedrooms, one single bedroom, bathroom, utility room... is featured in the Braid Hills residential area, a prime, sought after location to the south of the city centre. Channel 4's 'Secret Agent' series and the production film crew will be present during the above times. Viewings outside these times are possible, please contact MOV8 for more information. The... 28 November 2011 Brief Description changed: Three bedroom detached house located in the Braid Hills residential area, a prime, sought after location to the south of the city centre. This property comprises vestibule, entrance hallway, upper hallway, lounge, dining room, kitchen, two double bedrooms, one single bedroom, bathroom, utility room and attic space. The property further benefits from UPVC DG, GCH, private front, side and rear gardens, private driveway, garage and unrestricted on street parking... room... Price changed: £520,000 Title changed: 19 Braid Hills Avenue Avenue, EDINBURGH, EH10 6LH 23 September 2011 Initial entry found. Edited September 13, 2012 by catmandu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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