Whilst mortgage lending is now at the lowest it has been in ten years, the number of new properties on the market has shot up by around 20 per cent compared to this time last year.
The managing director of UK regulated mortgage brokers Offshoreonline.org, Tim Harvey told PR Newswire: ?The UK housing market has produced some remarkable data over the past 12 months. Stock shortage was a common problem in 2009, with estate agents reporting fewer sellers. However, prices held up well in the most sought after areas, as demand remained, with the result that we saw headlines proclaiming pre credit crunch values being achieved.?
Prices in the United Kingdom are now steadily on the rise. The Financial Times House Price Index has shown that in January property values rose by 0.7 per cent, with an overall annual increase of 5.4 per cent.
Mr Harvey commented: ?Sellers are certainly showing signs of confidence and are coming back into the market. We have now had over 6 months of positive reports of house price growth across all of the major monitors in this market, with the Financial Times Index reporting 9 months of price growth. Inevitably, this is sending a message to sellers that prices are stabilising, so now is a good time to start to sell again after the turmoil of 2007 and early 2008.?
After the Bank of England kept the UK base rate on hold at 0.5 per cent, mortgage rates have remained competitive, giving rates as low as 2.99 per cent for ex-pats buying UK property.
