Property Auction Market Positive at End of 2011

Latest figures show there was some good news at the end of last year, as the property auctions market finished the year on a three-month high, according to the National Association of Valuers and Auctioneers (NAVA). Figures published by the Essential Information Group show that the number of lots sold at auction increased during December to 2,448 – a figure higher than in either October or November.

There was a slight difference between residential and commercial property sales. Residential property performed well during December, with an 11.7% increase in the number of properties sold (1,996 lots) compared with December 2010 (1,787 lots). In contrast, there was a 7.1% year-on-year drop in the number of commercial property lots sold (444 in December 2011; 478 in December 2010).

Over the whole year, a total of 32,646 lots were offered for auction, of which 24,125 were sold (74%). That compares with figures from 2010 where 31,457 were offered and 22,015 sold.

It wasn’t simply a question of keen buyers snapping up bargains – the amount raised in 2011 was 2.2% higher than in 2010 (£3,425,149,984 and £3,350,664,429 respectively).

Guy Charrison, NAVA Chairman, said: “There was definite fluctuation in the property auction market throughout 2011, but it is very good news that the residential sector closed the year on a positive note, not least as the stories coming out of other parts of the housing market are less optimistic.

“That said, there is evidence that the commercial sector is facing a challenge. A mixed picture is developing as some lenders reduce lending for commercial property, while others ramp up their offering. At the same time, the retail industry is experiencing difficulties and this will no doubt impact on property levels. We therefore await the first figures for 2012 with interest.”

David Sandeman, Managing Director of EIG Group, added: “December’s auction results are largely positive, epitomising the trends witnessed throughout 2011. This is against a backdrop of continuing economic turmoil in Europe and a seemingly stagnant open market in the UK (Land Registry shows a 3.4% drop in property transactions during the first three quarters of the year). It is encouraging to see, and shows that property auctions remain a viable and attractive means of buying and selling property.”

Please contact either Andrew Richardson, Jeremy Richardson or Richard Killoughery on 020 8643 7777 to get moving or email us at sales@christiesworld.com.

Which Estate Agent Should You Fall For?

With romance in the air again this February Nick Churton of our global Mayfair Group Network takes a loving look at how we could fall head over heels with…an estate agent.

Spring is round the corner and love is in the air. Yet spare a thought for poor estate agents. These, often undervalued, creatures are amongst the least likely to receive a great deal of affection from their clients on Valentine’s Day - or any other day for that matter. 


But right at the moment, in this dire economic climate, good estate agents can be a bit like perfect sweethearts. 

It is always best to have someone by your side who values you, who will fight for you, who won’t answer back - too much, who will only hang around your house when you want them to, and has all your best interests at heart. Such a person may not make such a bad partner.

Of course there are good partners and bad partners. Selling property well rests heavily on the partnership built up between seller and estate agent. A good agent will lovingly put your property on a pedestal and then negotiate fiercely to achieve the best deal for you. On the other hand, a lesser agent may just put your property on the internet with all their others and then haggle to find the easiest deal all round.

There is a great difference between the two – often many thousands of pounds. You could come to love the former but hate the latter. The trick is finding the right one at the outset. It’s a bit like finding the best boyfriend or girlfriend. They may look roughly the same but in practice they all act very differently.

So if you are searching for the type of estate agent you could come to love this spring invite a few around to give you some marketing advice and see how you get on. Then ask yourself which you would prefer, the flashy one who brags a lot and is cheap or the one who you feel most comfortable with to act in the most decent way: the one you can come to depend on.

020 8643 7777 - sales@christiesworld .com - www.christiesworld.com

Help for First Time Buyers entering the housing market?

Monica Bradley, our associate Independent Financial Adviser from Kingswood Law, comments on the latest Bank of England’s MPC’s decision to hold interest rates at the record low of 0.5%.

“The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee has again decided to hold interest rates at the record low of 0.5% for the 35th month and has announced that it is to increase its Quantitative Easing (QE) programme as it bids to stave off a recession.

Overall Product Numbers
Overall mortgage product numbers reduced a little in January, although we continue to see an increase in the number of mortgage products both at 90% and even 95% loan to value.   This will enable more potential purchasers and in particular first time buyers to potentially enter the housing market.

Average Rates
February has witnessed a small rise in the average cost of 2, 3 and 5 year fixed rates and also in 2 year trackers, although all three categories of fixed rates remain below the same period in 2011. Average initial rates for fixed deals are currently 4.36% (2yr),  4.63% (3yr), 4.64% (5yr) and 3.54% for 2 year trackers.

The UK is directly affected by what happens in the eurozone and with this latest round of QE and with the base rate again held at 0.5%, this could end up providing a boost to mortgage borrowers. “

To find out how the latest base rate decision affects you or if you are a first time buyer looking to enter the housing market call Monica Bradley from Kingswood Law on 020 8643 7777.

With offices in the heart of Cheam Village, within walking distance of Christies’ Cheam office, and backed by a robust administration team, you can rest assured that you will be in safe hands when Kingswood Law takes care of your finances. As such, when you are considering purchasing a new home, remortgaging or buy to let, Christies recommends using Kingswood Law to ensure you find the best deal and the one most suited to you and your circumstances. In addition, Kingswood Law offers specialist advice on protecting your home, income and family, as well as a comprehensive estate-planning service*.

If you would like further information about their services please call 020 8643 7777 or visit www.christiesworld.com and click on Financial Services. Christies Estate Agents work in close association with Kingswood Law to offer its customers unbiased independent mortgage advice.

*Estate Planning services are provided by the Countrywide Group. Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage. A fee of up to 1% of the mortgage amount may be charged depending on individual circumstances. A typical fee is £95. Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage.

020 8643 7777 - sales@christiesworld .com - www.christiesworld.com

AUCTIONS - An effective way to sell all kinds of property… in all types of market.

An auction can be an exciting and efficient way to sell or buy a property. It used to be associated with repossessions, but is now growing in popularity as the best way of attracting a wide range of property to the market, including:
• Vacant property in need of renovation, refurbishment or redevelopment
• Probate or executor sales
• Building plots
• Residential investment property including tenanted houses and flats
• Commercial & Industrial properties/units
• Mixed use properties
• Repossessions
• Unusual or unique properties for which market value is difficult to assess
• Agricultural land and buildings
• Woodland
• Any property where a quick sale is essential.


SELLING BY AUCTION –  Next Auction – April 4th 2012
There are numerous benefits attached to an auction sale including:
• It provides Executors, Beneficiaries, Charities and Trustees confidence that the optimum sale price has been achieved with absolute clarity.
• It allows sellers a guarantee that so long as the property reaches the reserve price in the action room, that contracts are exchanged immediately with completion 28 days thereafter, preventing sales falling through.
• In effect, it provides three separate opportunities to achieve a sale:
(1) before the auction by private treaty:
(2) in the auction room itself;
(3) after the auction, if the reserves are not met then the auction contract can still be signed and exchanged.


CHRISTIES PROPERTY AUCTIONS - Next Auction – April 4th 2012
Together with Clark Gammon Wellers we hold three to four property auctions each year.
If you have property that you are thinking of selling at Auction, or you would like more details of upcoming sales, please call Jeremy Richardson on 020 8770 3690 for a confidential discussion, or email him at jr@christiesworld.com.
• Network of more than 100 offices in London, Surrey & the Home Counties
• Global contacts via our 450 Group members
• Established register of investment buyers
• Proven track record of generating enquiries via the Auctions ‘grapevine’
• Auctions are promoted on the major UK Auction websites & databases
• Varied selection of properties
• Prestigious Auction venue
• Impressive Auction catalogues are widely circulated to our email database
• Legal packs provided
• Marketing and Valuation advice
• ‘Open House’ and ‘Block’ viewings
• Competitive Bidding in the Auction Room
Please contact us to discuss our Auction service and the potential benefits of selling your property at Auction.


CORPORATE INSTRUCTIONS - Next Auction – April 4th 2012
We welcome instructions from Corporate sellers. We are able to offer properties to an extensive database of investment buyers and have global contacts via our 450 Group members worldwide. Auctions are promoted on the major Auction websites and portals. Please contact us to discuss our Auction service and the potential benefits of selling your property at Auction.


THE CHRISTIES PROPERTY AUCTIONS TEAM - Next Auction – April 4th 2012
We work with our Mayfair Group colleagues Clark Gammon Wellers to provide a comprehensive Auction service with an established track record. Our Mayfair Group has a global network of about 450 offices with a database of around 16,000 properties.
Tony Jamieson MSVA MRICS
• Member of the Society of Valuers and Auctioneers
• Member of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors
Jeremy Richardson FNAEA CPEA
• Fellow of the National Association of Estate Agents
• Certificate of Practice in Estate Agency 
Please contact us to discuss our Auction service and the potential benefits of selling your property at Auction.

Good news for borrowers with smaller deposits as 95% mortgages re-enter the market

Monica Bradley, our associate Independent Financial Adviser from Kingswood Law, comments on the latest Bank of England base rate decision.

Not for the first time in recent months the policy setters have chosen the “wait and see” approach presumably while they await fourth quarter 2011 economic growth data and the next set of inflation figures. 

For January the Monetary Policy Committee therefore voted for no change in the Bank of England base rate. The Eurozone crisis remains unresolved and we can only hope that the politicians are able to reach agreement to resolve the situation for the longer term rather than the series of sticking plasters that have left the markets unimpressed.


December saw the anticipated seasonal slowdown in the housing and mortgage market, although activity amongst purchasers and remortgage borrowers was ahead of the same period in 2010. 

 

As you would expect in the current economic climate many purchasers continue to opt for the certainty that fixed rate mortgages offer, with 3 out of 4 buyers electing to fix. Those homeowners remortgaging are also still firmly in favour of fixed rates but the proportion is slightly less, with just under two thirds choosing fixed rate deals.

Moneyfacts report that January saw changes in the average rates available, with the average 2, 3 and 5 year fixed rates and 2 year tracker rate all rising very slightly. The average fixed mortgage rates for January are 4.27% (2 year), 4.53% (3 year) and 4.61% (5 year) all of which are below the same period twelve months ago, although average 2 year trackers at 3.50% are marginally above this time last year.

In line with the seasonal slowdown in mortgage activity, lenders reduced the number of products available during December with the number of available deals dropping to a little over 7,000, down by around 5% on the previous month. Already this year we have witnessed several lenders refresh and re-price their mortgage products for the new year, a new lender in the shape of Accord Mortgages start to offer mortgages at 90% loan to value and Newcastle Building Society re-enter the 95% loan to value market. This is good news for borrowers with smaller deposits or lower levels of equity allowing more potential buyers to access the market.

Monica Bradley is from Kingswood Law.  For further information on how the latest base rate decision affects you, please call 020 8643 7777.

With offices in the heart of Cheam Village, within walking distance of Christies’ Cheam office, and backed by a robust administration team, you can rest assured that you will be in safe hands when Kingswood Law takes care of your finances. As such, when you are considering purchasing a new home, remortgaging or buy to let, Christies recommends using Kingswood Law to ensure you find the best deal and the one most suited to you and your circumstances. In addition, Kingswood Law offers specialist advice on protecting your home, income and family, as well as a comprehensive estate-planning service*.

If you would like further information about their services please call 020 8643 7777 or visit www.christiesworld.com and click on Financial Services. Christies Estate Agents work in close association with Kingswood Law to offer its customers unbiased independent mortgage advice.

*Estate Planning services are provided by the Countrywide Group. Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage. A fee of up to 1% of the mortgage amount may be charged depending on individual circumstances. A typical fee is £95. Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage.


020 8643 7777 - sales@christiesworld .com - www.christiesworld.com

How To Be Top

As we enter a New Year Nick Churton of our global Mayfair Group Network takes a look at what may lie ahead for the property market. 

Although mature estate agents are apt to say that they have seen it all before, this time it is different.  No one has seen this market under this set of national and international financial conditions before.  But what is rather refreshing is that the uncertainty now cuts down the speculation aspect of a house purchase and strips the requirement to buy down to the real and age-old essentials.  This makes for easier choices.

Le Corbusier, the pioneering architect, stated that, “The requirements for a house should be to provide a shelter against heat, cold, rain, thieves and the inquisitive”.  He did not add that a house should also provide its owner with an investment return of seven per cent year-on-year. 

For the first time since the 1960s property investment can take more of a back seat in the house buying mindset and, instead, fundamental life requirements can come back to the fore.  Of course with other financial instruments providing so little in the way of return, property is a natural arena in which to invest.  

But with little or no indication about if or when the market, outside central London, will return in any strength we are left with simpler decisions and choices - does a property suit our requirements in size, location, style and price? 

Our needs have been simplified, perhaps in the way they may have been fifty years ago.  With less frenzy and greater choice, for a while at least, this could be a very good time to choose a primary or secondary home for all the very best lifestyle reasons.

We quickly learn to expect that there is an investment opportunity to be gained from property purchase in a rising market.  But we are rather slow to appreciate the reverse is likely in a poor market and/or in particularly adverse economic circumstances as we have now.

2011 was a hard year in property and this year may not be much better. We may have new American, Russian and French presidents, more ructions in Europe and the Middle East, and greater privations at home before we see improvement. But still there is a reassuring level of market activity that has more to do with need than discretion.  This is the market we have and this is the market we have to deal with – and deal with it we will.

Real buyers and sellers should not be deterred.  Indeed they should be encouraged as the more life there is in the property market the more life there is in the economy.  But those still insisting on the sort of financial profit they may have achieved several years ago should perhaps think again and get real. It will be the enlightened who get to the top of the property class in 2012, not those in denial.

020 8643 7777 - sales@christiesworld .com - www.christiesworld.com

Will the New Year see rates start to rise?

Monica Bradley from Kingswood Law comments on the latest Bank of England base rate decision.

Some forecasters have recently commented that with the economy remaining extremely weak, further support in the form of up to an additional £100bn through the Monetary Policy Committee’s “Quantitative Easing” (QE) programme may be required, but this remains to be seen. Unsurprisingly the outcome of the December Monetary Policy Committee meeting witnessed no change in the Bank of England base rate and the level of new money injected into the economy remains at £275bn.

Attention remains focused on the Eurozone crisis and in particular the discussions taking place to attempt to bring about stability to the debt crisis and to put forward and agree plans to stimulate economic growth.

In spite of all of this uncertainty, activity in the UK mortgage market has remained fairly consistent, with the number of purchase and remortgage borrowers only marginally lower than the previous month but in line with seasonal factors.  We continue to see borrowers favouring fixed rate mortgages with three quarters of buyers and two thirds of remortgage customers electing to fix their payments.

Lenders continue to offer low mortgage rates with Moneyfacts reporting that in December the average two year fixed rate is 4.24%, up by only 0.02% compared to November’s average.  However, the average five year fixed rate has fallen further to 4.58% from 4.67% last month.

Significant numbers of mortgage borrowers will be coming out their tie-in period early in the New Year.  However, the Bank of England has warned that with the wholesale cost of funds rising and lenders having to offer more attractive rates to encourage saver’s deposits, mortgage rates may start to edge up a little if lenders want to maintain their margins. Potential borrowers could benefit by taking some time to talk to an independent whole of market mortgage broker.

Monica Bradley is from Kingswood Law.  For further information on how the latest base rate decision affects you, please call 020 8643 7777.

With offices in the heart of Cheam Village, within walking distance of Christies’ Cheam office, and backed by a robust administration team, you can rest assured that you will be in safe hands when Kingswood Law takes care of your finances. As such, when you are considering purchasing a new home, remortgaging or buy to let, Christies recommends using Kingswood Law to ensure you find the best deal and the one most suited to you and your circumstances. In addition, Kingswood Law offers specialist advice on protecting your home, income and family, as well as a comprehensive estate-planning service*.

If you would like further information about their services please call 020 8643 7777 or visit www.christiesworld.com and click on Financial Services.

Christies Estate Agents work in close association with Kingswood Law to offer its customers unbiased independent mortgage advice.

*Estate Planning services are provided by the Countrywide Group. Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage. A fee of up to 1% of the mortgage amount may be charged depending on individual circumstances. A typical fee is £95. Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage.

020 8643 7777 - sales@christiesworld .com - www.christiesworld.com