The Market
“Strong competition” for investment flats – W.A.Ellis
There's a fully-fledged bunfight for sub-£2m investment properties, according to the latest market report from W.A.
UK housing stock now worth £5.2 trillion as North-South tilt steepens
The total value of the UK's housing stock rose by £186bn in 2013 to hit £5.2tr, according to some (big) number crunching by Savills, and by £1.6tr over the last decade from £3.6tr in 2003.
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Edinburgh signals return to normality as transaction levels rocket
Fair Edinburgh has seen a return to "normal, healthy transaction levels", according to the Knight Frank team after they recorded a whopping increase in Q4 deals
Call To Farms: Buying and developing agricultural land for residential use
We all know it's been a shrewd investment in recent years, but just how easy - or sensible - is it to buy up and develop farmland? Are the legal issues and risks the same as with brownfield sites, or …
Happy Place: More signs of high homeowner confidence
Countrywide's latest YouGov sentiment survey comes to a very similar conclusion to Knight Frank's version released last week: we're all pretty positive about house prices
HIP Hop: RICS recommends Home Reports for England & Wales
An independent inquiry, commissioned by the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, has suggested that Home Reports - which sound rather similar to the much-maligned Home Information Packs that were ditched…
Goodbye “hotel chic” and other trends for 2014
There'll probably be fewer foreign buyers, dull design schemes and 60s mansards this year, says James Bailey..
Supply problem has been 40 years in the making – Hamptons
Any recent property market report will - more likely than not - include the phrase "chronic supply shortage"
Mayfair “outranks” Knightsbridge as London’s top luxury address – Wetherell
The Mayfair corner's come out swinging with some statistical gymnastics to counter Nick Candy's claim that W1's oversupplied and due for a price drop this year (as reported here).
N.B
Homeowner hopes hit another record high
Knight Frank's latest Future House Price Sentiment Index has hit a brand new high, with homeowners expecting prices to rise at the fastest rate since 2009, when the index started, and households in every …
Price rises spread beyond the commuter zone
The much-touted "ripple effect" looks to be well and truly underway in the south of England, with Savills recording a 1.5% uplift in average prime regional values in the three months to December.
Flood insurance deal will cover domestic properties “regardless of whether leasehold or freehold” – ABI
The Association of British Insurers has rebutted yesterday's claims that proposals set out to provide affordable flood insurance will leave leasehold properties, council homes and the entire rented sector …