The Market
Transactions at highest level since Dec 2009 as July sales rocket by 18.5%
88,960 homes were sold in July, according to the latest SDLT stats from HMRC. That's a 0.6% drop on June's numbers but an 18.5% rise on last year's July figures.
Cash Mapped: Knight Frank charts housing wealth
Knight Frank has drawn a map of Britain's housing wealth. The results are not surprising: 27% of Britain's gross housing wealth is in London, and 17% in the rest of the South-East. The South-West has 9%.
Camden clamps down on “Buy to Leave” investors
Camden Council sounds pretty fed up with the number of unoccupied properties on its patch, and has asked for additional powers to clamp down on "Buy to Leave" investments.
Is property bubble trouble all in the analysts’ spreadsheets?
There's a lot of talk floating around about a property bubble, as the number of first time buyers rises, the economy seems to be in recovery, consumer confidence is on the up, and some major real estate…
Asking prices drop for the first time this year
Asking prices across the market have dropped for the first time this year, according to the latest from Rightmove.
Month-on-month asking prices are down by 1.
Prime property’s mood music hits a high note
"The mood music in the UK has become much more upbeat in recent months," says Gráinne Gilmore in Knight Frank's latest residential market report.
Average house prices rose by 0.
Britain is “flirting with a property bubble”
The UK is on the brink of a "another runaway rise in house prices", according to a poll of economists by Reuters, with a 50/50 chance that we'll see something like 1997-2007's tripling of house prices…
Prime buyers back with intent after a year of window shopping – Chesterton Humberts
Sales of £1m+ houses in London rocketed by 31% in Q2 of this year, according to the latest from Chesterton Humberts, as the agency revises its house price forecasts to a +8.2% for the year.
New-Build Me Up: Ten top tips for buying off-plan
Buying off-plan has come a very long way since the days of crossed fingers and sums on the back of a ciggy packet, but it can still feel like taking a punt.
60% of London’s homes now sold off-plan – CBRE
Pre-completion sales across the capital have reached record levels, according to CBRE, with three in five homes now sold before they are built.
Buyers return to the market at fastest rate since 2009 – RICS
Although by no means the biggest data pool - the latest had just 315 contributors - the RICS Residential Market Survey carries more weight than most sentiment surveys.
Move Along: Traveller sites given marching orders
Eric Pickles has told local councils that they should clamp down quickly on illegal encampments and unauthorised traveller sites, as he announced a new set of guidelines that gives "more power and a stronger…