Exactly one month ago we published an article discussing how Halifax claimed that the UK housing market is improving, and that hopefully this would lead to the alleviation of the housing crisis in both the private rented sector and the buy-to-own sector. Critics were initially wary of Halifax’s findings, and even those that agreed with them said that they did not expect the improvement in the housing market to continue throughout 2013. However, it has been reported today that a new survey commissioned by Halifax has shown that the UK housing market is still going strong.
The survey revealed that in February house prices increased by 0.5 per cent, meaning that the price of houses in the UK are now 1.9 per cent more than at the same time last year. The average price of a house is now £163,600 and Halifax have claimed that property sales are on a “modest upward trend”. Martin Ellis, Halifax housing economist said: “This was the third successive increase in the measure of underlying trend. This increase in both house prices and activity in recent months is consistent with evidence of some improvement in market conditions. The more than half-a-million increase in the number of people in employment over the past year is likely to have been a factor supporting housing demand.”
However, much like last month, there are still those that do not believe that the housing market will continue to improve, such as Mark Harris, a mortgage broker from SPF Clients who said: “The housing market presents a confused picture. One the one hand, prices continue to rise on a monthly and quarterly basis, according to the Halifax, and on the other, lending fell in the final quarter of last year, according to the Bank of England. We need to see some easing of criteria in order to make mortgages more accessible. This is surely the next move from lenders, many of whom tell us they have had enough of a rate war.”
There have been many calls for banks to increase lending for property purposes recently, especially from buy-to-let landlords who want to expand their property portfolios and take advantage of the demand for private rented accommodation. Other industries are also looking to banks to start increasing lending, such as housebuiling industries, landlord insurance providers and the UK public who will all benefit from the creation of new properties across the country.