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Credit Crunch stifles first time buyers

The Property Step — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 10:25:13 +0000

It is now clear that the fallout of the credit crunch is spreading from housing to the rest of the economy. The Property Step has found an increasing number of sellers are unable to move onto the next step as no-one will buy their home.

If that was not enough doom and gloom, one of the UK largest retailers Marks & Spencer seems to confirm our fears. Chief executive Sir Stuart Rose says there is no end in sight to the slump in spending. ‘Consumers are feeling the pinch’.

If your wanting to move due to financial commitments, a growing family, emigrating, divorce, increasing debt, buy-to-let gone wrong, repossession etc then the credit crunch is effecting you.

Report after report, states that we are in for a hard ride and those who stretched themselves during the so called boom will have to seek out alternatives to manage their homes.

More and more over stretched homeowners are being repossessed according to figures from The Land Registry. These are uncomfortable moments for those with high mortgage payments, large monthly credit card bills and a family to support. Is this the game of chance you want to take? Is this a game at all?

If this sounds familiar then your not alone, ask the average man or woman in the street are they feeling the pinch and chances are they’ll respond with a positive yes!

The Property Step provides property solutions to array of homeowners in various circumstances. Our method is simple we buy property for cash, then you can move onto the next step.

Without first time buyers everyone suffers, as they are the beginnings of a property chain. The Property Step has been able to help numerous homeowners by making a cash offer for their home. Every home-owners’ circumstances are different however the need to sell remains the same.

If 2008/2009 predictions are correct then selling your property for a cash price offer may be wisest move you’ll make. Bite back and kick the credit crunch into touch with The Property Step , buyers of property for cash.

Decline worst since 1990s slump

The Property Step — Thu, 22 May 2008 13:12:26 +0000

What can you do if your unable to sit on your property paying rising mortgage payments whilst no-one has breached your front door for months to view your property.

Your options of a successful sale reduce each month, as its a known fact the longer a property is on an estate agents books, the less motivated they are in marketing and selling.

Increasing numbers of sellers are finding it more difficult to find a serious buyer, ready to complete on a property purchase! In an article at the beginning of the year by the timesonline they highlight the property slump maybe the worst since the 1990s.

Extract begins Gráinne Gilmore and Gary Duncan @ timesonline

Falls in house prices across the country may now be at their most severe since the property slump of the early Nineties, according to bleak figures today suggesting that Britain’s housing downturn is gathering pace.

A highly influential barometer of housing market conditions reports this morning that 49.1 per cent more surveyors found that house prices fell last month than saw them rise.

The gloomy result is the worst since November 1992 in the closely watched poll carried out by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), when this “negative balance” fell as far as minus 60.1 per cent. December’s figure compares with a negative balance of 40.6 per cent of surveyors who reported that prices were on the slide in November.

With virtually every other reliable indicator of the housing market also pointing to grim conditions and falling prices, today’s RICS report will deepen already intense gloom over prospects for homeowners this year.

The RICS finds that confidence among surveyors in the outlook for both sales and prices fell last month to their lowest levels in a decade.

House prices are seen to be falling in every area of England and Wales – although the results suggest that they rose slightly in Scotland. The heaviest falls appear to be taking place in the West Midlands and East Anglia, according to the survey’s findings.

Anxieties are being heightened by a growing build-up of unsold properties on estate agents’ books, with stocks of homes up by a further 7.1 per cent in December, on the heels of a 9.1 per cent leap in the previous month, according to the RICS data.

The survey’s findings suggest that this increase in stocks – which threatens to act as a drag on house prices – may get worse, with December bringing a rise in new instructions by would-be sellers putting their homes on their market at the same time as demand remains seriously subdued.

The number of new instructions to sell properties climbed last month, with a net 4 per cent more surveyors reporting that these rose rather than fell, the RICS reports. That compares with a balance of minus 7 per cent in November. There were scant signs of improvement in demand from potential buyers, with 25 per cent more surveyors saying than buyer inquiries fell last month than said they had risen.

The surveyors’ body said that the overall balance of supply and demand last month indicates the loosest market conditions since August 2005, during the last serious setback for the property market.

Demand from buyers may be being sapped by the toll from the credit squeeze, as mortgage lenders toughen their criteria for making home loans and reduce the amounts they are willing to allow housebuyers to borrow.

Extract begins Gráinne Gilmore and Gary Duncan @ timesonline

Clearly if your on a fixed rate mortgage and can afford the payments you maybe able to ride out this slump. However this is not the case across the board, some people have to move because they have recently come off a fixed rate and have seen new rates increasing their payments by as much as 40%.

In some cases this is the straw that breaks the camels back and they have no choice but to sell quickly or face financial ruin. Given the choice selling is the only viable option, however in a climate with no buyers this means your part of the new property trap.

No funds to pay an increased mortgage and no buyers to sell up and move on. The Property Step has available funds for trade cash prices allowing you to step out off the doldrums and move on with your life.

As a property cash buyer we can move quickly, for more information read our sell your house fast FAQs or click here

Repossessions increase by 40%

The Property Step — Wed, 21 May 2008 18:38:40 +0000

Yet more doom and gloom for those worrying about how they will keep up those ever-increasing mortgage payments. Over at The Guardian HQ they reported a story earlier this month worth reviewing:

Extract begins from Hilary Osbourne at guardian.co.uk

The number of homes repossessed by mortgage lenders rose by 40% in the first quarter of the year, and there are signs borrowers are increasingly struggling to repay their debts, the City watchdog said today.
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) said the number of repossessions had grown significantly in the last quarter of 2007 and the first quarter of this year, rising by 40% year-on-year from 6,471 to 9,152.

Research based on figures from more than 300 lenders regulated by the FSA showed the number of people who had fallen behind on mortgage repayments was also up. Some 54,000 borrowers fell into arrears during the first quarter of 2008, bringing the total number of loans in arrears to 302,000.

The number of new cases has stayed constant over recent quarters, but the total number of loans in arrears is 15% higher than the figure for the first quarter of 2007, indicating that borrowers who get into difficulties are finding it harder to catch up with repayments.

Rising costs for mortgages, energy and food, and difficulties in the economy as a whole have led some commentators to predict an increase in the number of borrowers struggling to repay mortgage debt.

The Council of Mortgage Lenders has predicted that 45,000 properties could be repossessed by the end of 2008 – a 50% increase on last year’s figure – and is expected to report a rising number of repossessions when it publishes figures for the first six months of the year this Friday.

Extract ends from Hilary Osbourne at guardian.co.uk

The increase in repossessions marks a telling point in the state of the UK housing market. The Property Step speaks to its fair share of families experiencing the threat of repossession. Whilst reports state that mortgage lenders will use this method as last resort, the figures reported by The Guardian speak for itself.

Once you’ve contacted The Property Step and explained your circumstances, we will spring into action to halt proceedings. The easiest way to prevent repossession is to pay the outstanding arrears and return to financial normality.

Unfortunately, for some this is easier said than done and the only solution is to either be repossessed and walk away from home ownership (not the preferred route) or sell on your property to clear the outstanding debt.

The Property Step can agree a property sale in 5 days or less and can exchange/complete in as little as 3 weeks. By calling us on 0800 011 29 39 you can be well on your way to financial freedom. In most cases, you don’t have to move home, as you’re able to rent back the property from us.