Financial Woes Stop 3 Million from Moving Home

Financial Woes Stop 3 Million from Moving Home

15:33 PM, 1st September 2011, About 13 years ago

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"House prices dropped £90 a day in August"

Three million homeowners are staying put rather than moving home over concerns about jobs, money and mortgages.

A lack of confidence in the economy is undermining the housing market, a new survey in advance of the RESI 2011 conference later this month has found.

RESI 2011 is a networking event for house builders, social housing managers and mortgage lenders.

About a million homeowners cannot move because they cannot borrow enough money due to uncertain job prospects, or even if they have a job with a good future, their earnings are not enough to buy the home they want.

Around a quarter – 750,000 homeowners – were frustrated they could not move because they could not find a suitable property on the market.

The research came on the back of the latest Nationwide Building Society house price survey that revealed house prices dropped £90 a day in August.

Property values were down 0.6 per cent on July and 0.4 per cent compared with 12 months ago.

The price of an average property is £165,914, down from £168,731 in July.

Robert Gardner, Nationwide’s chief economist, said: “UK house prices declined in August, although this doesn’t change the picture of relative stability that has characterised the market over the past 12 months. Prices were broadly unchanged compared with August 2010.

“Sluggish demand for homes, combined with only a gradual rise in the supply of available properties, has helped to keep property prices stable since last summer. We expect this trend to be maintained over the remainder of 2011, although downside risks have increased as UK and global growth prospects have weakened.”

The Financial Services Authority has also released statistics for showing the number of new mortgages fell last year – while the average age of first time buyers stayed the same at 30.8 years old.

Tougher lending conditions and the general environment for first time buyers is impacting on the housing market.


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