Blanchard Consultancy – the independent construction consultant

One of Britain’s most powerful bankers gave a grim economic forecast last night that the country was only midway through the housing slump and that unemployment was set to soar.

John Varley, group chief executive of Barclays, painted a bleak outlook, saying that property prices could fall by a total of 30 per cent from their peak to the end of 2009 while unemployment could rise to 7.5 per cent of the working population. The previous lending policies’ of banks, in which 100 per cent mortgages and beyond were approved, were “madness”, he said, admitting that banks were partly to blame for the current recession.

It was time they showed “humility”, and said “sorry” to customers for their role in the sharp economic downturn and they needed “to take their share of responsibility”.

Mr Varley said, in an interview to be broadcast on Sky News tonight that there was still more pain coming for homeowners: “Our view was that from the top to the bottom, you would see a fall of something like 25 to 30 per cent. I suspect we’re about halfway through that at the moment. I mean that slow-down, the negative house price inflation started in 2007, it’s accelerated in 2008.

Read the full article at Times Online

Labels: Barclays, falling house prices, House market

A leading group of property workers has called on the Government to kick start the housing market, as new figures showed that people selling their houses are being forced to cut almost 10 per cent off the asking price to secure a sale.

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), said that the Government’s attempts to drag the housing market out of the doldrums have been “limited”, and has made a number of suggestions to kick start activity.

The Government is tomorrow expected to announce a series of new measures to help struggling homeowners and first-time buyers.

Proposals are forecast to include improved support for people facing repossession and shared equity schemes for those trying to get on the property ladder.

Read more at Times Construction news

Labels: falling house prices, House market, House prices survey, Housing Minister, property prices, property trends, RCIS, uk housing

Property bargains are increasing daily as sellers cut their asking prices in an attempt to make wary buyers commit in a slow summer market – but the mortgage drought and a loss of confidence among buyers means that few are taking advantage.

Sellers are asking £5,403 less for their homes than a month ago, with the typical price of a house down, on average, by 2.3 per cent at £229,816, according to a survey on Rightmove, the property search website.

In London, where the market has deteriorated sharply, asking prices have dropped by £21,096, or 5.3 per cent, to an average £379,162 in a month. Prices are down 3.8 per cent in the capital over the past year, compared with 4.8 per cent across the UK.

Despite such reductions, properties appear to be more difficult to sell, with Rightmove-registered agents reporting 78 unsold properties on their books, up from 77 last month. Miles Shipside, a director of Rightmove, said: “Buyers are currently benefiting from the best choice in years.”

Rightmove blames the mortgage drought for the state of the market, adding that transactions are in danger of dropping to levels last seen in 1959.

Despite fears that there could be a surge of properties put on the market as the slumping economy and soaring prices forced more borrowers into difficulties with their mortgages and pushed asking prices even lower, Rightmove says that there is no sign yet of a rush of homes for sale. New listings are 106,000, about 25 per cent lower than typically seen at this time of year. Mr Shipside said: “Those who do not have to sell are holding off.”

Read the full article at Times Online.

Labels: falling house prices, findaproperty, House market, property analysis, property prices, Rightmove, uk housing