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The recently issued Halifax report showed that UK house prices have fallen by 2.5%. Further decrease in house prices is almost inevitable due to overinflated property prices. Thus many Britons are looking at overseas properties for possible investment opportuninites. Overseas property markets have been displaying a high potential in terms of rich rental rewards.

Some of the more popular overseas areas where British people tend to buy properties include countries such as Australia, Spain and New Zealand. Research conducted by Foreign Currency Direct shows that ten million UK people are looking to buy a property in another country and four million of these would like eventually to live in their overseas homes permanently.

Most British people see the option of buying property overseas as an excellent investment and this provides them with a choice to move overseas and have a better quality of life. If you not ready for such a bold move but want to leave England, there is always the option of buying a house in Wales or Scotland.

The UK public is finding it difficult not only to obtain a mortgage but to obtain a personal loan. Some lenders have changed the loan rates up to 5 times higher since the beginning of the year, while others have removed the loans alltogether from the market. Lenders are trying to make personal loans less attractive and some are even aiming to make their loans so uncompetitive that they turn away customers. Thus personal loans are becoming increasingly difficult to obtain. This might have a negative impact on the disposable income of the general public as they might not be able to have enough money for purchases such as cars.

People need to be aware of some of the factors involved when arranging the best deal for a personal loan:

• Make sure you know exactly how much you need (avoid the urge to overspend)
• Avoid the lure of consolidation loans
• Try to get a fixed-rate deal
• Pay attention to tiered interest rates

If people are still struggling to get a personal loan and have to forego luxuries such as cars then they might need to rethink if they need a house with a garage or a parking space. It might be cheaper to buy or rent a house that does not have a garage or even a garden.

The recent house price fall could be in part attributed to the slowing economy growth. This in turn is due to a number of factors:

• Ongoing credit crunch in financial markets
• Rising labour costs
• Higher oil prices
• Higher food prices

The Bank of England’s response to the negative economic situation resulted in yet another interest rate cut. This time the interest rate is down to 5%. The effect this has on homeowners and their fixed rate deals was established by announcements from both Nationwide and Alliance & Leicester. These top lenders have announced plans to increase rates on their fixed rate deals by 0.32%. This can be considered as quite a substantial increase especially for homeowners that are currently coming to the end of their short-term deals and are looking for new fixed-rate deals. This could have an impact on the areas where people will choose to own a house as two bedroomed homes in areas such as Lewisham tend to be cheaper than similar sized ones in Holland Park.

The credit crunch has forced some people to re-evaluate their spending, cut back on luxury purchases and look for ways to save money. People who are living in small houses need to be extra creative when it comes decorating their properties on a budget. There are some basics to keep in mind when trying to make the most out of a small space:

• It can be simpler and easier to work with the furniture that you already have in the house.  Try to arrange it in such a way that leaves more room for shelves, desks and wall art . This can be done by clustering furniture towards the center of the room so the surrounding walls are left free for any storage pieces.
• Buy cheap rugs and curtains in solid colours to match the rest of your decorations
• Art pieces can add style and class to any room and do not need to be expensive. When shopping for art on a budget, try visiting your local market or a craft store.
• Furniture stores may have a back room where they keep scratched and dented items available for sale at big discounts. So even if you cannot afford the prices at your favourite store, ask them about their not so ‘new’ items.

So even if you living in a studio and have limited space, there are always ways to make your house feel like a home (and you don’t need to spend thousand of pounds to do it either).

Research from the Council for Mortgage Lenders (CML) that looked into prevailing attitudes towards equity release here & abroad, noticed that while older generations were still largely more concerned about ‘eating into the inheritance’ they wished to pass down. Younger homeowners were more comfortable drawing on their housing assets and were rather keen on the idea of equity release.

“We’ve a generation that is not saving enough and that is heavily indebted. These are the ones who will be considering equity release,” says head of pensions & savings policy at AXA, Steve Folkard.

Let’s get more insight into prevailing notions about equity release:

• In the US, New Zealand and Australia, equity release is already a very popular product
• Progress on this count in the UK has been rather slow owing to its ‘poor’ image and lack of big name providers.
• Significantly, consumers do understand the nature of the plan and realise they are better off in their own home rather than being in a retirement home.
• According to the CML, the task for the government is making it clear that equity release is both available as well as attractive even while detailing the downsides.

HSBC is standing strong in the face of recent adverse economic changes. HSBC is offering its customers a mortgage that will match their current fixed-rate deals. This bold move is due to HSBC’s sound position, its competitive nature and its additional funding, mainly from Far-Eastern businesses.

While other banks are restricting lending amounts, HSBC allows home-owners to keep their current mortgage deals for a further 2 years. This limited offer begins next week and is subject to various restrictions and fees. The fee amount will depend on the interest rate and the size of the loan.

This bodes well for current home-owners and investors of buy-to-let properties. Due to a rise in rent prices in areas such as Notting Hill and Kensington, some properties are being rented out for as high as £3,750 per week for a 4 bedroom home .

HSBC’s offer could have the result of improving its longer-term market position but there are concerns that HSBC will be facing an extremely high level of demand that other mortgage lenders have experienced in the past.

The recent report issued by Halifax House Price Index has confirmed the much speculated changes in the property prices. House prices had fallen by 2.5% in March in the UK. As for London, there was actually an increase of 1.1% in the property prices across the capital. Wales was the most affected by the decline in house prices, as the region suffered a staggering 4.7% fall.Overall, the report concluded that despite the negative changes in the housing prices, property has grown substantially over the past ten years. This phenomenon could be attributed to a number of factors:

• A strong labour force
• Low interest rates
• New housing shortages
• Decrease in unemployment

Certain areas in London, such as Chelsea, have seen a substantial increase in regards to property prices. Luxury penthouses on Kings Road are priced to sell for as high as £6,250,000.

Property investors to first-time buyers are being affected by the credit crisis. Confidence levels across the UK and whether buyers can get mortgages decide the prices.

Remortgaging is an option but the cost could come as a shock because of the high rates and the fees involved. Those who got their mortgage some years ago may be in for a surprise. For example, a person who found the best three-year fixed-rate deal at four and a half per cent and around four hundred pounds for an arrangement fee will have to pay a fee of about eleven hundred pound for a fixed rate of five point six percent.

Tracker mortgages are better for people looking to remortgage. Trackers are tied up with the base rate so the cost of the mortgage will fall if the base interest rate falls. For certainty in future payments choose a fixed-rate mortgage.

It may seem odd but a twenty-five year deal for borrowers is much better than a two to three year old one. The redemption penalties that usually tie down the borrower last for the first ten years only.

In order to make more buyers climb onto the housing ladder, the government has made a proposal to offer two equity loans to first time property buyers.

Alistair Darling, who has recently publicised the Open Market HomeBuy (OMHB) scheme, is expecting that a vast number of first time buyers would become encouraged as their purchasing power will be boosted by up to 50 per cent.

Availability will start increasing from April. The eased-up loan norms will offer buyers the chance to hunt around for the best mortgage deals but will also make the task less hassle free for them.

The procedure has been simplified further than the previous OMHB products. The housing minister Caroline Flint also added that along with affordability, which the new loans will offer, flexibility will also be guaranteed. Until the residents will not acquire 80 per cent of the equity in the property, the condition of the stamp duty being payable will not be a compulsion. Currently, 61 per cent of the first time buyers pay stamp duty.

You can cut down on your premium by following some of the below ideas:

First of all, get in place a good home security system. There are certain alarm systems which might be preferred by an insurer. The NACOSS standard alarm can help in cutting premiums with some firms by up to 7.5 per cent.

Another way of getting cheaper Home Insurance is to add to your voluntary excess. The amount of excess is the sum that you are willing to pay on claims. So, for instance, if you had a £50 excess & a £100 claim, you would pay half and the insurer the remaining half. The higher the excess you’re willing to pay, the lesser your premium. This can be as much as 20 per cent with some firms for as little as £250 excess.

Be proactive when it comes to your safety. If there’s a neighbourhood watch campaign being run, be part of it. This can help to bring down your premium. If you tell the home insurance firm about your participation in such a campaign, it can cut down your premiums by up to 5 per cent.