Zoomf News

The big attraction of buy-to-let over the past few years has been that landlords could look to getting a steady capital appreciation of around 10% plus per year while rental income paid the mortgage. With property prices now steady or dropping, the proposition looks less attractive; unless rental income can be increased, possibly difficult in the current environment.

Some predict that investors will hang on to their portfolios. Analysts Capital Economics dispute that even though house prices might fall over the next few years, investors that purchased their properties prior or in 2002 will still be winners as their investment would have gone up by 50 percent.

The number of buy-to-let mortgage products has diminished, going from 3,600 in 2007 to just 600 in 2008. This makes it harder not only for new landlords to get a mortgage but for existing landlords to remortgage in order to get a better deal. New investors hoping to get into the buy to let market might find it more difficult to do so in the future as more and more high street lenders are joining are unwilling to offer products for this type of investment in the current property market.

Individuals are not the only ones suffering. UK’s biggest property investment club, Inside Track, has suspended its buy to let ‘Become a property millionaire’ seminars. Another big name company making cutbacks is Paragon. This buy to let mortgage lender had to axe nearly 100 jobs due to falling shares and the money market crisis.

David Blanchflower, a senior Bank of England official, predicted that house prices could fall up to 30% if interest rates were not cut. He estimates that British houses could fall by a third unless interest rates are cut fast. Blanchflower said urgent action needs to be taken to keep Britain from following the U.S. into a what he saw as a recession.

“We need to take action to loosen policy sooner rather than later,” Blanchflower said. “I do feel that the slower rates fall, the further they will eventually have to go down to boost the economy.”

He went on to say that he was not sure that such a drop will definitely occur but there are possibilities. Estate agents polled by Hometrack said that prices are 0.9 per cent lower than a year ago. The worst affected areas are in Wales, West Midlands and even Greater London.

Arming estate agents with online advertising tips to fight the house price fall was the aim of the April’s ‘Capturing online leads’ seminar, hosted by Zoomf.com.

Second in a series of 2008 seminars focusing on effective online advertising for agents, the event was moderated by Zoomf’s very own property blogger Poppy Dinsey. Guest speakers included Zoomf’s Mike Carter, prominent online classifieds expert, Duncan Dunlop from Oodle, and a guest speaker from Homeflow.

The speaker from Homeflow kicked off the event with an overview of the online advertising market. The presentation illustrated that property marketing spend continues to grow yet property price trends look bleak. Agents were advised to devise a specific marketing strategy and focus more of their advertising and budget spend on search engines rather than portals.

Duncan Dunlop provided the audience with a step by step guide to online classifieds sites such as Oodle. He explained Oodle’s revenue model where posting listings are free, consumers can pay for increased visibility and the ‘ad-sense’ Oodle provides for listings.

Mike Carter, Co-Founder of Zoomf, briefed the audience about Zoomf’s new advertising product-Zoomf Boost. He highlighted the importance of a pay for performance model and his advice to agents was to become aware of advertising models that are cost efficient, especially when compared to the costly subscription model used by property portals. By using Zoomf Boost, agents will be able to monitor where their money is going and will see the breakdown of the results.

Thus the key message to agents from the April seminar was to make every advertising £ count by targeting where advertising could help generate leads and the budget spend could be monitored and evaluated. Above all, the results of advertising should be measured and tactics adopted to get the best value for money.                                                    

According to the survey by property consultancy Hometrack, house prices have continued their decline in April. Prices fell 0.6% in April from March, the biggest decline since December 2006. Hometrack commented that estate agents had reported a minor increase in applicant numbers and sales agreed over February and March, but this did not continue through to April. This month saw a decrease in house sales and a decline in applicant numbers.

The Centre of Economic and Business Research have predicted a 23% rise in home repossessions this year. This is an increase in comparison to last year as repossessions will rise to 33,400 for the year.

Even Londoners are in for a slowdown of the property market as prices have decreased by 2.2% over the past 6 months. Those looking to rent instead of buying, can still find affordable options in areas such as Greenwich and Putney.

The number of house mortgages approved has fallen to a record low in March. A report by British Banker’s Association (BBA) shows that just 35,417 new mortgages were approved over March, the lowest number since it started collecting figures this way in September 1997.

When comparing mortgage approvals this year to the previous one, there is quite a substantial difference. Approvals for house purchases were 46% lower for March last year, and well below the previous six-month average of 44,879. The BBA’s figures showed a decline in the value of mortgages advanced in March, and a steep fall in the number of mortgages approved is set to have a further negative effect on this.

Howard Archer, chief UK economist at Global Insight, said: “March’s BBA data indicate that mortgage activity is being pummeled by a toxic combination of stretched affordability and very tight lending conditions. The low level of mortgage activity is not only a consequence of slowing demand for houses due to the elevated affordability pressures facing potential house buyers, but also increasingly due to very tight credit conditions leading to markedly fewer and more expensive mortgages being available”.

Rooftop, the UK’s sub-prime lender, is closing down. Rooftop Mortgages is the specialist lender owned by Bear Sterns. Rooftop is a lender specialist in mortgages for borrowers who don’t fit a standard mortgage profile. Rooftop works with professional financial advisors.

Ginny Dorrow, Rooftop’s CEO, stated that due to deteriorating market conditions the company’s origination business has become unsustainable. She promised that Rooftop’s employees will be treated fairly and looked after in light of recent developments.

This does not bode well for first time buyers interested in applying for a mortgage. They might be forced to look into renting instead of buying a property. Areas such as Lewisham and Brixton could offer fair rent deals on two bedroomed properties.

Today is Earth Day. The aim is to encourage the public to evaluate how green their lifestyle is and to make the necessary changes to benefit the environment. They could start to do so with their homes. Green homes are attainable with just a bit of research, creativity and some of the following innovative products:

•  Solar-powered porch lighting
• Natural home flooring
• Building materials made from fast growing trees (instead of tropical rainforest goods)

A store that is making a name for itself in terms of providing consumers with products for their eco-designed homes is Eco Age (www.eco-age.co.uk). Their vision is to create a shop in which people can find inspiration, ideas, advice, and apply concrete solutions for green living. Some of their products include bamboo computers, recycled pencils and a variety of energy-saving kitchen appliances.

In the current property market, few people can afford a small house, let alone a penthouse. Penthouses have always represented the ‘high life’ - the most extravagant, luxurious and exclusive lifestyle that few people can afford and that most desire. Here are a few interesting facts about penthouses:

• A penthouse is usually on the top floor, with fantastic views, terraces and balconies
• A penthouse will have high tech features such as security systems and touch pad electornic controls
• It will have a vast amount of space and is preferred by artists and designers
• Some penthouses will even have concierge services

Penthouses are very popular in the UK, especially in London. Canary Wharf and Docklands are amongst the most lucrative areas where to buy a penthouse. These areas offer panoramic views of the river and some even have their own heated swimming pools.

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 current economic situation had changed the way people look for property. The emphasis now is on price and region, as most buyers fear their property diminishing in value. Yet some can still afford the luxuries of choosing a house because of its views. If you are bent set on living in the City then an apartment near St Paul’s could offer you fantastic river views and you might even see the Cathedral from your bedroom window.

If it’s tree-lined streets that you are after, then look no further than areas such as Islington. Some streets in this area have quiet, peaceful streets wiht lovely green shrubbery and trees. You might even forget that you are living in London!

If money is not an issue, then a penthouse with panoramic views should definitely be on your list of properties to consider. Some luxury penthouses in Wimbledon have extensive panoramic views of south, west and east Wimbledon.