December was a negative month for Halifax with a fall in prices by -0.9%, ending the final three months of 2011 -0.1% lower than the previous quarter. This leave prices of the average home at £160,063

November was actually a slightly positive month with a growth of 0.3% leaving the average house price very similar to Halifax at £160,780.

2011 “The Turbulent year”

Although Halifax ended the year down -1.3%, and Land Registry was down -1.9% in November, this just continues the turbulent nature of 2011.

With a mixture of rises and falls; Halifax had 6 monthly falls and 5 increases, with 1 month unchanged, it is unsurprising that in essence 2011 was a flat year.

The number of property transactions has also decreased over the last year. In June to September 2010, there was an average of 62,293 sales per month. In the same months this year, the figure was 60,805 sales per month.

Commenting, Martin Ellis, housing economist, said:

“Whilst there was a modest fall overall in prices during 2011 with an annual decline of 1.3% in December, house prices held up well last year in the face of the difficult and deteriorating economic climate and substantial pressure on households’ finances.

“If the UK can avoid recession, we expect broad stability in house prices in 2012. There is, however, considerable uncertainty regarding the prospects for the UK economy which will, to a large extent, depend on how events in the Eurozone unfold. In addition, the extent to which households choose to reduce their debts will also affect growth. As a result, the outlook for house prices is also uncertain.”

London Bucks the trend

Throughout 2011 the fairly consistent view from the major House Price Indices was that London was the one region that had been bucking the overall UK trend.

The Land Registry found that by the end of November London had an annual increase of 1.4% bringing the average house price there to be £342,749 – more that twice that of the UK average.

Other regions have emulated the turbulent nature of the overall economy with varied performance through the year. The North East and North West have seen the biggest annual falls upto November of -5.4% and -4.8% resprectively.

However in comparison it has faired pretty well ending the year up by 1% over the course of 2011. Although not a massive positive move, it does demonstrate that the housing market has at least held it’s own.

The Nationwide statistics for December also report that in December the average price actually fell by -0.2%, leaving the typical home valued at £162,822.

Commenting on the figures, Robert Gardner, Nationwide’s Chief Economist, said:

“The 1% rise in house prices recorded over the past twelve months could hardly be described as a strong performance, but against a backdrop of anaemic economic growth and a deteriorating labour market, UK house prices were surprisingly resilient in 2011.

London however continued to buck the regional trend with nearly a 6% increase in prices, closely followed by the Outer Met with nearly 4%.

The largest loser was Northern Ireland with a massive -9% fall, the North West second but with a modest -1% fall.

“There has been less variation than usual in house price movements across the UK regions in recent quarters. Annual price changes in 10 of the 13 regions were clustered in a fairly narrow band between +2% and -2% in Q4. This trend is also evident in the two measures of regional house price variation shown below – the range (the highest rate of annual house price inflation recorded in a region during the quarter, compared to the weakest rate) and the standard deviation (which is a measure of how far price movements in all the regions deviate from the average).

The average house price in the UK increased by a small 0.4% in November. However in does continue the gradual increase in prices seen by Nationwide recently.

Further the typical home is now 1.6% higher than 1 year ago, with an average house price of £165,798.

Commenting on the figures, Robert Gardner,

Nationwide’s Chief Economist, said:

“House prices have remained surprisingly resilient in recent months, despite the deterioration in the economic outlook. But, with the UK economic recovery expected to remain sluggish well into 2012, house price growth is likely to remain soft, with prices moving sideways or drifting modestly lower over the next twelve months.”

Resilient Property Market

It would seem that the demand for property in the UK still remains subdued, and is in fact reducing over the past few month.

“… many of the factors that underpin the demand for homes have deteriorated further in recent months. For example, the UK economy lost  almost 200,000 jobs in the three months to September – similar to the pace of job losses seen during the depths of the 2008 recession. At the same time, wage growth slowed to 1.7% – less than half the pace of inflation over the same period.”

In this is contrast to the small but significant rises in house prices.

Little change to Nationwide Average House Price

The Nationwide House Price Index (HPI) for September continued to show the stagnant pattern that is prevalent across the whole of the Housing Market.

The HPI showed a tiny increase of 0.1% since August and a small yearly fall of -0.3%, leaving the average house price at £166,256

Commenting on the figures, Robert Gardner, Nationwide’s Chief Economist, said:

“UK house prices continued to tread water in September, with  prices  rising  by  0.1%  during  the  month.  Prices  were also essentially flat over the year, just 0.3% lower than September 2010. The three-month on three-month measure of house prices was unchanged in September.

Statistical trends

Looking at the associated trends, the average house price is now below the long term exponential trend taken from Q3 1981 through until today.

However the UK house price to earning ratio at around 5.5% is still above the long run average of 4.1%.

“Providing the UK recovery gradually gathers momentum in the months ahead, we continue to expect house prices to move sideways or to drift modestly lower over the remainder of 2011 and into 2012. Nevertheless, with demand and supply in the housing market finely balanced, recent financial market gyrations and the more challenging global economic backdrop have increased the downside risks in the period ahead.”

Manchester, Property Education website, Just Do Property have been shortlisted for the second year running as finalists for 2011/12 in the website category of the prestigious Landlord & Letting Awards.

Oliver Romain, editor of Landlord & Buy-to-Let magazine and lead judge for the Awards, commented: “The Landlord & Letting Awards are the premier nationwide private rented sector awards in the UK, and it’s great to be able to recognise and reward the best in the industry. This year’s response was phenomenal, with over 1,000 entries received across the various categories, so Just Do Property has done brilliantly to be shortlisted.”

The winners for each category will be announced at a gala dinner – hosted by property investor and TV presenter Melissa Porter – being held at the Concourse Suite, Birmingham NEC, Wednesday 16^th November, 2011.

Julie Hanson said: “We are thrilled to reach this stage in the judging process: it really is testament to our hard work and commitment. We are now just keeping our fingers crossed that we are lucky enough to walk away with a winner’s trophy on the night.”

Most people can’t believe their ears whenever Donna Jeavons tells her story.

• You buy a property in good faith

• You take out a mortgage to buy the property

• You use good reputable solicitors and everything is done correctly

• You find out three months later that it was a stolen house that you bought, plus there’s £30,000 worth of internal damage!

When she mentioned it to me, I too couldn’t believe it, so that’s why I felt compelled to ask Donna about the scam and write this article. Although Donna is dealing with a very stressful situation, she’s determined to bring some good out of her plight by launching a campaign to raise public awareness and help stop this happening to other people.

Here’s the incredible story…

Donna and her best friend Amanda bought a buy-to-let  property  from a trusted source in October 2010. It was a great deal, with no work required to the property, and it even came with an existing  tenant. Problems first started in December 2010 when the rent wasn’t paid and after going through the correct procedures to access and check the property, to their shock and horror they found that the house had been systematically vandalised:

• Carpets gone
• Bathroom gone
• Kitchen gone
• Gas fires gone
• Radiators gone
• Boiler stripped
• Plug sockets gone
• Light switches gone
• Electricial wires cut so high up in sockets and light switches that it now requires a full re-wire
• Floor boards lifted
• Some internal doors gone
• Ceilings damaged
• Inside of house painted black

Donna described the wrecked house as looking like “hell on earth”. Luckily, Donna and Amanda had taken out a comprehensive Landlord’s Insurance policy for the property which covered malicious damage. A claim was initiated and quotes gathered for the works to be done, totaling £30,000!

At this time Donna and Amanda were totally unaware of the second, even BIGGER shock that was about to hit them…

Police Investigation

In the New Year they were notified of a police investigation surrounding the house, not because of the malicious damage – as they initially thought – but because a man claiming to be the “real” owner of the property had contacted the police to say that his  house had been sold without his  knowledge or permission! So if this man was telling the truth, then Donna and Amanda had not only purchased a stolen house, but even worse – they were now implicated in a fraud case meaning that they swiftly went from being victims of vandalism to defendants of fraud!

The severity of this second shock soon hit home as they began to ask themselves:

• How can we have bought a stolen house?
• We did everything correctly. We used a reputable firm of solicitors so how could they have allowed this to happen?
• The solicitors that represented the seller were also a respected local firm, so how could they have got it wrong?
• If the house is proven to be stolen, what happens to the mortgage we have taken out – who is going to repay it?
• Whilst the case is investigated do we have to keep paying the mortgage?
• Should and can we repair the damage to the house whilst the investigation continues so that at least we can re-let it to cover our monthly costs?
• Will our insurers pay out if the house is suspected as being stolen?

The alleged real owner of the property has now applied to the Land Registry to get the title back on the property. Donna and Amanda have therefore had no choice but to legally challenge this because they bought the property in good faith and had taken out a mortgage to purchase the property.

Six months down the line, they are no further forward. They don’t know how or when their property nightmare is going to end. So far it has cost them over £5,000 in civil litigation fees, with the prospect of more legal costs looming in the future.

As Donna and Amanda feel the situation is totally out of their control, they have both taken action and are launching a nationwide campaign with two  objectives:

1) To make  the general public aware of this new and fast growing fraud

2) To suggest a solution to make the conveyancing process more robust.

What the Solicitors Say: This is what Paul Gelder of MS Law has to say about this subject:

MS LAW SOLICITORS have been selected to provide legal support to the campaign and to view their article  ‘BUYING FRESH AIR’ click on the link: http://www.stolenhomes.co.uk

The article highlights many of the flaws and risks you are unwittingly exposed to and will help you avid becomming a victim of property fraud.

This is what Mike Alexander of Alexander lawyers has to say about this subject:

This is what Richard Spencer of BPE has to say about this subject:

This is what Paul Ribbons Expert property Trader has to say on the matter:

I was flabbergasted when I heard of Donna’s predicament, in 25 years I have never heard of anything like this. When hearing the news I spoke to my lawyer who confirmed this is a crime that is growing fast due to electronic procedures and its costing many buyers Thousands of pounds, thief’s are very sophisticated now a days. It makes it very hard for people to have faith in a system that is obviously flawed and needs to be updated to keep up with modern practices.

We must pull together to try and prevent this happening in the future to others.

I pledge my support to your cause Donna.

A growing problem

Since the Electronic Title Deed became available to download in 2003, this cost of this fraud has increased tenfold. In 2004-05 there were 15 cases reported by the Land Registry which resulted in them paying out £491,656 in compensation, in 2009-10 this increased to 53 claims resulting in the Land Registry having to pay out £4.9million.

How can you protect yourself?

Fraudsters tend to target properties that have no mortgages on them, so if you own a property that without a mortgage, Donna’s research on the internet suggests to protect yourself that you get a solicitor that you know and trust to enter a restriction on your title deed. By doing this, if someone does attempt to sell your house they will not be able to until the restriction is removed from  your title deed, and you would have to give your permission for this to happen. So by doing this you can stop any potential fraudster in their tracks.

The average house price fell by -0.6% against the price in July and -0.4% against the average price in August 2010.

This places the average house price at £165,914.

Commenting on the figures, Robert Gardner, Nationwide’s Chief Economist, said:

“UK house prices declined by 0.6% in August, although this doesn’t change the picture of relative stability that has characterised the market over the past twelve months. Indeed, prices were broadly unchanged compared with August 2010 – just 0.4% lower.

Property prices have remained stable, albeit falling slightly, most likely due to a sluggish demand with only gradual rise in supply.

Nationwide believe that the labour market is key for housing and a major risk is the weak economic growth could cause a further deterioration of this.

Even though we are seeing small falling house prices, the UK house price to earnings ratio of  just over 5% is still above the long running average of 4.0%. Of course this much lower than the hight in 2007 of nearly 6.5%.

Average House Prices edge up in July

The Nationwide HPI for July reports house prices ‘edging up’, although in reality this is a miniscule change of 0.2%. This is however an improvement on last month’s completely static figures.

This still leaves the average house price for July at 0.4% low than last year at £168,731.

Commenting on the figures, Robert Gardner, Nationwide’s Chief Economist, said:

Stability has been the watchword for the UK housing market over the past 12 months. Sluggish demand for homes, combined with only a gradual rise in the supply of available properties, has helped to keep property prices relatively stable.

The negative movement in house prices and low volume has changed the landscape of the housing market over the last few years and the Nationwide highlights a trend towards the UK becoming a nation of renters!

While many people in the 16-24 age group still aspire to buy a home eventually, renting may also have become the more suitable option in the early stages of a career…..The improved quality of the private rental stock is also likely to have made private renting a more appealing option.

Halifax House Price Index this week reported a Monthly change of 1.2%, setting the average house price at £163,049.

Yet this also represents quite a substantial fall from last year of -3.5% and a quarterly change of -0.5%.

Of course we have seen positive and negatives through out the year from Halifax, nationwide and the Land Registry, indicating a fairly flat market.

Yet this is better than an all out double dip, which looks likely to have been avoided by the low interest rates helping to improve affordability. Indeed the typical mortgage payments have fallen from a peak of 48% of average disposable earnings in mid-2007 to 28% over the last quarter.

Obviously this affordability is a key factor in supporting the housing market, and a key reason the bank of England is maintaining interest rates.

Commenting, Martin Ellis, housing economist, said:

“The market is, however, likely to continue to face significant headwinds which are expected to constrain housing demand.  Low earnings growth, higher taxes and relatively high inflation are all continuing to put pressure on household finances.”

For more information visit: http://www.lloydsbankinggroup.com/media1/economic_insight/halifax_house_price_index_page.asp

Throughout this year we have seen a flat market with small increases and decreases. Yet this is the first time that we have seen a 0.0% change.

Does this mean, as suggested by Nationwide, that house prices are stabilising? Demand remains subdued, but so does supply, so it may not indicate a turning point.

Commenting on the figures, Robert Gardner, Nationwide’s Chief Economist, said:

“Stability remained the theme in June, with house prices flat over the month.”
“The property market has moved sideways over the past six months, and June’s data suggest that trend is being maintained through the summer months.

Rise, fall or more of the same?

“It’s hard to make the case for prices rising or falling sharply over the remainder of 2011 if the economy develops as we expect. Economic growth looks set to gather pace in the months ahead, but is likely to remain unspectacular. This in turn points to only modest gains in employment and sluggish wage increases, which will continue to keep many potential buyers on the sidelines.

“At the same time, the chances of a near term increase in interest rates appear to have diminished. Ultra-low interest rates should continue to support affordability for some time yet and keep a lid on forced sales. Overall, a combination of low transaction volumes, still tight housing supply and flattish house prices looks set to stay for the remainder of the year.”

For more information, visit: http://www.nationwide.co.uk/hpi/