Mortgage Metrics from the Bank of England

UK Mortgage approvals fall in July

•Mortgage approvals fell to 66,569 in July down from 67,085 in June according to the Bank of England.

•To compare prior to the 2008 crash, months hit 90,000 and Jan 2014 hit 76,000

  

House Purchase lending growth remains steady in 2ndQuarter

Total gross lending in June grew by 6% on the month to £17.9 billion (20% up on June last year), according to the Bank of England. In the quarter, gross lending totalled £51.4 billion -up 11% on the first quarter, and 23% on the second quarter of 2013.

There were 28,600 first-time buyer loans in June -7% more than in May, and 19% up on June 2013. By value, there was £4.2 billion of lending to first-time buyers in June -11% up on May and 27% higher than June last year

Buy-to-let lending grew 5% over the month to £2.2 billion in June, though the number of loans was the same as May at 15,600.

The Weather, September and stuff!

So, here we are in September 2014. As usual, its a busy month! Plenty of people are looking to find out how much their property is worth and making decision about moving this autumn/winter. The weather is helping too. We have been taking some lovely blue skied pics of properties going on the market. Lets hope the indian summer continues for a little while longer.

Whats in the news...well mortgage rates are staying nice and low and with recent poor employment news, it looks like the Bank of England Base rate is going to stay where it is for the forseeable..even though there are some members of the committee trying to push it up!

Social Networking seems to be getting more attention from the property world! I'm still shocked at how many Estate agents are just not getting involved! Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Vine, Google+ and an amazing array of marketing opportunities are out there which the property industry is just not embracing...

For us this arena is just brilliant....We hit 10,000 followers on twitter last week - making us the busiest Merseyside estate agaent twitter account! We use twitter for promoting Property, the industry, stuff going on in Liverpool and just anything of interest really. Our clients get marketing coverage with pictures and videos and plenty of commentary!

This week we have been ranked 57th in the top 1,000 UK Independent Estate and Letting agents Power league. We are so proud of this team effort! We are also just outside the Zoopla top 100 Estate Agents and have been in the 90s a couple of times recently!

The Property Portal competition is hotting up! Rightmove and Zoopla, the market 1 and 2 are to be challenged by the Independent Estate Agent driven Agents Mutual who's own portal 'On the Market' prepares to go live in Jan 15. Ian Springett and his team have been up and down the country on a mission to engage a cooperative of agents to dismantle the duopoloy that is currently heading the market. At a cost of nearly £40m a year to compete at this level, Agents mutual are expecting, and to be fair, getting, a lot of support. Watch this space on this one.
 PS I like the logo...not sure about the name though..

And still they come........ Allerton Rd has yet more Property companies! I counted 13 within 100m of our HQ at 3 Allerton Rd! And theres more further down the road.....Property Central or what. There was a time in the 1950s when it was just us..then Sykes Waterhouse joined the party...then Venmore Thomas & Jones!

Thats it for now...I'll stop rambling on....gotta go and talk to people about property! Happy house hunting! 
     

Anfield Regeneration leads to businesss and home owner wait list

 


REGENERATION work to Anfield and the surrounding streets has led to a waiting list of people wanting to move to the area for the “first time in a generation”.
As bulldozers continue to level houses behind the ground’s Main Stand, the project is already attracting interest from businesses and homeowners desperate to live and work in the area once the project is complete.
The news comes as changes to matchday access to the ground will be implemented for the first time on Sunday.
Council chiefs say the £260m Anfield Project - which will see the expansion of the stadium and improvement to the surrounding streets - is making solid progress.

 Read the full article
 http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/anfield-stadium-development-waiting-list-7575234

Top 1,000 Independent Estate and Letting Agents - we are 55th!!!

Roberts, Edwards & Worrall are proud to say we are now 55th in the Top 1,000 Independent Estate and Letting Agents as provided by EAUKNetworking. A magnificent team effort by all the guys! Well done!!

City Of Liverpool could benefit from £6m Football boost

Liverpool city centre is in line for a £6 million boost to its economy when Liverpool Football Club competes in the Champions League during the 2013/14 season, according to industry experts.

Speaking in the latest Move Commercial lunch debate covering the impact of Champions League football on tourism, the economy and regeneration in Liverpool, Kieran Maguire of the Football Industry Group at Liverpool University, says: “The minimum benefit is around £6m in terms of the extra spend during group stage games. The people who will benefit are the people who struggle in midweek – taxis, restaurants, bars and hotels.”
Everton has qualified for the Europa League tournament and with foreign fans expected to spend an average of £700 per visit to the city, and debate participant Bill Addy, chief executive of the Liverpool BID Company, says both clubs competing will be a “tremendous boost to the city”.
The Move Commercial lunch debate, which took place at 60 Hope Street and also included co-owner Colin Manning, also focuses on the impact of European football on Manchester’s regeneration in recent years and the lessons Liverpool can learn from projects such as Hotel Football near to Old Trafford.
For more expert insight and the latest commercial property and business news, features and analysis, pick up a copy of Move Commercial in selected offices, hotels and restaurants across the North West or view it online now.

Repeat Business

Like many companies we love repeat business. Customers who come back and use our services again. Every week we have someone tell us their Gran bought a house off us many years ago, or mum and dad sold a house through you in the 60s! Well today we had some repeat business. We went to a house to discuss the property market and give expert advice on the property we were at, only to find that the owners had bought the property from us 45 years ago! They remember it well and have decided to come back to us all these years later.....Theres repeat business for you! 

One of our marketing newspaper from July 1987

Zoopla v Rightmove

Well look out Rightmove, Zoopla are at your heels and could even be ahead of you in the Property Portal League table. A few short years ago, Rightmove was king and Zoopla and a host of other so called property portals were the 'also rans'. Rightmove made the most of their position on their perch and put a lot of their clients noses 'out of joint' by, many would say 'over a barrel' tactic with their pricing model. As a Rightmove fan I think they have been a major factor in moving the property industry forward especially with use of technology. So well done Rightmove.
But watch out. Zoopla have joined you at the top of the league. Its cost a lot but I reckon they are there with Rightmove! Alex Chesterman, their leading light, has taken them up. Through a series of acquisitions, plenty of investment, IT development and strategic marketing, Zoopla's offering and lead has made them one the fastest growing companies around and certainly a leader in the property industry. Now they are going public! They have launched an IPO (Initial Public offering) selling shares in the company. Even smarter they are offering shares to their clients at a 20% discount. A nice move by Alex and his people. I guess the majority of their clients are also Righmove clients too - I bet a large percentage prefer Zoopla over Rightmove!  
Watch out both though......Agents Mutual is nibbling at the portal market place...so watch this space as the story unfolds!

See our properties at  Rightmove  and Zoopla