The exciting transformation of our site is now well under way and should be completed by Jan ‘10. So for all those First Time Buyers, there’s soon to be a site totally dedicated to you. Giving you all the properties in Maidstone and surrounding areas within your budget and giving you specialist support.
If you have any feedback or content you would like to see feel free to drop us an email at info@matchingproperties.co.uk
Whilst some pundits extol the virtues of the low base rate others are anticipating a down turn in late 2009 and early 2010. What comes across loud and clear to us is that whilst the property market in the UK is still a real mixed bag at the moment with no one able to predict what will happen next, the forecast is a far rosier picture than the 8% fall for 2009 and flat line for 2010 as predicted in Reuters June survey.
In Sky News recently we heard that mortgage lending for house buyers was 19% higher during July this year than in the same month in 2008 indicating the first material annual growth since early 2007. The number of first time buyers applying for loans also increased significantly, some 18%, giving hope that the battered property market is genuinely on the road to recovery.
After experimenting with the private selling market over the past couple years the board of directors have decided that the market is not ready to sell on their own as yet. We truly believe that this will be the “future of property promotion” and when people are ready to take the ‘plunge’ Matching Properties will be ready to go as the best choice in the ‘Auto Trader’ housing market!
The directors have come to the decision to help the most vulnerable people in this very tough housing market the ‘1st time buyers’. We aim to become the ‘one stop shop’ for 1st time buyers! So Matching Properties will only list properties within the reach of your average 1st time buyer.
Matching Properties “for first time buyers” - The directors would love to know what you think of this??
Obviously if you have a property which falls into the ‘1st time buyers’ category then you will still be able to list to sell privately.
Estate agents are calling for home sellers’ packs to be suspended branding them an expensive waste of time. The £300 price tag of packs punishes sellers already suffering from effects of market devaluations. Estate agents have argued that, in a tricky market, forcing home owners to spend money before they have sold their home is unhelpful. The National Audit Office found that 80% of buyers do not see a HIP before making an offer and most said the HIP had no affect on their decision. The conservative party has said it is committed to abolishing HIPS.
Housing developers, Barratts are offering to give buyers in the north midlands gas, electricity, water and council tax free of charge until the summer of 2010.
In a bid to get buyers motivated, Barratts North Midlands director, James Poynor feels that the new exclusive offer is an attractive proposition considering the current economic climate.
‘Paying utility bills is one of the biggest variables in most household’s disposable income. So when gas and electricity prices are as high as they are now everyone feels the strain.
‘You could have literally thousands of pounds more to spend for the next year and a half, by which time economists think the worst of the recession will be over,’ he added
Estate agents in London are selling just one house every two weeks according to a survey revealed today…
If like me and you keep on reading the word Gazunders and wondering what it actually is talking about this might help. Gazundering involves buyers slashing their offers just before contracts are exchanged, sellers feel they have no choice but to accept the lower price, or risk missing out on the property they intend to buy. Gazundering is up recently and I’ve read that the government should do more to stamp it out which will help increase the speed of selling houses. Gazundering was a major problem during the housing slump if the early 1990s. It is the opposite of the ‘guzumping’ that occurs when the market is buoyant, where buyers find themselves outbid at the last minute. There we go - solved.
Britians largest house builder, Taylor Wimpey today revealed that it’s profits had almost been wiped out, profits plunged by 96% in the first half of the year shrinking to £4.3m down from last years figure of£119.8! Nice..
Closing down 53 estate agents today as a result of the housing market downturn (or maybe becuase matching properties is so good) 
Was reading today tghat even though annual profits are down the company said sales had not slipped any further since it reported in April… Good times