South west London estate agents talk property market moderation

Aug. 23, 2014 - PRLog -- We are often asked to predict what’s next for the local and more national property market, and we are happy to share our thoughts. Although Winkworth south west London estate agents (http://www.winkworth.co.uk/regions/south-west-london) don’t not have a crystal ball, we can draw on our extensive experience, longevity in the local community, historical data accumulated by our 14 offices in south west London and tracking of wider housing market research to form an educated opinion.

The latest UK Economic Outlook report from PwC looked at the prospects of the UK and London property market, projecting that growth this year would be in the region of 8% for the whole of the UK, with 13% uplift for house prices in London. The latest figures from Rightmove indicate property for sale in south west London has appreciated at pace over the last 12 months - 15% up on the previous year and 22% up on 2011 levels.

The PwC report also suggested the pace of house price growth is set to moderate over the next two to three years. It's worth remembering that London is a property market all of its own and houses for sale in south west London (http://www.winkworth.co.uk/search/list?geoLocationType=cu...) tend to be purchased by those already living in the capital - so affordability tends to be relative. Winkworth expect property for sale in south west London to remain in line with other prime areas of the capital - moderate increases and a return to house-by-house appreciation that is led by a property’s location, condition, size and specification.

Below are some other factors that may also affect the property market moving into the second half of 2014:-

The Mortgage Market Review (MMR) - the MMR was undertaken to identify why the 2007-2008 property market crash happened and to put measures in place to stop it reoccurring. Reckless lending was marked as a major contributory factor and new regulations pertaining to mortgage application interviews are in place. It is thought a deeper probing of borrowers' finances and 'stress tests' - asking people to show how they'd afford mortgage repayments should interest rates rise and personal circumstances change - may stem slow the number of mortgages being approved.

Interest rates - second guessing what the Bank of England will do next with the historically-low interest rate has become a national past time. Estate agents in south west London say it's worth remembering that interest rates and mortgage rates are two different things but generally, if interest rates rise, mortgage rates swiftly follow suit. Rising mortgage rates affect levels of affordability in term of monthly mortgage repayments so in theory, an upward trend in rates should prompt home movers to re-evaluate moving plans and how much money they can afford to borrow.

Mortgage lendingcaps - the Financial Policy Committee has recommended a restriction on new mortgages - suggesting a limit on high loan-to-income lending. In layman's terms, this means sticking to lower income multiples when working out how much a buyer can borrow - so adhering to, for example, three times a borrower's salary and no higher. This move would temper the amount people borrow; how much they could stretch themselves when making an offer and possibly the amount of new mortgages taken out.