Our weekly look back at five things we learned this week.
Average house price up £29k in the past year – Nationwide
House price growth accelerated in February with the average price of a home increasing by £29,000 over the past year.
Mortgage interest payments down 22% versus 30 years ago
The cost of a mortgage for today’s homebuyers is 22% more affordable than it has been over the last three decades, according to research by Henry Dannell.
Only 40% of homes in England meet recommend energy rating
Birmingham had the least amount of homes that meet the standard with only 31% of homes meeting the target energy rating. Both Stoke-on-Trent and Lancaster also fell below the national average with 32% and 33% of their properties respectively scoring an EPC rating of ‘C’ or above.
The bridging market saw record growth in Q4 2021
Data provided by members of the Association of Short-Term Lenders shows that bridging applications reached a record high of £12.7bn in the quarter ending December 2021 – an increase of 65.4% on the previous quarter, which itself was a record period at the time.
First-time buyers save for an average of four years
The number of first-time buyers rose to nearly 410,000 last year with average deposits estimated at around £53,935 but affordability is still being squeezed with house prices estimated to be around 6.9x earnings for would-be homeowners.
