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House prices Fall

House prices fell by 1.5 per cent n February, the first decline since June 2009, the Halifax House Price Index has shown.

The seven consecutive months of increase mean the average price still remains eight per cent higher than the low reached in April 2009.

This equates to an average increase of £12,367, taking the average house price to £166,857.

Halifax has suggested that a low supply of properties has been a key factor in pushing up prices, with improvements in the market only recently encouraging sellers to enter the market but mortgage finance remaining difficult to secure.

Recent winter weather and the expiry of the stamp duty holiday have also hit the market, the Halifax said.

Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors chief economist Simon Rubinsohn agreed with this.

"Nevertheless, the underlying trend remains more positive than some of the recent headline numbers would suggest," he commented.

Monthly sales should rebound, the expert predicted, with prices resuming a modest upward trend.

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Why a survey is always a good idea #8

Why a survey is always a good idea #7

Take a look at this:

http://www.reviewcentre.com/review584618.html

We are very proud of these testimonials!

Property Prices still too high?

Take a look at this:

http://www.propertyweek.com/story.asp?sectioncode=297&storycode=3155668&c=1

Our take is that we do not expect to see any significant rise or fall in prices overall but that there will be pockets with growth and some pockets where we may see continued falling prices.

Do email for our opinion on a specific area.

Why a survey is always a good idea #5

Why a survey is always a good idea #6

Why a survey is always a good idea #4

Increase in property supply fails to halt rising prices

A modest increase in the number of properties coming up for sale is having little effect on the housing market as prices continue to rise, according to the RICS UK Housing Market survey published earlier this week.

For the sixth consecutive month, more chartered surveyors are reporting that the number of new instructions of houses for sale is increasing rather than falling.

However, demand is still outstripping supply with 28% more surveyors stating that enquiries from potential purchasers are rising rather than falling. This figure is slightly down on previous months, but still indicates strong interest from buyers.

However transaction volumes are the lowest for a number of years.

Meet Some of the Team

From left to right

Olivia Gurr, Jenni Cole, Nicki Barton, Emma Glynn, Andrea Ruffles, Elaine Pickering, Dan Butt

now survey - surveyors training day

The pictures above show the now survey surveyor training day held recently to update our surveyors on the new requirements of the RICS Homebuyer Survey.

After a number of years the RICS have decided to update the Homebuyers Survey and the new report format is now in its transitional period with full roll out and implementation due by the end of March 2010.

At now survey we will be trialling the new report during the next few months and hope to have the roll out complete by February of next year.

The new survey report differs from the current report in many ways, but most obviously it introduces the idea of condition ratings for elements of the building based upon a traffic light system making it far easier for potential purchasers to understand the significance of defects found during the survey inspection.

One of our surveyors, Claire Bayliss, spent two hours running through the changes in detail and provided examples of defects and how to rate them for our surveyors.

If you are interested in a survey report of any type have a look at our website -

www.now-survey.com/quotations.html

Are interest rates alone enough to stop the rise in house prices?

take a look here to see.

My own view is that the very real lack of supply is pushing prices up and next year should see a levelling of price rises as a more usual level of supply returns.

But it is only my view!

Pre-Budget report - Empty rates exemption extended

Chancellor Alistair Darling has extended the relief on Empty Rates tax for properties below the value of £18,000.

This is good news for our commercial property management team and clients and affects abput 70% of empty property.

for more visit this link