DTB Investments

UK House Prices Rise 273%

20th January 2010

A report published today by Halifax purports to show that the average UK house price has increased by 273% over the last 50 years from £2,507 in 1959 to £162,085 in 2009.

In its latest housing market analysis, the lender said that during the 2000s, prices experienced their biggest rise, increasing by 62%. The worst performing decade was the 1990s when prices fell by 22%.

Despite the Halifax figures one has to wonder whether our fixation with house prices is a good thing. I think we all know the answer to that particular question.

Mortgage Choice Improving

18th January 2010

A mortgage milestone was passed last week when the number of mortgage products available surpassed 2,500 for the first time since May last year.

Figures from moneysupermarket.com show available mortgage products have increased for the third month in a row.

However this is a far cry from pre credit crunch conditions. In August 2007, just before Northern Rock collapsed, there were over 30,000 mortgage products on the market, that's 12 times what we have today.

The bad news behind this particular story is that lenders could have 100,000 products available but until such times as they start to actually lend money the number of products on offer is meaningless.