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<div class=\"caption body-narrow-width\"><img src=\"http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/60085000/jpg/_60085010_estateagentswindowlondon2003bbc.jpg\" width=\"304\" height=\"171\" alt=\"Estate agent\'s window\"/><span class=\"c1\">Surveyors believe house prices will drop further in the coming months</span></div>
<p class=\"introduction\" id=\"story_continues_1\">The brief flurry of activity in the property market has come to an end, says the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics).</p>
<p>Its monthly survey of members who work as estate agents shows that sales fell in April, for the first time since last September.</p>
<p>Rics said this was due to the end of the stamp duty holiday for first-time buyers.</p>
<p>The survey also found that house prices continue to fall, except in London.</p>
<p>\"With the recent surge in activity brought on by the stamp duty holiday coming to an end, it is unsurprising to see that prices across much of the country are continuing to fall,\" said Peter Bolton King, housing spokesman for Rics.</p>
<p>\"Renewed concerns over the economy and talk of a double-dip recession dominating the headlines in recent weeks may well have served to undermine consumer confidence.</p>
<p>\"What\'s more, the continuing lack of affordable mortgage finance is still hindering many first-time buyers who cannot afford to get a foot on the property ladder,\" he added.</p>
<span class=\"cross-head\">\'Tougher criteria\'</span>
<p>The Rics survey adds to a growing body of evidence suggesting that the brief upturn in activity in the first three months of the year has faded.</p>
<p>Both the Halifax bank and the Nationwide building society have reported that prices dipped in April as activity petered out following the end of the stamp duty holiday on 24 March.</p>
<p>And the Bank of England said that the number of mortgages approved in both February and March was down sharply from the figure in January.</p>
<p>Mark Harris, chief executive of mortgage broker SPF Private Clients, said the dearth of easily available mortgages was still the biggest influence on the market.</p>
<p>\"Although interest rates have not risen in more than three years, lenders continue to raise their mortgage rates on the back of the higher cost of wholesale funding,\" he said.</p>
<p>\"Tougher criteria, particularly regarding interest-only borrowing, are not helping, giving borrowers the impression that it is much harder to get funding.</p>
<p>\"Consequently, many aren\'t bothering, preferring to adopt a \'wait and see\' attitude, rather than take the plunge and purchase at the present time,\" he added.</p>
<p>The Co-op bank recently stopped lending any new mortgages on an interest-only basis.</p>
<p>The Bank of England recently published data showing that the cost of the average two-year fixed rate mortgage deal, with a 25% deposit, had risen from 2.9% last September to 3.45% in March.</p>
<p><em>This entry passed through the <a href=\"http://fivefilters.org/content-only/\">Full-Text RSS</a> service — if this is your content and you\'re reading it on someone else\'s site, please read the FAQ at <a href=\"http://fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers\">fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers</a>. <a href=\"http://fivefilters.org\">Five Filters</a> recommends: <a href=\"http://shop.wikileaks.org/donate\">Donate to Wikileaks</a>.</em></p>"
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<div class=\"caption body-narrow-width\"><img src=\"http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/60085000/jpg/_60085010_estateagentswindowlondon2003bbc.jpg\" width=\"304\" height=\"171\" alt=\"Estate agent\'s window\"/><span class=\"c1\">Surveyors believe house prices will drop further in the coming months</span></div>
<p class=\"introduction\" id=\"story_continues_1\">The brief flurry of activity in the property market has come to an end, says the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics).</p>
<p>Its monthly survey of members who work as estate agents shows that sales fell in April, for the first time since last September.</p>
<p>Rics said this was due to the end of the stamp duty holiday for first-time buyers.</p>
<p>The survey also found that house prices continue to fall, except in London.</p>
<p>\"With the recent surge in activity brought on by the stamp duty holiday coming to an end, it is unsurprising to see that prices across much of the country are continuing to fall,\" said Peter Bolton King, housing spokesman for Rics.</p>
<p>\"Renewed concerns over the economy and talk of a double-dip recession dominating the headlines in recent weeks may well have served to undermine consumer confidence.</p>
<p>\"What\'s more, the continuing lack of affordable mortgage finance is still hindering many first-time buyers who cannot afford to get a foot on the property ladder,\" he added.</p>
<span class=\"cross-head\">\'Tougher criteria\'</span>
<p>The Rics survey adds to a growing body of evidence suggesting that the brief upturn in activity in the first three months of the year has faded.</p>
<p>Both the Halifax bank and the Nationwide building society have reported that prices dipped in April as activity petered out following the end of the stamp duty holiday on 24 March.</p>
<p>And the Bank of England said that the number of mortgages approved in both February and March was down sharply from the figure in January.</p>
<p>Mark Harris, chief executive of mortgage broker SPF Private Clients, said the dearth of easily available mortgages was still the biggest influence on the market.</p>
<p>\"Although interest rates have not risen in more than three years, lenders continue to raise their mortgage rates on the back of the higher cost of wholesale funding,\" he said.</p>
<p>\"Tougher criteria, particularly regarding interest-only borrowing, are not helping, giving borrowers the impression that it is much harder to get funding.</p>
<p>\"Consequently, many aren\'t bothering, preferring to adopt a \'wait and see\' attitude, rather than take the plunge and purchase at the present time,\" he added.</p>
<p>The Co-op bank recently stopped lending any new mortgages on an interest-only basis.</p>
<p>The Bank of England recently published data showing that the cost of the average two-year fixed rate mortgage deal, with a 25% deposit, had risen from 2.9% last September to 3.45% in March.</p>
<p><em>This entry passed through the <a href=\"http://fivefilters.org/content-only/\">Full-Text RSS</a> service — if this is your content and you\'re reading it on someone else\'s site, please read the FAQ at <a href=\"http://fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers\">fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers</a>. <a href=\"http://fivefilters.org\">Five Filters</a> recommends: <a href=\"http://shop.wikileaks.org/donate\">Donate to Wikileaks</a>.</em></p>"
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<p class="introduction" id="story_continues_1">The brief flurry of activity in the property market has come to an end, says the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics).</p>
<p>Its monthly survey of members who work as estate agents shows that sales fell in April, for the first time since last September.</p>
<p>Rics said this was due to the end of the stamp duty holiday for first-time buyers.</p>
<p>The survey also found that house prices continue to fall, except in London.</p>
<p>"With the recent surge in activity brought on by the stamp duty holiday coming to an end, it is unsurprising to see that prices across much of the country are continuing to fall," said Peter Bolton King, housing spokesman for Rics.</p>
<p>"Renewed concerns over the economy and talk of a double-dip recession dominating the headlines in recent weeks may well have served to undermine consumer confidence.</p>
<p>"What's more, the continuing lack of affordable mortgage finance is still hindering many first-time buyers who cannot afford to get a foot on the property ladder," he added.</p>
<span class="cross-head">'Tougher criteria'</span>
<p>The Rics survey adds to a growing body of evidence suggesting that the brief upturn in activity in the first three months of the year has faded.</p>
<p>Both the Halifax bank and the Nationwide building society have reported that prices dipped in April as activity petered out following the end of the stamp duty holiday on 24 March.</p>
<p>And the Bank of England said that the number of mortgages approved in both February and March was down sharply from the figure in January.</p>
<p>Mark Harris, chief executive of mortgage broker SPF Private Clients, said the dearth of easily available mortgages was still the biggest influence on the market.</p>
<p>"Although interest rates have not risen in more than three years, lenders continue to raise their mortgage rates on the back of the higher cost of wholesale funding," he said.</p>
<p>"Tougher criteria, particularly regarding interest-only borrowing, are not helping, giving borrowers the impression that it is much harder to get funding.</p>
<p>"Consequently, many aren't bothering, preferring to adopt a 'wait and see' attitude, rather than take the plunge and purchase at the present time," he added.</p>
<p>The Co-op bank recently stopped lending any new mortgages on an interest-only basis.</p>
<p>The Bank of England recently published data showing that the cost of the average two-year fixed rate mortgage deal, with a 25% deposit, had risen from 2.9% last September to 3.45% in March.</p>
<p><em>This entry passed through the <a href="http://fivefilters.org/content-only/">Full-Text RSS</a> service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at <a href="http://fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers">fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers</a>. <a href="http://fivefilters.org">Five Filters</a> recommends: <a href="http://shop.wikileaks.org/donate">Donate to Wikileaks</a>.</em></p>"
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<p class="introduction" id="story_continues_1">The brief flurry of activity in the property market has come to an end, says the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics).</p>
<p>Its monthly survey of members who work as estate agents shows that sales fell in April, for the first time since last September.</p>
<p>Rics said this was due to the end of the stamp duty holiday for first-time buyers.</p>
<p>The survey also found that house prices continue to fall, except in London.</p>
<p>"With the recent surge in activity brought on by the stamp duty holiday coming to an end, it is unsurprising to see that prices across much of the country are continuing to fall," said Peter Bolton King, housing spokesman for Rics.</p>
<p>"Renewed concerns over the economy and talk of a double-dip recession dominating the headlines in recent weeks may well have served to undermine consumer confidence.</p>
<p>"What's more, the continuing lack of affordable mortgage finance is still hindering many first-time buyers who cannot afford to get a foot on the property ladder," he added.</p>
<span class="cross-head">'Tougher criteria'</span>
<p>The Rics survey adds to a growing body of evidence suggesting that the brief upturn in activity in the first three months of the year has faded.</p>
<p>Both the Halifax bank and the Nationwide building society have reported that prices dipped in April as activity petered out following the end of the stamp duty holiday on 24 March.</p>
<p>And the Bank of England said that the number of mortgages approved in both February and March was down sharply from the figure in January.</p>
<p>Mark Harris, chief executive of mortgage broker SPF Private Clients, said the dearth of easily available mortgages was still the biggest influence on the market.</p>
<p>"Although interest rates have not risen in more than three years, lenders continue to raise their mortgage rates on the back of the higher cost of wholesale funding," he said.</p>
<p>"Tougher criteria, particularly regarding interest-only borrowing, are not helping, giving borrowers the impression that it is much harder to get funding.</p>
<p>"Consequently, many aren't bothering, preferring to adopt a 'wait and see' attitude, rather than take the plunge and purchase at the present time," he added.</p>
<p>The Co-op bank recently stopped lending any new mortgages on an interest-only basis.</p>
<p>The Bank of England recently published data showing that the cost of the average two-year fixed rate mortgage deal, with a 25% deposit, had risen from 2.9% last September to 3.45% in March.</p>
<p><em>This entry passed through the <a href="http://fivefilters.org/content-only/">Full-Text RSS</a> service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at <a href="http://fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers">fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers</a>. <a href="http://fivefilters.org">Five Filters</a> recommends: <a href="http://shop.wikileaks.org/donate">Donate to Wikileaks</a>.</em></p>"
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<p class="introduction" id="story_continues_1">The brief flurry of activity in the property market has come to an end, says the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics).</p>
<p>Its monthly survey of members who work as estate agents shows that sales fell in April, for the first time since last September.</p>
<p>Rics said this was due to the end of the stamp duty holiday for first-time buyers.</p>
<p>The survey also found that house prices continue to fall, except in London.</p>
<p>"With the recent surge in activity brought on by the stamp duty holiday coming to an end, it is unsurprising to see that prices across much of the country are continuing to fall," said Peter Bolton King, housing spokesman for Rics.</p>
<p>"Renewed concerns over the economy and talk of a double-dip recession dominating the headlines in recent weeks may well have served to undermine consumer confidence.</p>
<p>"What's more, the continuing lack of affordable mortgage finance is still hindering many first-time buyers who cannot afford to get a foot on the property ladder," he added.</p>
<span class="cross-head">'Tougher criteria'</span>
<p>The Rics survey adds to a growing body of evidence suggesting that the brief upturn in activity in the first three months of the year has faded.</p>
<p>Both the Halifax bank and the Nationwide building society have reported that prices dipped in April as activity petered out following the end of the stamp duty holiday on 24 March.</p>
<p>And the Bank of England said that the number of mortgages approved in both February and March was down sharply from the figure in January.</p>
<p>Mark Harris, chief executive of mortgage broker SPF Private Clients, said the dearth of easily available mortgages was still the biggest influence on the market.</p>
<p>"Although interest rates have not risen in more than three years, lenders continue to raise their mortgage rates on the back of the higher cost of wholesale funding," he said.</p>
<p>"Tougher criteria, particularly regarding interest-only borrowing, are not helping, giving borrowers the impression that it is much harder to get funding.</p>
<p>"Consequently, many aren't bothering, preferring to adopt a 'wait and see' attitude, rather than take the plunge and purchase at the present time," he added.</p>
<p>The Co-op bank recently stopped lending any new mortgages on an interest-only basis.</p>
<p>The Bank of England recently published data showing that the cost of the average two-year fixed rate mortgage deal, with a 25% deposit, had risen from 2.9% last September to 3.45% in March.</p>
<p><em>This entry passed through the <a href="http://fivefilters.org/content-only/">Full-Text RSS</a> service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at <a href="http://fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers">fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers</a>. <a href="http://fivefilters.org">Five Filters</a> recommends: <a href="http://shop.wikileaks.org/donate">Donate to Wikileaks</a>.</em></p>"
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<div class="caption body-narrow-width"><img src="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/60085000/jpg/_60085010_estateagentswindowlondon2003bbc.jpg" width="304" height="171" alt="Estate agent's window"/><span class="c1">Surveyors believe house prices will drop further in the coming months</span></div>
<p class="introduction" id="story_continues_1">The brief flurry of activity in the property market has come to an end, says the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics).</p>
<p>Its monthly survey of members who work as estate agents shows that sales fell in April, for the first time since last September.</p>
<p>Rics said this was due to the end of the stamp duty holiday for first-time buyers.</p>
<p>The survey also found that house prices continue to fall, except in London.</p>
<p>"With the recent surge in activity brought on by the stamp duty holiday coming to an end, it is unsurprising to see that prices across much of the country are continuing to fall," said Peter Bolton King, housing spokesman for Rics.</p>
<p>"Renewed concerns over the economy and talk of a double-dip recession dominating the headlines in recent weeks may well have served to undermine consumer confidence.</p>
<p>"What's more, the continuing lack of affordable mortgage finance is still hindering many first-time buyers who cannot afford to get a foot on the property ladder," he added.</p>
<span class="cross-head">'Tougher criteria'</span>
<p>The Rics survey adds to a growing body of evidence suggesting that the brief upturn in activity in the first three months of the year has faded.</p>
<p>Both the Halifax bank and the Nationwide building society have reported that prices dipped in April as activity petered out following the end of the stamp duty holiday on 24 March.</p>
<p>And the Bank of England said that the number of mortgages approved in both February and March was down sharply from the figure in January.</p>
<p>Mark Harris, chief executive of mortgage broker SPF Private Clients, said the dearth of easily available mortgages was still the biggest influence on the market.</p>
<p>"Although interest rates have not risen in more than three years, lenders continue to raise their mortgage rates on the back of the higher cost of wholesale funding," he said.</p>
<p>"Tougher criteria, particularly regarding interest-only borrowing, are not helping, giving borrowers the impression that it is much harder to get funding.</p>
<p>"Consequently, many aren't bothering, preferring to adopt a 'wait and see' attitude, rather than take the plunge and purchase at the present time," he added.</p>
<p>The Co-op bank recently stopped lending any new mortgages on an interest-only basis.</p>
<p>The Bank of England recently published data showing that the cost of the average two-year fixed rate mortgage deal, with a 25% deposit, had risen from 2.9% last September to 3.45% in March.</p>
<p><em>This entry passed through the <a href="http://fivefilters.org/content-only/">Full-Text RSS</a> service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at <a href="http://fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers">fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers</a>. <a href="http://fivefilters.org">Five Filters</a> recommends: <a href="http://shop.wikileaks.org/donate">Donate to Wikileaks</a>.</em></p>"
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<div class="caption body-narrow-width"><img src="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/60027000/jpg/_60027851_gettyestateagent16.jpg" width="304" height="171" alt="Estate agency"/><span class="c1">House prices are still 0.5% lower than a year ago</span></div>
<p class="introduction" id="story_continues_1">House prices in the UK fell sharply in April after the end of the stamp-duty holiday for first-time buyers, the Halifax has said.</p>
<p>It said the 2.4% drop last month was partly due to sales falling back, after they had risen briefly before the end of the tax concession on 24 March.</p>
<p>The lender said this had caused monthly price changes to "fluctuate widely".</p>
<p>Last month's dip took the cost of the average home down to £159,883, which was 0.5% lower than a year ago.</p>
<p>Despite this, the lender said the underlying trend showed prices still rising slightly.</p>
<p>"Prices in the three months to April were 0.3% higher than in the previous quarter, marking the first rise in this measure for seven months," said the Halifax's housing economist, Martin Ellis.</p>
<p>"The ending of the stamp duty holiday for first-time buyers in late March appears to have boosted home sales early this year as buyers strove to beat the deadline, and has probably contributed to the volatility in house prices in the last few months," he added.</p>
<span class="cross-head">Depressed</span>
<p>Howard Archer, of IHS Global Insight, said: "Housing market activity is very low compared to long-term norms."</p>
<p>"And the economic fundamentals currently look worrying overall for the housing market with unemployment high and likely to rise further, earnings growth muted, and the outlook uncertain," he added.</p>
<p>On Thursday, the Nationwide building society also reported that prices had fallen last month, though by just 0.2%.</p>
<p>However, its figures suggested that in the past few months prices had been falling slightly, rather than rising as the Halifax says.</p>
<p>The lenders construct their house price indexes from samples of their own mortgage lending, so it is not unusual for them to paint a different picture of recent trends in the market.</p>
<p>But both agree that prices have fallen over the past 12 months, with the Nationwide putting the annual fall at 0.9%.</p>
<p>"The big picture of depressed demand, fragile confidence and an underlying house price trend which is, at best, flat, was little changed this month," said Capital Economics.</p>
<p>"But news that the economy has fallen back into recession, that credit standards are tightening and that mortgage interest rates are edging higher all suggest that the market is more likely to weaken than to strengthen over the remainder of the year."</p>
<p><em>This entry passed through the <a href="http://fivefilters.org/content-only/">Full-Text RSS</a> service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at <a href="http://fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers">fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers</a>. <a href="http://fivefilters.org">Five Filters</a> recommends: <a href="http://shop.wikileaks.org/donate">Donate to Wikileaks</a>.</em></p>"
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<div class="caption body-narrow-width"><img src="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/60027000/jpg/_60027851_gettyestateagent16.jpg" width="304" height="171" alt="Estate agency"/><span class="c1">House prices are still 0.5% lower than a year ago</span></div>
<p class="introduction" id="story_continues_1">House prices in the UK fell sharply in April after the end of the stamp-duty holiday for first-time buyers, the Halifax has said.</p>
<p>It said the 2.4% drop last month was partly due to sales falling back, after they had risen briefly before the end of the tax concession on 24 March.</p>
<p>The lender said this had caused monthly price changes to "fluctuate widely".</p>
<p>Last month's dip took the cost of the average home down to £159,883, which was 0.5% lower than a year ago.</p>
<p>Despite this, the lender said the underlying trend showed prices still rising slightly.</p>
<p>"Prices in the three months to April were 0.3% higher than in the previous quarter, marking the first rise in this measure for seven months," said the Halifax's housing economist, Martin Ellis.</p>
<p>"The ending of the stamp duty holiday for first-time buyers in late March appears to have boosted home sales early this year as buyers strove to beat the deadline, and has probably contributed to the volatility in house prices in the last few months," he added.</p>
<span class="cross-head">Depressed</span>
<p>Howard Archer, of IHS Global Insight, said: "Housing market activity is very low compared to long-term norms."</p>
<p>"And the economic fundamentals currently look worrying overall for the housing market with unemployment high and likely to rise further, earnings growth muted, and the outlook uncertain," he added.</p>
<p>On Thursday, the Nationwide building society also reported that prices had fallen last month, though by just 0.2%.</p>
<p>However, its figures suggested that in the past few months prices had been falling slightly, rather than rising as the Halifax says.</p>
<p>The lenders construct their house price indexes from samples of their own mortgage lending, so it is not unusual for them to paint a different picture of recent trends in the market.</p>
<p>But both agree that prices have fallen over the past 12 months, with the Nationwide putting the annual fall at 0.9%.</p>
<p>"The big picture of depressed demand, fragile confidence and an underlying house price trend which is, at best, flat, was little changed this month," said Capital Economics.</p>
<p>"But news that the economy has fallen back into recession, that credit standards are tightening and that mortgage interest rates are edging higher all suggest that the market is more likely to weaken than to strengthen over the remainder of the year."</p>
<p><em>This entry passed through the <a href="http://fivefilters.org/content-only/">Full-Text RSS</a> service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at <a href="http://fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers">fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers</a>. <a href="http://fivefilters.org">Five Filters</a> recommends: <a href="http://shop.wikileaks.org/donate">Donate to Wikileaks</a>.</em></p>"
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<div class="caption body-narrow-width"><img src="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/59822000/jpg/_59822365_008295967-1.jpg" width="304" height="171" alt="Sold sign"/><span class="c1">The number of homes sold in March was higher than in January or February</span></div>
<p class="introduction" id="story_continues_1">The number of homes sold in the UK rose sharply in March as the typical spring bounce took hold, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) said.</p>
<p>There were 74,000 completed sales during the month, up from 63,000 the previous month, the figures show.</p>
<p>The pick-up could also be a sign that some buyers brought forward purchases to benefit from the stamp duty concession, which has now expired.</p>
<p>Mortgage lending also spiked in March, figures showed on Monday.</p>
<p>Gross mortgage lending stood at £13.4bn in March, up 30% on February, the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) said.</p>
<span class="cross-head">Subdued activity</span>
<p>Sales figures have increased sharply in March compared with February in each of the past three years.</p>
<p>The warm weather at the start of the year may have encouraged some potential buyers to go house-hunting.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the stamp duty exemption for first-time buyers who bought homes valued at between £125,000 and £250,000 came to an end after two years on 24 March.</p>
<p>However, sales activity remained subdued compared with the housing boom. The number of transactions in March was just over half the level seen in March 2007, the HMRC figures show.</p>
<p><em>This entry passed through the <a href="http://fivefilters.org/content-only/">Full-Text RSS</a> service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at <a href="http://fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers">fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers</a>. <a href="http://fivefilters.org">Five Filters</a> recommends: <a href="http://shop.wikileaks.org/donate">Donate to Wikileaks</a>.</em></p>"
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<div class="caption body-narrow-width"><img src="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/59822000/jpg/_59822365_008295967-1.jpg" width="304" height="171" alt="Sold sign"/><span class="c1">The number of homes sold in March was higher than in January or February</span></div>
<p class="introduction" id="story_continues_1">The number of homes sold in the UK rose sharply in March as the typical spring bounce took hold, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) said.</p>
<p>There were 74,000 completed sales during the month, up from 63,000 the previous month, the figures show.</p>
<p>The pick-up could also be a sign that some buyers brought forward purchases to benefit from the stamp duty concession, which has now expired.</p>
<p>Mortgage lending also spiked in March, figures showed on Monday.</p>
<p>Gross mortgage lending stood at £13.4bn in March, up 30% on February, the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) said.</p>
<span class="cross-head">Subdued activity</span>
<p>Sales figures have increased sharply in March compared with February in each of the past three years.</p>
<p>The warm weather at the start of the year may have encouraged some potential buyers to go house-hunting.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the stamp duty exemption for first-time buyers who bought homes valued at between £125,000 and £250,000 came to an end after two years on 24 March.</p>
<p>However, sales activity remained subdued compared with the housing boom. The number of transactions in March was just over half the level seen in March 2007, the HMRC figures show.</p>
<p><em>This entry passed through the <a href="http://fivefilters.org/content-only/">Full-Text RSS</a> service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at <a href="http://fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers">fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers</a>. <a href="http://fivefilters.org">Five Filters</a> recommends: <a href="http://shop.wikileaks.org/donate">Donate to Wikileaks</a>.</em></p>"
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<div class="caption body-narrow-width"><img src="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/60085000/jpg/_60085010_estateagentswindowlondon2003bbc.jpg" width="304" height="171" alt="Estate agent's window"/><span class="c1">Surveyors believe house prices will drop further in the coming months</span></div>
<p class="introduction" id="story_continues_1">The brief flurry of activity in the property market has come to an end, says the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics).</p>
<p>Its monthly survey of members who work as estate agents shows that sales fell in April, for the first time since last September.</p>
<p>Rics said this was due to the end of the stamp duty holiday for first-time buyers.</p>
<p>The survey also found that house prices continue to fall, except in London.</p>
<p>"With the recent surge in activity brought on by the stamp duty holiday coming to an end, it is unsurprising to see that prices across much of the country are continuing to fall," said Peter Bolton King, housing spokesman for Rics.</p>
<p>"Renewed concerns over the economy and talk of a double-dip recession dominating the headlines in recent weeks may well have served to undermine consumer confidence.</p>
<p>"What's more, the continuing lack of affordable mortgage finance is still hindering many first-time buyers who cannot afford to get a foot on the property ladder," he added.</p>
<span class="cross-head">'Tougher criteria'</span>
<p>The Rics survey adds to a growing body of evidence suggesting that the brief upturn in activity in the first three months of the year has faded.</p>
<p>Both the Halifax bank and the Nationwide building society have reported that prices dipped in April as activity petered out following the end of the stamp duty holiday on 24 March.</p>
<p>And the Bank of England said that the number of mortgages approved in both February and March was down sharply from the figure in January.</p>
<p>Mark Harris, chief executive of mortgage broker SPF Private Clients, said the dearth of easily available mortgages was still the biggest influence on the market.</p>
<p>"Although interest rates have not risen in more than three years, lenders continue to raise their mortgage rates on the back of the higher cost of wholesale funding," he said.</p>
<p>"Tougher criteria, particularly regarding interest-only borrowing, are not helping, giving borrowers the impression that it is much harder to get funding.</p>
<p>"Consequently, many aren't bothering, preferring to adopt a 'wait and see' attitude, rather than take the plunge and purchase at the present time," he added.</p>
<p>The Co-op bank recently stopped lending any new mortgages on an interest-only basis.</p>
<p>The Bank of England recently published data showing that the cost of the average two-year fixed rate mortgage deal, with a 25% deposit, had risen from 2.9% last September to 3.45% in March.</p>
<p><em>This entry passed through the <a href="http://fivefilters.org/content-only/">Full-Text RSS</a> service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at <a href="http://fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers">fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers</a>. <a href="http://fivefilters.org">Five Filters</a> recommends: <a href="http://shop.wikileaks.org/donate">Donate to Wikileaks</a>.</em></p>"
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string(31) "Tue, 08 May 2012 09:05:11 +0000"
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<div class="caption body-narrow-width"><img src="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/60085000/jpg/_60085010_estateagentswindowlondon2003bbc.jpg" width="304" height="171" alt="Estate agent's window"/><span class="c1">Surveyors believe house prices will drop further in the coming months</span></div>
<p class="introduction" id="story_continues_1">The brief flurry of activity in the property market has come to an end, says the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics).</p>
<p>Its monthly survey of members who work as estate agents shows that sales fell in April, for the first time since last September.</p>
<p>Rics said this was due to the end of the stamp duty holiday for first-time buyers.</p>
<p>The survey also found that house prices continue to fall, except in London.</p>
<p>"With the recent surge in activity brought on by the stamp duty holiday coming to an end, it is unsurprising to see that prices across much of the country are continuing to fall," said Peter Bolton King, housing spokesman for Rics.</p>
<p>"Renewed concerns over the economy and talk of a double-dip recession dominating the headlines in recent weeks may well have served to undermine consumer confidence.</p>
<p>"What's more, the continuing lack of affordable mortgage finance is still hindering many first-time buyers who cannot afford to get a foot on the property ladder," he added.</p>
<span class="cross-head">'Tougher criteria'</span>
<p>The Rics survey adds to a growing body of evidence suggesting that the brief upturn in activity in the first three months of the year has faded.</p>
<p>Both the Halifax bank and the Nationwide building society have reported that prices dipped in April as activity petered out following the end of the stamp duty holiday on 24 March.</p>
<p>And the Bank of England said that the number of mortgages approved in both February and March was down sharply from the figure in January.</p>
<p>Mark Harris, chief executive of mortgage broker SPF Private Clients, said the dearth of easily available mortgages was still the biggest influence on the market.</p>
<p>"Although interest rates have not risen in more than three years, lenders continue to raise their mortgage rates on the back of the higher cost of wholesale funding," he said.</p>
<p>"Tougher criteria, particularly regarding interest-only borrowing, are not helping, giving borrowers the impression that it is much harder to get funding.</p>
<p>"Consequently, many aren't bothering, preferring to adopt a 'wait and see' attitude, rather than take the plunge and purchase at the present time," he added.</p>
<p>The Co-op bank recently stopped lending any new mortgages on an interest-only basis.</p>
<p>The Bank of England recently published data showing that the cost of the average two-year fixed rate mortgage deal, with a 25% deposit, had risen from 2.9% last September to 3.45% in March.</p>
<p><em>This entry passed through the <a href="http://fivefilters.org/content-only/">Full-Text RSS</a> service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at <a href="http://fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers">fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers</a>. <a href="http://fivefilters.org">Five Filters</a> recommends: <a href="http://shop.wikileaks.org/donate">Donate to Wikileaks</a>.</em></p>"
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<div class="caption body-narrow-width"><img src="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/60027000/jpg/_60027851_gettyestateagent16.jpg" width="304" height="171" alt="Estate agency"/><span class="c1">House prices are still 0.5% lower than a year ago</span></div>
<p class="introduction" id="story_continues_1">House prices in the UK fell sharply in April after the end of the stamp-duty holiday for first-time buyers, the Halifax has said.</p>
<p>It said the 2.4% drop last month was partly due to sales falling back, after they had risen briefly before the end of the tax concession on 24 March.</p>
<p>The lender said this had caused monthly price changes to "fluctuate widely".</p>
<p>Last month's dip took the cost of the average home down to £159,883, which was 0.5% lower than a year ago.</p>
<p>Despite this, the lender said the underlying trend showed prices still rising slightly.</p>
<p>"Prices in the three months to April were 0.3% higher than in the previous quarter, marking the first rise in this measure for seven months," said the Halifax's housing economist, Martin Ellis.</p>
<p>"The ending of the stamp duty holiday for first-time buyers in late March appears to have boosted home sales early this year as buyers strove to beat the deadline, and has probably contributed to the volatility in house prices in the last few months," he added.</p>
<span class="cross-head">Depressed</span>
<p>Howard Archer, of IHS Global Insight, said: "Housing market activity is very low compared to long-term norms."</p>
<p>"And the economic fundamentals currently look worrying overall for the housing market with unemployment high and likely to rise further, earnings growth muted, and the outlook uncertain," he added.</p>
<p>On Thursday, the Nationwide building society also reported that prices had fallen last month, though by just 0.2%.</p>
<p>However, its figures suggested that in the past few months prices had been falling slightly, rather than rising as the Halifax says.</p>
<p>The lenders construct their house price indexes from samples of their own mortgage lending, so it is not unusual for them to paint a different picture of recent trends in the market.</p>
<p>But both agree that prices have fallen over the past 12 months, with the Nationwide putting the annual fall at 0.9%.</p>
<p>"The big picture of depressed demand, fragile confidence and an underlying house price trend which is, at best, flat, was little changed this month," said Capital Economics.</p>
<p>"But news that the economy has fallen back into recession, that credit standards are tightening and that mortgage interest rates are edging higher all suggest that the market is more likely to weaken than to strengthen over the remainder of the year."</p>
<p><em>This entry passed through the <a href="http://fivefilters.org/content-only/">Full-Text RSS</a> service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at <a href="http://fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers">fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers</a>. <a href="http://fivefilters.org">Five Filters</a> recommends: <a href="http://shop.wikileaks.org/donate">Donate to Wikileaks</a>.</em></p>"
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<div class="caption body-narrow-width"><img src="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/60027000/jpg/_60027851_gettyestateagent16.jpg" width="304" height="171" alt="Estate agency"/><span class="c1">House prices are still 0.5% lower than a year ago</span></div>
<p class="introduction" id="story_continues_1">House prices in the UK fell sharply in April after the end of the stamp-duty holiday for first-time buyers, the Halifax has said.</p>
<p>It said the 2.4% drop last month was partly due to sales falling back, after they had risen briefly before the end of the tax concession on 24 March.</p>
<p>The lender said this had caused monthly price changes to "fluctuate widely".</p>
<p>Last month's dip took the cost of the average home down to £159,883, which was 0.5% lower than a year ago.</p>
<p>Despite this, the lender said the underlying trend showed prices still rising slightly.</p>
<p>"Prices in the three months to April were 0.3% higher than in the previous quarter, marking the first rise in this measure for seven months," said the Halifax's housing economist, Martin Ellis.</p>
<p>"The ending of the stamp duty holiday for first-time buyers in late March appears to have boosted home sales early this year as buyers strove to beat the deadline, and has probably contributed to the volatility in house prices in the last few months," he added.</p>
<span class="cross-head">Depressed</span>
<p>Howard Archer, of IHS Global Insight, said: "Housing market activity is very low compared to long-term norms."</p>
<p>"And the economic fundamentals currently look worrying overall for the housing market with unemployment high and likely to rise further, earnings growth muted, and the outlook uncertain," he added.</p>
<p>On Thursday, the Nationwide building society also reported that prices had fallen last month, though by just 0.2%.</p>
<p>However, its figures suggested that in the past few months prices had been falling slightly, rather than rising as the Halifax says.</p>
<p>The lenders construct their house price indexes from samples of their own mortgage lending, so it is not unusual for them to paint a different picture of recent trends in the market.</p>
<p>But both agree that prices have fallen over the past 12 months, with the Nationwide putting the annual fall at 0.9%.</p>
<p>"The big picture of depressed demand, fragile confidence and an underlying house price trend which is, at best, flat, was little changed this month," said Capital Economics.</p>
<p>"But news that the economy has fallen back into recession, that credit standards are tightening and that mortgage interest rates are edging higher all suggest that the market is more likely to weaken than to strengthen over the remainder of the year."</p>
<p><em>This entry passed through the <a href="http://fivefilters.org/content-only/">Full-Text RSS</a> service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at <a href="http://fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers">fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers</a>. <a href="http://fivefilters.org">Five Filters</a> recommends: <a href="http://shop.wikileaks.org/donate">Donate to Wikileaks</a>.</em></p>"
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["title#"]=>
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string(31) "'Spring bounce' for house sales"
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<div class="caption body-narrow-width"><img src="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/59822000/jpg/_59822365_008295967-1.jpg" width="304" height="171" alt="Sold sign"/><span class="c1">The number of homes sold in March was higher than in January or February</span></div>
<p class="introduction" id="story_continues_1">The number of homes sold in the UK rose sharply in March as the typical spring bounce took hold, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) said.</p>
<p>There were 74,000 completed sales during the month, up from 63,000 the previous month, the figures show.</p>
<p>The pick-up could also be a sign that some buyers brought forward purchases to benefit from the stamp duty concession, which has now expired.</p>
<p>Mortgage lending also spiked in March, figures showed on Monday.</p>
<p>Gross mortgage lending stood at £13.4bn in March, up 30% on February, the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) said.</p>
<span class="cross-head">Subdued activity</span>
<p>Sales figures have increased sharply in March compared with February in each of the past three years.</p>
<p>The warm weather at the start of the year may have encouraged some potential buyers to go house-hunting.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the stamp duty exemption for first-time buyers who bought homes valued at between £125,000 and £250,000 came to an end after two years on 24 March.</p>
<p>However, sales activity remained subdued compared with the housing boom. The number of transactions in March was just over half the level seen in March 2007, the HMRC figures show.</p>
<p><em>This entry passed through the <a href="http://fivefilters.org/content-only/">Full-Text RSS</a> service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at <a href="http://fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers">fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers</a>. <a href="http://fivefilters.org">Five Filters</a> recommends: <a href="http://shop.wikileaks.org/donate">Donate to Wikileaks</a>.</em></p>"
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<div class="caption body-narrow-width"><img src="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/59822000/jpg/_59822365_008295967-1.jpg" width="304" height="171" alt="Sold sign"/><span class="c1">The number of homes sold in March was higher than in January or February</span></div>
<p class="introduction" id="story_continues_1">The number of homes sold in the UK rose sharply in March as the typical spring bounce took hold, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) said.</p>
<p>There were 74,000 completed sales during the month, up from 63,000 the previous month, the figures show.</p>
<p>The pick-up could also be a sign that some buyers brought forward purchases to benefit from the stamp duty concession, which has now expired.</p>
<p>Mortgage lending also spiked in March, figures showed on Monday.</p>
<p>Gross mortgage lending stood at £13.4bn in March, up 30% on February, the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) said.</p>
<span class="cross-head">Subdued activity</span>
<p>Sales figures have increased sharply in March compared with February in each of the past three years.</p>
<p>The warm weather at the start of the year may have encouraged some potential buyers to go house-hunting.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the stamp duty exemption for first-time buyers who bought homes valued at between £125,000 and £250,000 came to an end after two years on 24 March.</p>
<p>However, sales activity remained subdued compared with the housing boom. The number of transactions in March was just over half the level seen in March 2007, the HMRC figures show.</p>
<p><em>This entry passed through the <a href="http://fivefilters.org/content-only/">Full-Text RSS</a> service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at <a href="http://fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers">fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers</a>. <a href="http://fivefilters.org">Five Filters</a> recommends: <a href="http://shop.wikileaks.org/donate">Donate to Wikileaks</a>.</em></p>"
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<div class="caption body-narrow-width"><img src="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/60085000/jpg/_60085010_estateagentswindowlondon2003bbc.jpg" width="304" height="171" alt="Estate agent's window"/><span class="c1">Surveyors believe house prices will drop further in the coming months</span></div>
<p class="introduction" id="story_continues_1">The brief flurry of activity in the property market has come to an end, says the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics).</p>
<p>Its monthly survey of members who work as estate agents shows that sales fell in April, for the first time since last September.</p>
<p>Rics said this was due to the end of the stamp duty holiday for first-time buyers.</p>
<p>The survey also found that house prices continue to fall, except in London.</p>
<p>"With the recent surge in activity brought on by the stamp duty holiday coming to an end, it is unsurprising to see that prices across much of the country are continuing to fall," said Peter Bolton King, housing spokesman for Rics.</p>
<p>"Renewed concerns over the economy and talk of a double-dip recession dominating the headlines in recent weeks may well have served to undermine consumer confidence.</p>
<p>"What's more, the continuing lack of affordable mortgage finance is still hindering many first-time buyers who cannot afford to get a foot on the property ladder," he added.</p>
<span class="cross-head">'Tougher criteria'</span>
<p>The Rics survey adds to a growing body of evidence suggesting that the brief upturn in activity in the first three months of the year has faded.</p>
<p>Both the Halifax bank and the Nationwide building society have reported that prices dipped in April as activity petered out following the end of the stamp duty holiday on 24 March.</p>
<p>And the Bank of England said that the number of mortgages approved in both February and March was down sharply from the figure in January.</p>
<p>Mark Harris, chief executive of mortgage broker SPF Private Clients, said the dearth of easily available mortgages was still the biggest influence on the market.</p>
<p>"Although interest rates have not risen in more than three years, lenders continue to raise their mortgage rates on the back of the higher cost of wholesale funding," he said.</p>
<p>"Tougher criteria, particularly regarding interest-only borrowing, are not helping, giving borrowers the impression that it is much harder to get funding.</p>
<p>"Consequently, many aren't bothering, preferring to adopt a 'wait and see' attitude, rather than take the plunge and purchase at the present time," he added.</p>
<p>The Co-op bank recently stopped lending any new mortgages on an interest-only basis.</p>
<p>The Bank of England recently published data showing that the cost of the average two-year fixed rate mortgage deal, with a 25% deposit, had risen from 2.9% last September to 3.45% in March.</p>
<p><em>This entry passed through the <a href="http://fivefilters.org/content-only/">Full-Text RSS</a> service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at <a href="http://fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers">fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers</a>. <a href="http://fivefilters.org">Five Filters</a> recommends: <a href="http://shop.wikileaks.org/donate">Donate to Wikileaks</a>.</em></p>"
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<div class="caption body-narrow-width"><img src="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/60085000/jpg/_60085010_estateagentswindowlondon2003bbc.jpg" width="304" height="171" alt="Estate agent's window"/><span class="c1">Surveyors believe house prices will drop further in the coming months</span></div>
<p class="introduction" id="story_continues_1">The brief flurry of activity in the property market has come to an end, says the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics).</p>
<p>Its monthly survey of members who work as estate agents shows that sales fell in April, for the first time since last September.</p>
<p>Rics said this was due to the end of the stamp duty holiday for first-time buyers.</p>
<p>The survey also found that house prices continue to fall, except in London.</p>
<p>"With the recent surge in activity brought on by the stamp duty holiday coming to an end, it is unsurprising to see that prices across much of the country are continuing to fall," said Peter Bolton King, housing spokesman for Rics.</p>
<p>"Renewed concerns over the economy and talk of a double-dip recession dominating the headlines in recent weeks may well have served to undermine consumer confidence.</p>
<p>"What's more, the continuing lack of affordable mortgage finance is still hindering many first-time buyers who cannot afford to get a foot on the property ladder," he added.</p>
<span class="cross-head">'Tougher criteria'</span>
<p>The Rics survey adds to a growing body of evidence suggesting that the brief upturn in activity in the first three months of the year has faded.</p>
<p>Both the Halifax bank and the Nationwide building society have reported that prices dipped in April as activity petered out following the end of the stamp duty holiday on 24 March.</p>
<p>And the Bank of England said that the number of mortgages approved in both February and March was down sharply from the figure in January.</p>
<p>Mark Harris, chief executive of mortgage broker SPF Private Clients, said the dearth of easily available mortgages was still the biggest influence on the market.</p>
<p>"Although interest rates have not risen in more than three years, lenders continue to raise their mortgage rates on the back of the higher cost of wholesale funding," he said.</p>
<p>"Tougher criteria, particularly regarding interest-only borrowing, are not helping, giving borrowers the impression that it is much harder to get funding.</p>
<p>"Consequently, many aren't bothering, preferring to adopt a 'wait and see' attitude, rather than take the plunge and purchase at the present time," he added.</p>
<p>The Co-op bank recently stopped lending any new mortgages on an interest-only basis.</p>
<p>The Bank of England recently published data showing that the cost of the average two-year fixed rate mortgage deal, with a 25% deposit, had risen from 2.9% last September to 3.45% in March.</p>
<p><em>This entry passed through the <a href="http://fivefilters.org/content-only/">Full-Text RSS</a> service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at <a href="http://fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers">fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers</a>. <a href="http://fivefilters.org">Five Filters</a> recommends: <a href="http://shop.wikileaks.org/donate">Donate to Wikileaks</a>.</em></p>"
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