What's making headlines in the rest of the press
Housebuilders' shares took a tumble last week, according to The Daily Telegraph (25 June), as millions of shares in Barratt Development and Taylor Woodrow were sold. Nearly 11.5 million Barratt shares – 9% of the company – and nearly 17 million Taylor Woodrow stocks were sold on 24 June, knocking 19.25p and 9.5p off their prices respectively.

The housebuilders and the economists were in agreement about house price growth, which is grinding to a halt in the South-east but still on the up in the North. Housebuilder Berkeley said London prices had remained static in the last year and were unlikely to rise more than 2-3% this year – bad news since the firm makes 70% of its sales in London. Meanwhile, a survey by property website Hometrack showed the biggest gains were in Cumbria and east Yorkshire. The biggest losses were in Surrey and Wiltshire (The Express, 30 June).

The Express feared that the stalling market was evidence that a spectacular crash was just around the corner, but bankers could not agree whether the mortgage market was looking good or not. On the one hand, HBOS and Alliance & Leicester were optimistic (The Daily Telegraph 25 June) but the British Bankers' Association said mortgage approvals fell by a quarter compared with last year, adding that first-time buyers were being priced out of the market (Financial Times, 26 June).

Source

Housing Today