Booming house prices in Inverurie

Inverurie has the fastest-rising property prices in Scotland, according to new figures.

The Aberdeenshire town has joined Aberdeen and Edinburgh as the only places in Scotland where the average cost of a home is over £200,000.

The Bank of Scotland survey showed householders in Inverurie have seen their property value rise by 35%.

But the town's councillor warned that the housing boom also brings hidden costs to the community.

According to the bank's figures, average house prices across Scotland as a whole rose by 14% in the last year to just over £141,000, 3.5% above the UK average.

Bank of Scotland economists said the market in Inverurie is being driven by the high prices in Aberdeen which is creating a ripple effect to the rest of Aberdeenshire.

'Younger families'

But Councillor Richard Cowling, who represents Inverurie on the local authority, warned many people were being priced out of the market.

He said: "I think initially people will be delighted that they own expensive houses but I think it is going to cause a lot of grief and a lot of problems at the lower end of the scale and for those attempting to get on the property market.

"Currently we are seeing a large influx of younger families. It is having an impact on our education and our schools."

Concerns have also been raised that migrant workers who have increasingly found work in Inverurie will be priced out of the housing market.

Other services in the town are also being put under pressure, including its only GP practice, which is now the biggest in Scotland. From - BBC NEWS

Britain's deflating buy-to-let bubble

It sounds too good to be true.

Take out a mortgage to buy a property and then, while the rent covers the mortgage repayments, the capital value of the property increases year on year.

For many years, that was the way it was, but now there are signs that the years of easy money may be coming to an end.

In 1996, when buy-to-let mortgages were first launched, only 20,000 were taken out. By June 2007 this figure had grown to 940,000 and the total amount borrowed to £108bn.

It has been phenomenally successful and one of the best performing investments around.

Many buy-to-let investors have made fortunes as house prices increased and mortgage rates remained low.

One such investor is Raj Shastri who has seen his initial £950 investment grow over the last five years into a portfolio worth £8m.

Slow-down in NI's property market

Figures on mortgage lending obtained by the BBC show a significant decline in the number of home loans for house purchase.

According to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML), 16,500 mortgages were granted in Northern Ireland between January and August last year.

Three thousand fewer loans were made in the same period this year - a 19% drop.

In August, banks and building societies loaned £193m in mortgages to local homebuyers, down from £270m in the same month last year - a decline of 39%.

These figures do not include re-mortgaging, they cover first-time buyers and people moving from one house to another.

Sources in the banking industry say some of the small, independent mortgage brokers who entered the market during the house price boom may not survive the slow-down.

Two recent house price surveys - from the Halifax and Nationwide - showed that the market locally has cooled.

If the data is taken togther, it suggests that house prices in the last quarter stayed level.

It is understood that some developers have stopped building new homes in recent weeks, as house sales have tailed off.

Surveyors see house price falls

House prices are continuing to turn down, says the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics).

Its latest survey says UK house prices in September generally fell again, with more of its members reporting a fall in prices locally than an increase.

It said enquiries from new buyers had fallen for the tenth month in a row.

Rics blamed the downward trend on a combination of factors, such as higher interest rates and lenders tightening their lending criteria.

"A major correction in the market seems unlikely while economic growth is above trend and employment conditions remain buoyant," said RICS spokesman Jeremy Leaf.

"The combination of rising interest rates, the introduction of home information packs (Hips) and volatility in the financial markets resulting in tightening of lending criteria, has certainly affected the confidence of buyers and sellers," he added.

Rics said that the downturn seems to be severest in East Anglia, and the West and East Midlands, though prices are still going up in Scotland and London.

Lawsuit: Layoffs at Foxtons broke law

Two former Foxtons Inc. employees said the real estate company violated federal law when it didn't give them and their co-workers at least 60 days' notice before laying them off, according to a lawsuit filed Thursday in U.S. District Court.

Marco Cimmino of Neptune and Abram Covella of Pine Beach, who worked as home consultants, filed the lawsuit on behalf of a class of workers. They're seeking to recover lost wages and benefits, said attorneys David A. Krenkel and Lisa C. Krenkel.

West Long Branch-based Foxtons, a real estate broker that billed itself as a low-cost alternative, last week said it couldn't continue to operate in the faltering real estate market. It laid off 350 of its 380 employees and said it plans to file for bankruptcy.

The question: Did Foxtons violate the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, which requires companies with 100 or more employees to give workers at least 60 days' notice before a mass layoff?

Foxtons could not be reached for comment. But the law has caveats. Employers don't need to give advance notice if they are the victim of a natural disaster or unforeseen business circumstances, or if they believed giving notice would have ruined their chances to obtain financing. More>>

London Design Festival

The fifth London Design Festival (LDF) - a dizzying design jamboree of more than 200 happenings in shops, galleries, outdoor spaces and erstwhile empty buildings all over town - runs from 15 to 25 September, says Barbara Chandler

Head first to the Festival Hall on the South Bank, SE1, which is this year's "hub" or info point. Admire the sparkling chandeliers from festival sponsor Swarovski, then look for staff wearing red T-shirts with LDF logos - they will tailor a personal route. You can pick up a chunky free booklet with a full programme at any festival venue.

From Monday 17 to Wednesday 19, there are free energy-saving light bulbs to be had in Trafalgar Square. And reinforcing the eco-message will be designer Tom Dixon's huge chandelier, featuring 500 lights made from recycled plastic suspended from a slimline frame. These will be given away on Wednesday at 5pm.

Several key events run from Thursday 20 to Sunday 23 September:


Tent London is a huge amalgam of shows in the Old Truman Brewery (Brick Lane, entrance on Hanbury Street, E1), which will be crammed with edgy new talent, avant-garde international brands, vintage furnishings for sale, and more. Admission: £10 for adults; £5 for under-16s; free for under-sevens. www.tentlondon.co.uk

Designers Block is a sensational assembly of international alternative talent, as well as dramatic live glass-making demos that will use up all the empty bottles generated by the event. Sunday is family day. Out the back, in the spacious yard, will be cosy igloos made on site using p‰pier-machŽ made from discarded newspapers. The Nicholls & Clarke Buildings, 3-10 Shoreditch High Street, E1. Admission: £5 for adults; £3 for concessions. www.designersblock.org.uk

Both Liberty and Selfridges have their own impressive shows, and there are also idiosyncratic events in lots of London's smaller shops. For example, at Twentytwentyone in EC1, you can bid for a Fairtrade organic shopping bag decorated by one of 40 international star designers. www.twentytwentyone.com

RAISE STAMP DUTY THRESHOLD IN TODAY’S BUDGET

Ahead of today’s budget, leading Central London Estates Agents Hurford Salvi Carr are backing Gordon Brown to take the brave decision to raise the threshold where 3% stamp duty kicks in, to properties with a starting value £300,000 rather than the current level of £250.000.

David Salvi, Director at Hurford Salvi Carr comments:” The Halifax have recently reported that an estimated 3.5 million homes across England and Wales are now valued above the £250,000 stamp duty threshold. These homes equal an amazing 19% of all residential properties for sale in the country, in Central London this is even more pronounced with perhaps 80% of London properties now being valued at £250,000 and above.

“As house prices have risen across the country in recent years, more and more people are finding they are being caught in the 3% stamp duty threshold as values of properties they wish to purchase rise above £250,000. This can be particularly difficult for young families who look to move out of smaller Clerkenwell properties as their families grow.”

“Hurford Salvi Carr feels that a rise in the 1% Stamp Duty threshold to £300,000 would to a certain extent offset the high borrowing costs that first time buyers and young families face as a result of the recent interest rate rise. This would also reflect the substantial increase in values of residental property across the UK since 1997”.