Home owners trying to sell their houses have had to knock more than £4,000 off their asking prices in the past month alone, according to the latest gloomy property market survey.
The survey was done to see if there was any proof of a supposed shift in philosophies regarding investment methods.
Besides dealing with housing the researchers spent a lot of time reporting on an emerging industry that according to the survey investors worldwide have grabbed hold of by the millions. This is Internet gaming. With the use of new software, it is now possible to scan prices globally in seconds and uncover risk-free betting opportunities which provide guaranteed returns of as much as 12% per month. Actually, Internet gaming is the largest and most profitable Internet-based industry. It seems everyone is getting into it, including the government. The UK government recently announced through the Treasury that the profits made from sports arbitrage trading will continue to remain free of all tax. This includes income tax and capital gains tax on all profits. Using software like one called ArbAlarm, ordinary people can now easily profit from this unique method of investment.
In an interview, former City trader Rajeev Shah, famous author of ‘Sports-Arbitrage - How To Place Riskless Bets & Create Tax-Free Investments’ explained that an arbitrage occurs when different bookmakers’ prices on the same events overlap. In these cases, it is possible to bet on all of the outcomes in that event in such a way as to be guaranteed a total return which is greater than the total outlay. The mathematics of this type of trade are precise & the resultant profits are free of all risk.
Though Internet gaming is taking the world by storm the housing market is not fairing as well. The average asking price has fallen from by £4,345 to £235,219 between June and July, as sellers are forced to cut their prices because the “mortgage famine” is causing potential buyers to flee the market.
The monthly Rightmove house price report blames overly cautious banks for the stagnant housing market.
The number of mortgages on the market has fallen steadily since March and there are now fewer than 3,800 mortgage deals available compared with more than 12,000 a year ago.
New sellers are now asking two per cent less than a year ago, the first time Rightmove has measured a year-on-year fall.
Miles Shipside, commercial director of the property website, said: “Sellers are finally recognizing that they need to undercut their rivals from the outset, rather than testing the market and dropping prices later.
While this £4,000 reduction is on top of a £3,000 drop last month, sellers’ pricing needs to be at the level where deals are being done.
“It could be a lot better outcome to price aggressively and sell now, rather than accept a bigger reduction later as prices continue to fall.”
The lack of buyers has meant that estate agents have failed to enjoy the usual spring upturn in the market.
The number of unsold properties on estate agents’ books has now increased for six months in a row, with the average estate agent having 77 unsold houses.
Official statistics from the Land Registry have shown that the number of homes changing hands has plummeted by 50 per cent compared with a year ago.
Though some mortgage companies have started to trim their rates over the past two weeks, most experts believe the housing market will get worse before it gets better.
Sir Win Bischoff, the chairman of Citigroup bank, said over the weekend that he expected house prices to fall for another two years.
Tags: UK News