‘Real Estate’ News
Housing Market “Going Green”
Posted 2008-01-7
The current trend towards “going green” and marketing more environmentally friendly products and services has filtered into the housing market as well. In addition to the government’s “Building a Greener Future” policy, which offers stamp duty exemptions for carbon-neutral homes, an Energy Performance Certificate may soon be introduced. The Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) will focus on energy efficiency, insulation, and other environmentally sound practices for homes. John Slaughter, director of external affairs as the Home Builder’s Federation, expressed his opinion that the new EPC will most likely influence many buyers’ decisions when searching for homes. He explained that the benefit to the EPC is that it will “raise awareness of the benefits of good levels of energy efficiency and insulation…not just running costs but [for the] comfort of the house and so forth.” ...
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Housing Market Cools in Northern Ireland
Posted 2008-01-5
The steaming Northern Ireland housing market appears to be cooling from its record price growth of 24.2% (or an astounding £150 a day) last year. The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) warns that real estate agents may be forced to work a bit harder to make a sale. Although they expect sales will pick back up in 2008, RICS states that home owners looking to sell also need to be realistic about the price they set for their homes, as the unbelievable price growth from last year has cooled. Tom McClelland, RICS Northern Ireland spokesperson, explained that this trend could benefit many first time home buyers, as there is “less competition for properties in the sector of the market within the first time buyer’s price range.” ...
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Property Market Set for Correction
Posted 2008-01-4
According to a new survey by The Motley Fool, a much needed correction in the property market should be seen in 2008. The report estimates that the prevalence of sellers will outweigh buyers; specifically, for every four buyers there will...