West Midlands Vendors � Mortgage Approvals On The Rise

When it comes to selling your home, you need to make sure that you know what buyers are looking for. As a vendor, you will naturally focus on your needs and expectations but this may do you more harm than good in the long run when it comes to selling your home. You need to appeal to buyers and of course, the more willing buyers there are in the marketplace, the better it is for your property.

This is why West Midlands homeowners should take comfort from the fact that December 2018 saw an increase in the number of mortgages that were approved for house purchases. In December of 2018, there was a total of 25,145 mortgages approved, which was an increase of 5.2% on the December of 2017 figures.

With respect to the gross mortgage lending market, December of 2018 saw a total of �21.1 billion in the market, which was an increase of 4.7% on the December of 2017 figures. For the whole year, the gross mortgage lending figure stood at �267.5 billion, which was an increase of 3.8% on the previous years� figures.

There has been a lot of negativity in the property market of late, so it is positive to see good news. Richard Pike is the Sales and Marketing Director for Phoebus Software and he spoke about these figures, saying; �It is hard to talk about anything at the moment without mentioning the �Brexit� word: it is all-consuming and there is little doubt that it continues to affect the housing market. The fact that house purchase approvals were up in December suggests that people are planning ahead and making their move before the March deadline. Interestingly the number of remortgage approvals took a dip compared to the same month in 2017, which bucks the trend throughout the rest of the year. Nonetheless, I would expect it to be the remortgage sector that will be keeping the mortgage market going in the coming months, as we wait to see how our exit from the EU pans out.�

There is no denying that Brexit is a major concern for many people in the current market, but vendors should remain optimistic about buyers showing an interest in their home.

Jeremy Leaf is a former chair of RICS and he said; �These figures show that sales are still happening, where buyers and sellers are taking a longer-term view, prompted perhaps by the need to live near schools, work, or downsize. Negotiations can be tough but more successful when the parties concentrate on the difference between the buying and selling price � not the headline figure. In the past few weeks, we have noticed supply shortages, improving affordability and very low unemployment, and mortgage rates are proving more relevant to buyers and sellers than political uncertainty, so believe a sharp market correction is unlikely.�

At Innovate, we know many West Midlands vendors feel under pressure, but we are here to help. We aim to provide you with as much support and guidance as we can, and we look forward to assisting you to sell your home this year.