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Afghanistan is experiencing a boom in estate prices which defies the downward trend in property that many other parts of the world is seeing and has experienced for the last 2 years. Its hard to imagine why anyone wanting to live or invest in a city which has been renowned for violence and war. In some parts of Kabul, prices have risen by 75% in the past year which is partly due to the prices that international agencies are willing to pay in order to buy properties in the best locations. Alongside this wealthy Afghans which have seen there properties prices drop in Dubai are putting money back into Kabul

Estate agents are starting to smile again as the UK property market starts to rise. Last year at this time estate agents were struggling to sell one home each week, they also had to cut staff. They had people wanting to sell with no one buying – it now seems the other way round. One estate agency in London said that they registered over 300 buyers in one month. Two years the mortgage slump crippled sales and staff went to work away from the property market. As people now start to get mortgages the buyers are back. Many agents have said that parents have been the biggest contributors to the markets as it’s there help in the deposit which allows there siblings to buy a house.

With buy to let mortgages being ready available before the downturn in the economy the federation has asked that all they now are regulated in the same way that mortgages are done.

With them being considered a business opportunity they did not attract the same guidelines of affordability as mortgages.

The BPF wants the FSA to regulate them the same way it does its mortgages so that when the economy has gained in strength banks will not have the same approach to lending and hopefully avoid them lending money irresponsibly.

Ian Fletcher of the BPF said

Many lenders simply threw money at buy-to-let borrowers during the boom without sufficient checks on who they were lending to or what they were lending for.

He also added

we need to make sure the property-fuelled meltdown doesn’t happen again. Professional landlords have suffered as a result of banks refusing to lend. If landlords can’t expand or invest in new homes, it hurts all areas of society.

With economic downturn many investors in the real estate industry are not completing on property deals because of cash flow but now they have something to fear, lawyers have warned if they do not complete on their deal they can still be forced to buy then after a court injunction.

When house prices continued to rise many buy to let investors were very quick to jump on the band wagon and buy houses and now that mortgages are much harder to get and many of them how have signed contracts have realised that the profits are not as high as expected and wish to pull out.

Developers have told them that this is not an option as they have committed to build them and they can not apply to court and ask for a specific performance which will make the buyer continue on the contact and complete the agreement .
With the down turn all developers are looking into how they can protect their assets and seek help from the courts to enforce them.

House prices over the last few months have been enjoying a steady rise but this is going to be short lived and they will soon drop again.

The predictions said that the house market would fall by 30 per cent from October 2007 boom and they still say that house prices even though have gone up slightly still have around 17 per cent left to fall.

With unemployment rising and is set to continue till 2011 and with peoples wages not rising and the poor availability of credit will only bring down house prices, as the recent lack of cash rich buyers and not a great supply will only add to the downturn.

Tesco has launched its own bank (Tesco Bank) but the supermarket has said it will not be doing mortgages and current accounts till 2011.

Tesco has decided that is wanted to do away with its old name of Tesco Personal Finance and rename it,

“We wanted a name that does what it says on the tin.”

Tesco bosses said.

In the meantime Tesco still plans to offer insurance products loans and credit cards, they have signed up over 300 thousand customers so far this year making a total of over 6 million and have made a profit in excess of £115 million.

Mortgage lending is on the rise again. It has infact gone up 26% in the last month and looks like it will continue to do so. The Council of Mortgage Lenders has announced an advance from £12.7billion to £16billion between the months of June and July.

I would recommend that if you are lucky enough to be able to get a mortgage that another good tip could be to invest in a property to rent out as many people who cannot get on the property ladder are continuing to rent in the current climate. If you can pay off a mortgage by the income you are getting from someone renting your property then it really is happy days, and you may even then have enough spare to buy another property. You may think this is a risky time to look at such a strategy but in a way its a perfect time because if you buy now, before the next boom in house prices, then you’ll be in the money as now is probably the best time to get a good deal.

I’m in one of those jobs where you don’t really get a decent pension. You work and get a good salary and in my position is commission based so you can do pretty well if you sell regularly. I’ve been saving for a good few years so have some money to invest in property but have not yet seriously looked at pensions. I’m nearer 30 than 20 now so I think the time has come to start seriously taking things a bit more seriously.

My brother works for the MOD so he’s pretty sorted as far as a pension goes – he pays into it month by month and by the time he retires he should be pretty comfortable. He probably earns half as much as me per annum but long term, he’ll probably have a better pension.

That’s why I’ve decided that property is going to be my pension. I’m currently living in a house with a mortgage but in a few years I’d ideally like to look at something bigger, more bedrooms, bigger garden, driveway, loft conversion et al, ensuites…you get the picture. When I eventually look at buying a new property I’m going to look at the current property as a pension. Rather thatn sell to buy, I’m planning to buy with my savings and keep the existing property and rent it out so that the mortgage can be paid off while I’m paying off the new mortgage. Then hopefully, buy the time I retire I will have 2 properties and I can sell one (the smaller one probably) as a pension.

It’ll be hard work but I should really get the plan in place straight away, otherwise I’ll be struggling in later life as many people in the UK who don’t work in the public sector are finding out. I feel really sorry for people saving for pensions, particularly those who have invested a lot in shares and seen the market slump over the last year during the credit crunch. I really think everyone deserves  a good pension and state pensions are really poor and the government are not really doing enough to help look after people long term, especially as we all may have to work until the age of 70 soon.

Good luck to all those people on the verge of retirement.

Canadian John Porritt has swapped the English village lifestyle he moved to back in the seventies for the wilderness of the Canadian forest. Since selling his Internet banking systems company in 2000 which he set up in the 1990s he invested in holiday homes, namely log cabins. He researched the property market in Canada, and noted the relative success of the Humber Valley holiday cabin development in Newfoundland. He also noted the appetite for British buyers hunting something a bit different and rustic, and the appeal of large properties in open spaces close to nature.

John said:

‘There was clearly an appetite for large homes in big spaces next to nature,’

‘I thought if they can do it there (namely the Humer Valley Development), we can surely do it better here.’

He now employs his son as Managing Director of the company and daughter as Marketing and Events Director at the development which comprises 60 log homes of luxury and a clubhouse. The development is at Blueberry Lake, near Mont Tremblant in Quebec.

One of the 60 luxury log cabins near Mont Tremblant in Quebec

Caravans are officially in! Caravan Chic is the new craze and are not old fashioned and dire as many presume. In fact, the Daily Mail reports that “they are in danger of becoming trendy”.

The Caravan Club has recently reported sales up by 40 percent from last summer, and there is a celebrity look to caravanning with Mark Owen, Nell McAndrew and Helen Mirren amongst fans of the caravan which is re-inventing itself and revitalising the industry.

The new trend in caravans can comes as many 50-65 year olds are looking to downsize for retirement and the traditional caravans are not any more on the radar. People want luxury chic, at a price which is affordable. Many of the new ‘designer’ caravans are designed as permanent homes. While living in a caravan may not be everyone’s idea of the perfect abode, looking at some pictures I can see why it may appeal to some people.

I went travelling around Australia back in 2003 and we met a couple in their mid fifties who were travelling in a designer chic caravan. We on the other hand did 26,000 km round Oz in a Ford Falcon. Next time I might be tempted to do the trip in style…check out the pics below:

Go Designer Chic with a Luxury Caravan

Yes - it's not a lie - this is a caravan!!!