NEWSbeat
TECHNOLOGY
Website wonders
To develop its offering to sales and lettings agents Excite have partnered with market leader
NineFour to create and support competitive unrivalled websites. Excite design and refurbish high street sales and lettings offices to very high standards which form their window to the world; great for property marketing, motivating staff and encouraging buyers and sellers, but it is equally important that the agency’s internet window is fabulous too. Once local property newspapers were more relevant but increasingly less so. The property portals, Rightmove, Zoopla, Primelocation, FindaProperty and many others, provide part of the answer but it is essential to have a standalone website attracting serious traffic to be truly successful. Recognising this Excite decided to provide a solution and now present NineFour. To see an example of the work of NineFour look at www.
haslams.net. Try looking for property in Reading through Google and see how high their profile is.
http://exciteinteriors.co. uk/web-site-design
HOUSE PRICE INDICES House prices are up says ONS
The Office of National Statistics (ONS) has just published its House Price Index, May 2012, reporting that in the 12 months to May 2012 UK house prices increased by 2.3 per cent. This, says the ONS,
continues the pattern seen since May 2010, with house prices relatively stable across most of the UK although falling in Northern Ireland The year-on-year increase
reflected growth of 2.6 per cent in England and 3.5 per cent in Wales, which was offset by declines in Scotland and Northern Ireland of 1.0 and 10.3 per cent respectively And an incredible increase in London house prices of 7.2 per cent (as well as increases in the South East and East Midlands of 3.4 and 2.3 per cent respectively) were countered on a national basis by decreases in the North West (1.6 per cent) and 1.2 per cent in the West Midlands. It sounds relatively stable but cynics say the statistics don’t paint a true picture. Nick Hopkinson, Director of PPR Estates, said: “Monthly house
Average prices are an analyst’s field day.
sales volumes remain at less than half the levels of a functioning market. House prices in London are almost double most other parts of the UK and massively distort the average numbers. All houses are different and the mix of sales in any month makes comparatives very dubious at such low volumes. The ONS data only includes mortgaged sales from a sample of the
AWARDS
Judges named With just a week left before the
market; the dysfunctional mortgage market distorts the data comparatives even more as the banks decline to lend to all but the most creditworthy borrowers who are likely to be buying above average priced properties. In this context, this latest report calculating average prices is simply an ‘analyst’s field day’ and doesn’t really help anyone understand the current state of the UK property market. “Everyone knows house prices (in real terms) are falling almost everywhere at the moment except the most expensive London postcodes. The latest forward looking data this week indicates asking prices are finally on the way down as increasingly desperate sellers struggle to get meaningful offers amidst the wider economic gloom and ongoing credit squeeze. The Olympics won’t be awarding any Gold medals to the UK housing market this summer.”
TheNegotiator
deadline for entries to the famous Negotiator Awards in October, PROPERTYdrum’s sister publication, The Negotiator, has finalised the judging panel and all members are ready to review.
The process this year has an added layer to ensure that the decisions are based on a
comprehensive review by a range of property experts. After a detailed review of each submission – and even a little bit of mystery shopping – the judges will all meet in London for a roundtable discussion across all entries. This will improve the process so that The Negotiator Awards won’t just be the best party in the business – it will also be the awards scheme with the very highest levels of integrity.
Finalise your entry now – and book tickets for the daytime conference and the Negotiator Awards dinner, hosted by Jon
8 AUGUST 2012 PROPERTYdrum
Culshaw, it’s not to be missed! Full information is on page 10. The judges are:
•Bill McClintock, Chairman,
The Property Ombudsman •Mark Hayward, Managing
and President, ARLA
Executive Officer, Countrywide •Dorian Gonsalves, CEO Belvoir! on Property
•Jane Ingram, Director, Savills •Grenville Turner, Group Chief
•Lucy Pendleton, Pendletons •James Bailey, Managing
•Tracy Kellet, Director, BDI Home •Jonathan Hopper, Managing
Director, Henry James Finders
•Clare Fletcher-Yates, Consultant Trainer, Clare Fletcher Training.
Director, Garrington
•Peter Rollings, Chief Executive, Marsh & Parsons
Director, Property Consultancy and President, NAEA
AWARDS 2012
•Kate Faulkner, Director, Designs
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