Explosive map reveals American cities hardest hit by housing market wrecking ball... now even 'immune' homes can't escape
One third of housing markets across the US are experiencing price drops year over year, and now, a group of homes that once seemed immune is feeling the pressure.
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Daily Mail
21 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Travel chaos as Air Canada suspends ALL operations
Air Canada has cancelled hundreds of flights and suspended all operations following a massive strike by unionized flight attendants. The airline was forced to ground planes after 10,000 staff walked out amid a bitter contract dispute. The industrial action began on Saturday at around 1am ET and immediately saw all 700 flights per day the airline offers cancelled. Around 130,000 people could be impacted for every day the strike continues. Air Canada is the foreign carrier with the largest number of flights to the U.S. Flight attendants are seeking changes which would see them be paid for time spent on the ground between flights and helping passengers board. The feud escalated Friday, after the union turned down the airline's request to enter into government-directed arbitration, which would eliminate its right to strike and allow a third-party mediator to decide the terms of a new contract. Canadian Union of Public Employees spokesman Hugh Pouliot confirmed the strike has started after no deal was reached and operations were halted shortly after. Air Canada said it planned to begin locking flight attendants out of airports as the walkout commenced. Canada's Federal Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu met with both the airline and union on Friday night and urged them to work harder to them to reach a deal 'once and for all'. 'It is unacceptable that such little progress has been made. Canadians are counting on both parties to put forward their best efforts,' Hajdu said in a statement posted on social media. Pouliot, the spokesman for the union, earlier said the union had a meeting with Hajdu and representatives from Air Canada earlier Friday evening. 'CUPE has engaged with the mediator to relay our willingness to continue bargaining - despite the fact that Air Canada has not countered our last two offers since Tuesday,' he said in a email. 'We´re here to bargain a deal, not to go on strike.' A complete shutdown will impact about 130,000 people a day, and some 25,000 Canadians a day may be stranded abroad. Air Canada operates around 700 flights per day. Montreal resident Alex Laroche, 21, and his girlfriend had been saving since Christmas for their European vacation. Their $8,000 trip with nonrefundable lodging is on the line as they wait to hear from Air Canada about the fate of their Saturday night flight to Nice, France. The length of the strike is yet to be determined, but Air Canada Chief Operating Officer Mark Nasr has said it could take up to a week to fully restart operations once a tentative deal is reached. Passengers whose travel is impacted will be eligible to request a full refund on the airline's website or mobile app, according to Air Canada. The airline said it would also offer alternative travel options through other Canadian and foreign airlines when possible. But it warned that it could not guarantee immediate rebooking because flights on other airlines are already full 'due to the summer travel peak.' Laroche said he considered booking new flights with a different carrier, but he said most of them are nearly full and cost more than double the $3,000 they paid for their original tickets. 'At this point, it´s just a waiting game,' he said. Laroche said he was initially upset over the union´s decision to go on strike, but that he had a change of heart after reading about the key issues at the center of the contract negotiations, including the issue of wages. 'Their wage is barely livable,' Laroche said. Air Canada and the Canadian Union of Public Employees have been in contract talks for about eight months, but they have yet to reach a tentative deal. Both sides say they remain far apart on the issue of pay and the unpaid work flight attendants do when planes aren´t in the air. The airline´s latest offer included a 38 percent increase in total compensation, including benefits and pensions over four years, that it said 'would have made our flight attendants the best compensated in Canada.' But the union pushed back, saying the proposed 8 percent raise in the first year didn´t go far enough because of inflation.
Telegraph
22 minutes ago
- Telegraph
A slow-motion car crash is unfolding across Britain's housing market
Britain's homeowners are heading towards a cliff edge. Despite interest rates falling over the past 12 months, millions of heavily indebted households are preparing to come off cheap fixed-rate loans taken out when borrowing costs were at rock-bottom. At the same time, the housing market is at a low ebb, battered by a surge in stamp duty rates that has deterred buyers and helped drive down prices. This means that many homeowners are now being confronted with an uncomfortable reality that their flats and houses, which appeared good investments at the time, are worth much less than they had hoped. Advising sellers on what to do before their mortgage repayments jump has become a careful game of strategy for Howard Davis, of Howard Independent Estate Agents. For example, one of his clients has been trying to sell a two-bedroom flat in the leafy suburb of Clifton, Bristol, ahead of a painful remortgaging process in November. However, so far, they are struggling to do a deal for anything above the price paid for the property three years ago. 'We've reduced the price and managed to get six people around to look at it on Monday,' says Davis. 'Half of them said they quite like it, but they're frightened to commit because they're seeing other prices falling all the time. 'We were expecting, by Tuesday, to have several offers at a dramatically reduced price. And today, we haven't. So we may have to slice that price again. 'The guy's probably going to come out even from a property he bought three years ago, because he's frightened his interest rate is just going to hike up on his mortgage deal in November.' Fresh housing crunch The same is true across much of the South of England. House prices have dipped from March's peak, when the market was boosted by buyers rushing to beat the rise in stamp duty. However, more serious may be the market's failure in many parts of the country to rise at all since Liz Truss's mini-Budget of 2022, which led to a sharp drop in sales. Prices in London, the South East, the South West and the East of England are all still below their peaks almost three years ago. Across the UK as a whole, prices are up just 1.1pc over that timeframe. Worryingly, the long-held British belief that investment in property is a one-way bet is being shattered. According to Trevor Brown, a surveyor in Southend, Essex, owners can only sell if they accept the reality that their home is not worth as much as they hoped. 'There are fewer potential buyers, borrowing is still very expensive and stamp duty is levied on every sale that we see,' he says. 'It makes buying expensive. 'The first-time buyer market is out of the equation unless you have mum and dad ready to contribute considerably. And nobody is buying buy-to-lets any more at all.' Concerns over the property market have been fuelled by a recent exodus of landlords, triggered by a barrage of tax rises under the Conservatives and the introduction of Labour's renters' rights bill, which aims to strengthen the power of tenants. 'Auctions are full of tenanted properties, where landlords are getting out of the marketplace,' says Brown. All of which is teeing up what some see as a fresh housing crunch, threatening to undermine confidence in the wider economy and curbing much-needed tax revenues. However, the market has not yet completely stalled. Banks and building societies approved 188,000 mortgages in the three months to June. That is down from the 200,000 in the quarter before the stamp duty holiday ended on March 31, but is above the low of 135,000 in early 2023 in the wake of Truss's mini-Budget. But this rebound is far short of making up for lost sales in recent years, while mortgages are still running below levels seen before the pandemic. Worse still, pessimism on prices has crashed to its worst level in a year, according to the latest report from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, which regularly questions its members on the state of the market. Even though the Bank of England has cut its headline interest rate from 5.25pc to 4pc over the past 12 months, the average rate paid on mortgages is still rising. That is because the cheap loans which millions of families locked into before the cost of living crisis are now coming to an end. Those borrowers often bought with a mortgage rate of less than 2pc, but must now refinance with repayments north of 4pc. The average rate paid on the nation's mortgages is up from 2.1pc at the end of 2021 to 3.9pc today, with the Bank predicting that it will keep rising to 4.1pc into 2026. Before the pandemic, the average mortgage payment was less than £700, according to direct debit data from the Office for National Statistics and Vocalink. Now it is just shy of £1,000. Bank officials estimate that 3.6 million households will remortgage onto higher rates over the next three years, while only 2.5 million will see their rate fall. It means an average increase in repayments of £107 per month in the coming years. Belt-tightening Compounding the problem is a renewed rise in living costs. David Hickman, a surveyor in Devon, says that Rachel Reeves's National Insurance tax raid has hammered the local jobs market, undermining confidence among buyers. 'There's this job insecurity going around, and that's making people sit tight and not move unless they have to,' he says. A weaker housing market, in turn, becomes a danger to both the economy and the public finances. 'When asset prices rise, it gives people confidence to go out and spend,' says Sam Miley, at the Centre for Economics and Business Research. 'And when prices are falling, it encourages people to be a bit more cautious. 'At the moment, it is an environment of slower house price growth, so that plays out in a slower rate of consumption growth.' Such concerns will not go unnoticed for those in the Government, particularly as the Chancellor prepares to plug a black hole worth as much as £50bn. The Office for Budget Responsibility predicts that Labour's pledge to build more homes will trigger more property sales, which in turn will help the Treasury bring in more stamp duty for each sale. The watchdog anticipates annual revenues from stamp duty and other transaction taxes will rise from £13.5bn last year to £24.5bn by the end of the decade. But dwindling house prices will serve as a threat to that, fuelled by a recent drop-off in construction activity. Housing starts have barely budged and planning approvals have fallen to a record low since the Government unveiled its pledge to build 1.5 million homes by 2030. Any shortfall in property transactions could prove critical for Reeves, says Andrew Wishart, economist at Berenberg Bank. 'It is a relatively small tax but when the Chancellor is working with headroom of 0.2 or 0.3pc of GDP, any small tax could make the difference,' says Wishart. 'The forecast looks optimistic – when looking at housing construction volumes, they are a long, long way off the target.' However, support for the market might be on the way. Not only is the Bank of England expected to cut interest rates a little further in the coming months, but looser mortgage lending rules should also make life a little easier for first-time buyers. Yet regardless of that, many believe it will remain a buyer's market, including Jeremy Leaf, an estate agent in north London. 'There is a hell of a lot of property on the market, and if you want to stand out, you have to be realistic about price,' he says. 'A lady came in wanting to look at one of our properties. She said, 'It is very nice. But I have got 12 to see today.''
Daily Mail
22 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Is it a house or a maze? Quirky terrace with more than 20 ROOMS going under the hammer next month
An ordinary-looking terraced house going up for auction next month could take prospective buyers by surprise once they take a peek inside. The inside of the house has been described as 'maze-like', with more than 20 rooms spread across two main floors. Only three are currently used as bedrooms. The house has been in the same ownership for 50 years and is being sold at auction with vacant possession. Located in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, it has a guide price of between £100,000 to £110,000, excluding fees. The mid-terrace house was originally used as a fisherman's smoke house. For around 150 years, the house was also used as the headquarters of Bloomfields Marquees, a marquee business, with the marquees initially transported to their new owners via horse and cart. Now the house has CCTV, an intruder alarm, solar panels, gas-powered central heating, a garage and is 'mostly' double-glazed, according to Auction House, the auctioneer selling the property. On the ground floor there is a bar area, with a sign above providing a nod to the house's history as a former marquee business. According to Auction House, the terraced property is 'deceptively spacious, incorporating a range of buildings to the rear.' It said the extra buildings at the back could be used for storage or, subject to getting planning permission, turned into further bedrooms or even a new development. While the property will need reconfiguring and updating, many of the rooms are in good order. One of the living room spaces has mint green walls, comfortable cream armchairs and a small chandelier-style light. The property has one spacious bathroom featuring a bath and separate shower. For creative people, the house would provide a number of spaces to develop for an artist's studio, pottery studio or other workshop. The house is being sold freehold and has an energy performance certificate rating of D. Get creative: The property could be ideal for a workshop or artist's studio Floor plan: The floor plan of the property shows just how many rooms it has The unique property is going under the hammer on 10 September. Seven viewing days are being arranged, but must be booked in advance. Robert Hurst, auction surveyor at Auction House East Anglia, said: 'It looks like a standard terrace house, but when you enter you realise it's a lot more than that. 'A multitude of rooms with adjoining buildings behind offer great space and potential.' How to buy at auction Auctions are one area where good deals still come up. Properties sold this way can, in some cases, be substantially cheaper than on the open market. According to Property Auction News, the average price properties sell at auction for is around £166,000. However, properties sold in this way often - though not always - come with added complexities for the buyer. It is therefore important to do as much research as possible before buying any property at auction. Where possible, always visit the property in person before the auction. Do not underestimate how much renovation work or reconfigurations could cost if you are taking on a project property. Read legal documents for the property carefully and, when possible, get advice from a solicitor before heading to the auction. Sometimes, the legal pack includes 'special conditions' that mean you might also be liable to pay an additional three per cent fee to a sales agent. Before submitting any bids, always check what sort of price similar properties in the area have sold for. This will, of course, be harder if it is a more unusual property that you are after. If you do bid, do not get carried away and bid more than you can afford. Most properties bought via auction have a 28-day competition date and home loans for auction properties can be harder to get. How to find a new mortgage Borrowers who need a mortgage because their current fixed rate deal is ending, or they are buying a home, should explore their options as soon as possible. Buy-to-let landlords should also act as soon as they can. Quick mortgage finder links with This is Money's partner L&C > Mortgage rates calculator > Find the right mortgage for you What if I need to remortgage? Borrowers should compare rates, speak to a mortgage broker and be prepared to act. Homeowners can lock in to a new deal six to nine months in advance, often with no obligation to take it. Most mortgage deals allow fees to be added to the loan and only be charged when it is taken out. This means borrowers can secure a rate without paying expensive arrangement fees. Keep in mind that by doing this and not clearing the fee on completion, interest will be paid on the fee amount over the entire term of the loan, so this may not be the best option for everyone. What if I am buying a home? Those with home purchases agreed should also aim to secure rates as soon as possible, so they know exactly what their monthly payments will be. Buyers should avoid overstretching and be aware that house prices may fall, as higher mortgage rates limit people's borrowing ability and buying power. What about buy-to-let landlords Buy-to-let landlords with interest-only mortgages will see a greater jump in monthly costs than homeowners on residential mortgages. This makes remortgaging in plenty of time essential and our partner L&C can help with buy-to-let mortgages too. How to compare mortgage costs The best way to compare mortgage costs and find the right deal for you is to speak to a broker. This is Money has a long-standing partnership with fee-free broker L&C, to provide you with fee-free expert mortgage advice. Interested in seeing today's best mortgage rates? Use This is Money and L&Cs best mortgage rates calculator to show deals matching your home value, mortgage size, term and fixed rate needs. If you're ready to find your next mortgage, why not use L&C's online Mortgage Finder. It will search 1,000's of deals from more than 90 different lenders to discover the best deal for you. > Find your best mortgage deal with This is Money and L&C Be aware that rates can change quickly, however, and so if you need a mortgage or want to compare rates, speak to L&C as soon as possible, so they can help you find the right mortgage for you.
