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From today Northern Rock is reducing its fees by 60% to £99 on house purchases.
The range, which includes both fixed rate and tracker mortgages, as well as buy-to-let, is designed to appeal particularly to first-time buyers and those with lower deposits.

Anth Mooney, marketing director at Northern Rock says: “This reduction to our mortgage application fee is great news for customers who are looking to keep their purchase costs low.
There are lots of elements involved in buying a new home and this is one way Northern Rock is helping to keep things as straightforward and affordable as possible for our customers.”

House prices have dropped in August by up to 1.7%, the Rightmove House Price Index reveals.
New properties being put on the market are down by £4,091 as over supply coincides with holidays.
The average house price in England and Wales slipped to £232,241 as Rightmove registered its biggest drop so far this  year, following on from a 0.6% fall in July.

Demand remains high but affordability is still a key issue with six out of 10 people renting property admitting they would rather buy but can not afford to.
Miles Shipside, director of Rightmove, says: “No one really wants to come to market in August unless they have to. It shows these new sellers have a compelling need to sell, as they have lopped over £4,000 off the average asking price.
“Those who marketed earlier in the year but have yet to find a buyer may have to do a bit of pruning of their own to beat this new competition. Holidaying buyers can relax on the beach while back at home sellers are reducing the cost of their future property by the price of the family holiday.”

The July RICS Housing Market Survey shows more surveyors are now seeing prices starting to fall, with the headline price balance slipping from +8 to -8, the first drop in the last year.

The lower prices are being driven by more houses on the market and less demand of new buyer enquiries. Indeed, the new instructions balance increased from +28 to +33, the highest reading since May 2007.

Surveyors suggests the rise in new instructions is primarily related to homeowners testing the market following the abolishment of HIPs.

New enquiries fell for the second consecutive month from -6 to –10. Transaction levels remained more or less unchanged with the agreed sales balance edging down from +3 to +1.

The average number of properties on surveyor’s books rose by 4.1%. At the same time, the average number of sales per surveyor remained essentially flat at 16.6 (down 0.1% on the month). As a result, the sales to stock ratio – an indicator of market slack- fell to 24%, the lowest level since June 2009.

The regional picture shows more surveyors are still reporting price increases than decreases in London and the North West. The picture is stable in Scotland and the South West. Elsewhere, including Northern Ireland, more surveyors are seeing price falls.

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