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The combined results of two recent surveys could indicate the start of significant shifts in the UK property market. Website Mform.co.uk reported that more than one in eight people will buy a home this year without the need for a mortgage.
Interpreting this information requires an open mind for there could be various reasons. Perhaps the wealth of the nation has increased recently, reducing the need for as many mortgages. However this seems unlikely. A far more realistic reason is that more people are choosing to downsize their property in order to release cash or to pay off their mortgages. It seems probable that worries over pensions are forcing many people to use the equity in their property at an earlier stage to fund their retirement.
The other statistic released by the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) indicated that the number of owner occupied properties in the UK dropped by 25,000 in 2006. This is the first drop in this figure since records started in 1939 and could indicate that property prices are so high now, that the trend is for more people to rent their home as opposed to purchasing. Home ownership levels have more than doubled over the past 50 years, but the popularity of renting from private landlords is now increasing steadily, fueling the buy-to-let mortgage market which has boomed over recent years.
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