How do you know the housing market is about to go tits up?
Neil Woodford bets £7m on unlisted estate agent
Neil Woodford, one of Britain’s best-known fund managers, has made a £7m investment in online estate agent Purplebricks.com
By Kyle Caldwell
5:00AM BST 18 Aug 2014
Prominent fund manager Neil Woodford is backing online estate agent Purplebricks.com to shake up the estate agent industry, pumping £7m into the unlisted firm via his new fund Woodford Equity Income.
Mr Woodford, who has a successful record of backing unlisted businesses, said Purplebricks.com posed a “highly disruptive” model which could steal custom from traditional estate agents.
The firm, which was set-up in April, allows customers to sell their homes for a fixed fee of £599. In doing so the firm undercuts other estate agents, who charge commission averaging 1.8pc. This means sellers typically pay over £5,000.
The company also targets landlords, offering a tenant-finding service for a one-off fee of £199.
“The business has the vision, the technology and an experienced management team," Mr Woodford said. "Now with the funding at its disposal, I see a significant opportunity for the business to lead the market in changing the way we buy and sell houses."
More:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/investing/11037865/Neil-Woodford-bets-7m-on-unlisted-estate-agent.html
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Homeowners slash house prices in largest-ever summer sale
The UK shifts from a sellers' to a buyers' market as vendors lower expectations and greed takes a holiday
By Anna White, Property and enterprise correspondent
10:35PM BST 17 Aug 2014
Asking prices have fallen steeply this summer as sellers slash their expectations in the face of dampening demand for new homes.
The price tag on the average UK property coming to market dropped by 2.9pc in the first half of August, the biggest summer fall ever recorded by the UK's largest property website, Rightmove.
Vendors, who have been trying to cash in on record high values, are now discounting to attract buyers who have been deterred by talk of interest rate rises and the eradication of cheap mortgages.
A glut of sellers coming to the market - there has been an 8pc increase in the number of homes up for sale compared with August last year - and a drop in buyer demand has driven down asking prices and tipped the UK into a buyers' market.
More:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/11040337/Homeowners-slash-house-prices-in-largest-ever-summer-sale.html