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By HUGO DUNCAN Updated: 17:01 EDT, 4 June 2025

Those who dream of living by the sea might be put off by prices in well-known coastal enclaves like Sandbanks and Salcombe.Both are notoriously expensive, and out of reach for many.New findings by Lloyds Banking Group show average property prices in Sandbanks, Dorset, stand at £965,708 - and that is down 3 per cent on a year ago. In Salcombe, Devon, average property prices have climbed to more than £820,000.But buyers seeking a home by the beach need not give up hope. Across Britain, the average price of a property on...

House prices rose at their fastest rate for two years in the twelve months to February, according to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics.The average UK property rose in value by £13,000 across the year, or 5.4 per cent, based on provisional estimates by the ONS. This was more than the 4.8 per cent rise in the 12 months to January, and is the highest level of growth seen since December 2022 when prices went up by 7.3 per cent. The growth has been attributed to buyers seeking to...

My investments are a mix of funds, shares and investment trusts and I find them hard to keep track of. With markets moving fast and a constant stream of news, what do I need to consider to make sure my investments are diversified and keep up?This is Money replies: The events of the past five years have kept investors on their toes and the pace of news shows no sign of slowing down.Since 2020, investors have dealt with the Covid 19 pandemic and its lockdowns, the cost of living crisis, interest...

Property is a favorite British conversation topic. It feels as if everyone has an opinion on where house prices are heading, the next property hotspot or where homes should - and shouldn't - be built.But to get a true sense of what's driving the market, it is worth listening to the people who live and breathe property day in, day out. In this new series, we will be putting an expert through their paces each month.We want to know their view on all of the hot-button topics mentioned above as well...

The number of Canadian 'snowbirds' planning to sell their second homes in sunny Florida and Arizona has surged this spring, with many of them put off by the sudden chill that has blanketed relations between their homeland and the US.Real estate agents say they are seeing more Canadians cashing out, further lowering property prices in warm-weather states that have long attracted retirees and tourists from snowy Canada.Canadians spent close to $6 billion on US real estate from April 2023 to March 2024 - making up 13 percent of all foreign...

By JAMIE BULLEN Updated: 08:37 EDT, 9 April 2025

Apple, Google and Amazon all have something in common: they were started in garages.While it’s unlikely you’ll start a trillion-dollar company from one, you might be able to kick-start your property investment portfolio from this unusual source.A typical house now costs nearly 7.2 times the average salary. This makes saving for a deposit a daunting task – but experts say that there is an often-overlooked solution to raising funds. Garages and parking spaces can be bought much cheaper and let out without many of the regulations and costs levied on regular...

Increasing numbers of Britons now own their home without a mortgage, government figures have revealed.In 2023/2024, 37 per cent of households owned their homes outright, according to the Department for Work and Pensions' latest Family Resources Survey.It is less than the 28 per cent of homes owned with a mortgage, revealing a widening gap between those who own their home outright and those who don't. Over the past ten years, the number of people owning outright has risen from 33 per cent to 37 per cent of households.The percentage of households...

House sales are taking more than three months to complete once an offer has been accepted, according to analysis by property buying website OneDome.The research looked at almost 200,000 property listings over the course of 2024 and found that property transactions took an average of 108 days to complete.However, in some parts of the country, buyers are finding they are having to wait for an agonising five months.Buyers in the capital typically face the slowest completion times.The north London borough of Islington was found to be the slowest market in the...