Mortgages

Around 800 houses worth more than £1m each were sold in the UK during the first three months of 2004, says a government report.

SHIP - the self regulating body which represents 90% of the equity release market - says it is also introducing tougher new rules later this year on lifetime mortgage and home reversion schemes.

New figures on the housing market from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister suggest annualised house price inflation fell sharply in March compared with the previous month.

Home reversion plans will soon be policed by the Financial Services Authority but are unlikely to be included in the first wave of M-Day regulation, the Treasury has just announced.

Bristol & West has signed a deal with Arab Banking Corporation to launch an Islamic mortgage market within three months.

The Association of Mortgage Intermediaries, the Mortgage Code Compliance Board and the Intermediary Mortgage Lenders Association have jointly stated they feel the industry and those working within it are on track to meet the Mortgage Day deadline.

The Bank of England's base interest rate is likely to be increased tomorrow, suggests Halifax's monthly update, as house prices rose confidently again in April and there are no signs of a slowdown in the residential property market.

Take-up of rental property now tends to be owned by small first-time buy-to-let landlords buying small properties compared with 10 years ago when the main players in this market were banks, suggests a CML special report.

The average house price in the UK is now past the £150,000 mark as lack of supply continues to push prices higher, says property research and database provider Hometrack.

The Institute of Financial Services, IFS, has signed a four-year deal with education publisher Pearson to deliver online training and testing of qualifications including CeMAP for regulated mortgage advisers.