First time buyers should beware builders bearing gifts in the form of nearly £1bn subsidies for shared equity schemes. These will support house prices today but may not be reflected in sales achieved in future. New figures from the House Builders Federation figures make sense from the point of view of housing stock providers but could prove a dangerous case of market manipulation and an expensive mistake for buyers at current prices. These incentives to buy are a rational response to the mortgage famine, which followed the global credit crisis. Banks and building societies have … [Read more...]