Rajatheertha Construction & Real Estate News Blog

  UK Mortgage Rates Hit 6%, Then Ease Slightly: Should You Fix Before the November Bank of England Decision? United Kingdom | October 16, 2026 UK mortgage borrowers have been given a small amount of relief after one of the sharpest repricing episodes in years—but the outlook remains highly uncertain. The average five-year fixed mortgage rate reached 6.00% on October 5 , its highest level since September 2023, while the average two-year fix climbed to 5.98%. Even more striking was the disappearance of cheaper fixed deals. At the beginning of September, Moneyfacts counted 1,494 fixed-rate mortgage products priced below 5% , excluding products available only in Northern Ireland. By October 5, just nine remained. The market has since improved slightly. Moneyfacts data updated on October 15 shows the average five-year fixed rate at 5.99% and the two-year average at 5.96% . The cheapest mainstream deals for borrowers with large deposits have also slipped back below 5%, including produc...

  Housing Bubble Risk 2026: Zurich and Tokyo Are High Risk — Where Dubai, London and New York Stand Global Real Estate | October 12, 2026 Are the world's biggest property markets heading for another housing crash? The latest UBS Global Real Estate Bubble Index 2026 gives a more nuanced answer. Among the 23 major cities studied, only Zurich and Tokyo are currently classified by UBS as having a high housing-bubble risk . Zurich leads the index with a score of 1.69 , followed by Tokyo at 1.54 . Miami, which had topped the index in the previous two editions, has fallen into the lower elevated-risk category. Several other closely watched markets—including Dubai, Seoul, Geneva and Lisbon —also sit in the elevated-risk group. At the other end of the spectrum, UBS classifies London, Paris, New York, San Francisco and São Paulo as low risk . That does not mean homes in London or New York are cheap. It also does not mean Zurich or Tokyo is guaranteed to crash. The index measures the exte...

  Where Is Airbnb Banned or Restricted in 2026? City-by-City Rules for Travelers and Property Investors Updated October 7, 2026 Buying an apartment in a tourist city and turning it into a short-term rental once looked like one of the simplest property-investment strategies in the world. In 2026, that assumption can be expensive. New York severely restricts whole-home stays shorter than 30 days. Budapest’s District VI has reduced the legal number of private short-term rental days to zero . Athens has frozen new registrations across its first three municipal districts through the end of 2026. Paris limits tourist letting of a primary residence to 90 days a year. Amsterdam has cut the annual allowance to only 15 nights in some central neighbourhoods and, just this week, proposed extending that tighter limit to another area. Barcelona is going further: the city intends not to renew its 10,101 existing tourist-flat licences when they expire in 2028 . At the same time, a new European Uni...

  UK Autumn Budget 2026: Mansion Tax, Landlord Tax and Stamp Duty — What Property Owners Need to Know Before 28 October United Kingdom | October 7, 2026 The UK property market is heading into another important tax moment. Chancellor John Healey will deliver the 2026 Budget on Wednesday, 28 October , with the Office for Budget Responsibility publishing updated economic and fiscal forecasts alongside it. For landlords, homeowners, investors and people considering a property purchase, the challenge is separating three very different things: tax changes that are already law property measures that have already been announced but are still being implemented and Budget speculation that may never become policy. That distinction is particularly important this year. The UK has already legislated higher income-tax rates on property income from April 2027 . England is also preparing a new High Value Council Tax Surcharge from April 2028 on homes valued at £2 million or more. At the same time,...