Property News reports the market as it moves: sale prices confirmed, planning applications decided, mortgage rates repriced, projects delayed or approved. Items are short, dated and sourced to filings, registries or the parties involved. Read by agents, developers and owners who need the week's changes without waiting for a quarterly summary.
A running record of the property market: notable sales, planning approvals and refusals, mortgage rate changes and the developments breaking ground.
Existing-home sales fell 8.4 percent in January 2026 to a 3.91 million annual pace — the weakest month since late 2023 — as rates and the lock-in effect kept both sides of the market home.
Peter Almeida
Millions of homeowners hold mortgages with rates far below today's — and the arithmetic that keeps them put explains the housing shortage better than any villain.
Peter Almeida
The FHFA raised the baseline cap for Fannie- and Freddie-eligible mortgages to $832,750 starting January 1, 2026 — a bigger deal for expensive metros than headlines suggested.
Peter Almeida