With the government scrapping stamp duty on all properties worth up to £250,000 for first-time buyers for the next two years, now seems like a great time to take that all-important first step onto the property ladder. However, whether you’re looking for your first or your fiftieth property, the news that mortgage rates are falling across the board means that things could be looking up for everyone looking for a new house or flat for sale.

Thanks to conditions in the mortgage and property markets improving slowly and steadily, many mortgage providers have been getting in on the act and cutting their mortgage rates since the start of the year. The Post Office, for instance, have recently cut the rates for their fixed-rate mortgages for the fourth time this year, whilst Woolwich and Nationwide are also following suit with reduced rates for a lot of their mortgage products.

How do these cuts affect mortgage rates overall? Well, the average rate for a two year fixed-rate mortgage has decreased from 4.88% in January to 4.72% in April, whilst the average cost for a two-year tracker mortgage has gone down from 3.77% to 3.58%. This might not seem like an awful lot in real monetary terms, but there has been a significant increase in the number of mortgages on offer: the number of mortgage products available for those borrowing up to 90% of their new home’s value has risen by 21%, whilst those looking to borrow up to 80% will find an impressive 63% more mortgage products than were around at the start of the year.. This means that if you use your noggin and do a bit of shopping around, there are great mortgage deals to be found to help you get your dream house or flat.

So, once you’ve decided to take advantage of the current decrease in mortgage rates and look for that dream house or flat for sale, start the search with adflyer. Our property section has a great range of houses, flats, land, premises and overseas property for sale, with our trusted sellers uploading fantastic new listings to the site every day.

The country in general might be barely limping out of the recession and the property market may still be looking pretty unstable, but many of our seaside towns are experiencing a much-needed property price boom.  Savills estate agents have reported that prices for properties near the coast in England and Wales have risen by an incredible 115% since 2001, compared to 96% across the country as a whole.

Although this may be bad news for those with smaller budgets looking for a house or flat for sale by the seaside, this rise in property prices could make coastal property a lucrative nest egg for those on the look-out for a second home.  With the current unstable economic situation, many people are considering turning a second property into a holiday let as an alternative to other traditional investments.  In fact, there has been a recent increase of over 40% in second home purchases located within the small group of the country’s top seaside locations known as the ‘Savills 14’.

This ever-increasing interest in the coastal property market is set to be given a further boost thanks to a new wave of investment schemes and redevelopment projects coming to a whole host of seaside resorts including Hastings, Dover, Sidmouth, Boscombe, Bridlington and Torquay.  So, those looking for a bargain on a great seaside property should keep an eye on these up and coming coastal locations: they could soon be holiday hot-spots full of potential rental income, or just a great long-term investment.

If all of this makes you feel like packing up and heading for the coast, then adflyer can help you find the perfect seaside property.  In our property section, you can narrow down your search for a house or flat for sale by choosing the number of bedrooms or bathrooms you’re after, as well as setting a location to search within.  Also, don’t forget we have a great range of flats and houses for rent too, and our sellers are always adding fantastic new overseas property for sale to tempt you into starting a new life in the sunshine.

If you’ve already read the adflyer motors blog today, you’ll know that Chancellor of the Exchequer Alastair Darling’s pre-election budget brings bad news for motorists.  However, the same budget is set to bring good news to all first-time buyers currently looking for a house or flat for sale.  This is because Mr Darling is due to announce that stamp duty will be scrapped for all property purchases up to a value of £250, 000 for first-time buyers, which comes after the previous stamp duty ‘holiday’ came to an end at the start of this year.

So, what does all this mean?  Well, if you read adflyer’s very first property blog entry, you’ll know that stamp duty is a tax paid on all property, with an extra 1-4% of the property’s sale value being payable to the tax man.  Therefore, if our calculations are correct, you could save up to £10,000 on stamp duty fees when buying your first home.  Plus, nearly 70% of all properties currently on the market in the UK would now be exempt from stamp duty for first-time buyers, meaning there’s no shortage of great deals to snap up!

Although this change in the stamp duty threshold is set to be around for a while (the Tories have previously pledged to change the threshold to £250,000 if they win the election), it’s already under fire from economists and financial know-it-alls for being too costly to the economy.  So, if you’re looking for that all-important first step on the property ladder, it might be a good idea to get a move on to avoid missing out.  To get your property search started, take a look at adflyer’s property section: our sellers are adding fantastic listings for houses and flats for sale to the site every day, so you could find a great deal sooner than you think!