News
Demand for homes in UK up by 9% in second quarter of 2015
Demand for homes in the UK has increased by 9% in the last three months with London commuter areas seeing a surge and some parts of the north also on the up. Locations including Watford, Reading, Aylesbury and Guildford now dominate the top 10 in demand spots, according to the second quarter data from online estate agent eMoov. While the north of the country has 60% of the coldest spots, some have seen demand rise, most notably North Tyneside up by 62%, Sunderland and Dudley both up by 32%, and South and North Lanarkshire in Scotland up by 29% and 26% respectively. The data also shows that Bristol is one of the hottest demand spots outside the south east with demand up 10% since the first quarter of the year. Durham at 12% has seen demand fall by 30% over the course of a year, making it the second coldest spot in the nation. Rochdale and Northumberland, both at 17%, have also continued to cool, moving both locations up the table of coldest spots in June. In Scotland as well as North and South Lanarkshire seeing a rise in demand, Fife is up 22% and Highland is also up 22% since the first three months of the year. Westminster in London has also continued to decline, dropping a further 10% in demand and two places, making it the third coolest whilst Ealing has witnessed the largest fall in the last three months, with demand down by 36%. Brent and Hounslow also fell by 4% and Oxford is the only commuter zone to see a decrease, as demand fell by 8%. Since the second quarter of Medway has seen the biggest increase with a rise of 70% in demand. Scotland has also performed strongly over the course of the year with Fife up 42%, South Lanarkshire up 22% and North Lanarkshire up 15%. The annual top 10 also includes Wiltshire up 48%, Sefton up 45%, Bedfordshire up 38%, Tameside up 25%, Bolton up 18% and Bradford up 16% while at the bottom are Calderdale and Westminster both with a fall of 58%, Ealing down 47% and Aberdeenshire down 40%. ‘The UK property market definitely seems to have experienced a post-election bounce. With demand up 9% nationally, people are clearly more confident about buying now that the next five years of government has been decided,’ said the firm’s chief executive officer Russell Quirk. ‘It’s interesting to see the demand for commuter zone property continuing to grow. With London demand falling, property owners wanting to see an increase in their property price, might want to sell up and head a few miles out of the capital,’ he added. Continue reading
Prime country house prices in Scotland affected by new land and building tax
Prime country house prices in Scotland increased by 0.2% between April and June taking annual growth to 1.4%, the latest index analysis report shows. But this is down from the recent high of 2.8% in June last year and the recently introduced Land and Building Transaction Tax (LBTT) seems to have had the greatest bearing on market performance. The analysis report from Knight Frank also suggests that the recent landslide SNP general election victory in Scotland on 07 May has had an impact, albeit a more modest one. Under LBTT those buying homes worth less than £333,000 now pay less tax for homes, but those purchasing property with a value above this threshold now pay more in purchase taxes. For example, a house in Scotland valued at £1.5 million would have attracted a stamp duty liability of £43,750 under the old system. Based on the new LBTT rates, that same property now attracts a bill of £78,350, a near 80% increase. As a result, buyers and vendors brought forward prime transactions prior to the introduction of LBTT in order to benefit from the lower stamp duty charges. There was a spike in activity during the first three months of 2015 with the number of sales completed by Knight Frank nearly 50% higher year on year. Since then, however, the prime market has been subdued, with the number of sales completed between April and June notably lower than the same period of 2014. There is likely to be an ongoing period of adjustment at the top end of the market as individuals factor in the increased cost of moving, according to Ran Morgan, head of Scotland residential sales at Knight Frank. He pointed out that there are still pockets of activity in Scotland’s prime market however, mostly in areas within commuting distance of large towns and cities. Prices in the central Scottish region, within an easy commute of Edinburgh and Glasgow, for example, rose by 0.4% between April and June and have risen by 2.8% on an annual basis. ‘In spite of higher levels of tax, Scottish property prices remain some way below their previous market peak. The market continues to offer good value, especially when compared with London and southern England,’ Morgan added. Continue reading
Property prices and sales still falling in Dubai and Abu Dhabi
Residential sales and prices in Dubai are still on a downward trajectory and in neighbouring Abu Dhabi the market is also down apart from rentals. The Dubai residential property sales price index from REIDIN fell by 1.29% in May and prices are now down 5.7% year on year. A breakdown of the figures shows that apartment sales prices fell 1.19% month on month and are down 6.8% year on year while villa sales prices registered were down 1.72% on a monthly basis and down 0.8% year on year. Residential property prices in the Dubai rental market fell by 0.37% in May 2015 but have increased 1% year on year. In this sector apartment rental prices fell 0.44% month on month but are up 1.2% year on year while villa rental prices also fell 0.44% month on month and are unchanged on an annual basis. The firm’s Abu Dhabi residential property price index fell by 0.27% in May and prices are down 2.3% compared to May 2014. A breakdown of the figures shows that apartment sales prices fell 0.52% month on month and 4.5% year on year while villa sales prices increased 0.8% on a monthly basis but are still down 1.2% year on year. Residential property prices in the Abu Dhabi rental market have fared better, up 0.37% month on month and up 5.1% compared to May 2014. Apartment rental prices increased by 0.18% month on month and 2.8% year on year while villa rental prices were up 0.68% on a monthly basis and 7.5% year on year. Meanwhile, the latest figures from the Dubai Land Department (DLD) show that Dh64 billion of property transactions were completed in the first quarter of 2015 of which Dh24 billion was from property and land sales and Dh37 billion the result of new mortgages. The most popular areas for unit sales were Business Bay, where 1,202 units were sold for a combined Dh1.84 billion, followed by Dubai Marina. Of the Dh24 billion worth of land and property bought, some Dh9 billion was bought by GCC investors with Dh5.8 billion to Emiratis and Dh1.9 billion to Saudis. Dh3 billion was from other Arab investors and Dh12 billion from non-Arabs. When it comes to buyers outside of the Gulf region, the data shows that Indians bought Dh3 billon of properties, British buyers bought Dh1.9 billion and Pakistanis bought Dh1.4 billion. Iranian and Russian buyers rounded out the top five nationalities of non-Arab investors. ‘The figures are showing a well-established trust in our real estate market,’ said the DLD director general, Sultan Butti bin Mejren. Continue reading
