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UK house prices up 2.6% in first quarter of 2015, latest index shows
UK house prices were 2.6% higher in the three months of 2015 than in the previous quarter but the annual rate of growth is still falling. The latest index from the Halifax shows that annual price growth fell slightly from 8.3% in February to 8.1% in March, taking the average price of a home to £192,970. The quarterly rate of change increased for the third consecutive month. It is now at a similar rate to September 2014 when it was 2.7%, prior to a marked slowdown in the last three months of 2014. The data also shows that house prices increased by 0.4% between February and March, offsetting February’s 0.4% fall. According to Halifax’s housing economist Martin Ellis the recent return to real earnings growth for the first time in several years, very low mortgage rates and last December’s stamp duty changes are supporting housing demand. ‘The rising level of house prices in relation to earnings should, however, curb house price growth and activity,’ he added. He also predicts that the annual rate of house price growth, which has continued to ease in the first quarter of 2015, is forecast to end the year at 3% to 5%. The index report also points out that housing supply remains tight. According to figures from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors new instructions fell again in February suggesting that the trend remains down following January’s modest rise, which was the first increase in six months. However, house price optimism rebounded in February as inflation continued to fall and the expectation of an interest rate rise receded further, according to the Halifax Housing Market Confidence Tracker. Ellis said that this optimism is reflected in the outlook for both buyers and sellers, with buying sentiment up to its highest level since the Confidence Tracker launched in 2011 at net +35. At the same time, selling sentiment reached an all-time high and now stands at +27. The report also mentions the regional differences in stamp duty. Some 81% of residential stamp duty revenue raised in the UK in 2013/2014 was in the four regions of southern England; Greater London, South East, South West and East of England, according to the HMRC. This was significantly higher than their 71% share in 2007/2008 when total stamp duty revenues were at a similar level at £6.68 billion in 2007/2008 against £6.45 billion in 2013/2014. London alone contributed 42% of all UK stamp duty revenues in 2013/2014 compared with 28% in 2007/2008. Indeed, London was the only region to see an increase in revenues between 2007/2008 and 2013/2014. Continue reading
Expansion of London cycle scheme could boost house prices, it is suggested
The continued expansion of London’s cycle hire scheme will benefit home sellers living near bike docking stations and attract potential buyers to living in previously less well connected areas, it is claimed. The ‘Boris Bike’ programme, named after the Mayor Boris Johnson who introduced the scheme, already offers Londoners the use of 11,500 bikes across more than 700 docking stations and with new sponsorship is set to expand even further. Transport for London has identified a further 1,000 potential docking stations that could be ready for use by early 2016. According to estate agent Marsh & Parsons, in much the same way that proximity to a tube station has long increased the attractiveness and saleability of properties in the capital, as well as the actual cash value, it has seen a rise in buyers enquiring about local bike docking points and expects this interest to continue to increase as the scheme achieves greater prominence. ‘South London has long had a core of cycling commuters. To date, this trend has primarily been people using their own bikes, so secure storage has long been a high priority for such individuals when house hunting,’ said Tom Crabtree, the firm’s Clapham office sales manager. ‘But with the cycle hire scheme continuing to grow and public awareness of the programme improving, proximity to a bike docking station is starting to feature on the wish lists of buyers. As with the tube network, where the vast majority of stations are north of the river, South London hasn’t been afforded anywhere near the same number of docking stations as the other side of the Thames,’ he explained. ‘But hopefully the expansion plans will restore some of this imbalance and help open up some relatively inaccessible areas south of the river which would benefit residents, aspiring homeowners and potential sellers who would have a more attractive asset on their hands,’ he added. There were more than 10 million separate journeys made in 2014 using the bike scheme according to Transport for London, a 25% increase from 2013. London’s love affair with cycling as a means of commuting is also confirmed by the Office of National Statistics which reported that the number of residents in the capital cycling to work had more than doubled from 2001 to 2011. As well as being located at popular tourist attractions and close to other transport hubs such as tube and train stations, bike scheme docking stations are primarily installed on residential streets and Marsh & Parsons’ research found that the most prestigious street in the capital to feature one is Grosvenor Crescent in Belgravia, where the average current property is worth £22,435,017. ‘London has long had a world class public transport system and the introduction of the cycle hire scheme five years ago has added to the attraction of areas such as Battersea and Fulham which, despite being £1… Continue reading
Auckland sees unprecedented housing market activity
Unprecedented sales activity in March saw Auckland’s residential housing market establish new records for prices and sales numbers, according to the latest index for the New Zealand city. March is always the most active month for property sales, but there has never been a month’s trading to compare with the past month, according to Peter Thompson, managing director of Barfoot & Thompson. The average sales price increased by 3.9% compared with February, pushing the average sales price to an all-time high of $776,729. It is more than $17,000 higher than the previous record average price set in December last year. The median price at $711,000 increased by 1.1% over that for February and is 9% higher than the median in March 2014, the data also shows. ‘March has set a string of new records,’ said Thompson, adding that a quarter of all the homes sold in the month were for in excess of $1 million and the firm sold 1,597 homes in the month, the highest number ever in a calendar month. ‘Buyers were not put off by the record prices, and for the last two weeks of the month we sold more than 400 homes each week, the highest two weeks trading in the company’s history,’ he explained. ‘Buyers remain convinced that with a stable economy, low interest rates and restricted housing availability, that buying at current prices is manageable,’ he added. The data reveals that in the first quarter of this year, the average sales price has risen 6.1% over 2014’s average price for the year of $716,588, and March’s average price was 7% higher than it was 12 months’ previously. During the firm sold 420 homes for in excess of $1 million, 167 more than the 253 homes we sold in March last year, which until now was the highest number of $1 million homes sold in a month. At the same time it sold 300 homes for under $500,000, which represented 18.8% of sales. According to Thompson current high prices are encouraging more home owners to bring their property to market, and during March the firm listed 1,997 new properties, the highest number in the past 17 months. ‘At month’s end we had 3347 properties on our books for sale, the highest for 10 months. While sales activity in April is unlikely to match that for March, given the relatively good level of choice available trading can be expected to remain extremely active,’ he concluded. Continue reading
