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Aberdeen property market showing signs of moving again
The property market in and around Aberdeen, which has been hit by the fall in oil price, is showing encouraging signs of activity according to latest figures from an independent property consultancy. The report from CKD Galbraith reveals that its regional office in Cults has been successful in bringing more properties to the market in Aberdeenshire as well as reducing the average time taken to sell a property by almost three weeks. CKD Galbraith’s Aberdeen statistics from the final quarter of 2015 show that the supply of properties coming onto the market increased by 50% quarter on quarter. They also shows that the average time taken to sell a property was down by 32.75%, almost three weeks, compared to the previous quarter of 2015. ‘The Aberdeenshire property market has continued to show positive results throughout the final quarter of 2015 despite the downturn in the oil and gas industry in Aberdeen. We have been greatly encouraged by the increase in the number of properties coming onto the market and there has been a healthy appetite from buyers viewing properties,’ said Hannah Christiansen, head of residential at CKD Galbraith’s Aberdeen office. ‘Good properties at the lower end of the market continue to sell well, with good viewing levels and strong offers whilst the higher end of the market does continue to move, albeit its taking slightly longer. People are still moving home in Aberdeen and excellent property, in both city and rural locations, continue to be in demand,’ she explained. ‘The industry wide figures for sales in Aberdeen over the previous quarter have been down across the industry, as reported by the latest Registers of Scotland figures. However, we have witnessed a strong start to the year and as we enter the prime Spring selling period we are confident the market will see healthy activity with a flurry of properties for sale prior to the introduction of the 3% levy on second homes coming into place in April,’ she added. The latest Registers of Scotland index report covering the final quarter of 2015 showed that the total volume of residential property sales in Scotland increased by 14.5% compared with the same period in the previous year. The average property price in the quarter was £167,734 an increase of 1.6% compared to the previous year. Continue reading
Residential rents flat in Australian capital cities over last 12 months
Residential rents in Australian capital cities were flat in 2015 and growth is now at its lowest level on record according to the latest rental index. Rents increased by 0.2% in January 2016. The only capital cities to see a rise in rents over the month were Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Hobart and Canberra, elsewhere rents dropped, the CoreLogic rental index shows. Currently the median rent rate is recorded at $443 across the capital cities with a combination of factors affecting the market. ‘Among these is a higher level or rental stock resulting in greater options for renters, a slowdown in population growth, higher than normal investment activity and stagnant wage growth,’ said the firm’s research analyst Cameron Kusher. ‘More rental stock at a time when demand is easing due to slowing population growth, and little wage growth for renters, has resulted in flat rental growth conditions over the past year,’ he explained. ‘For renters there is a lot more accommodation options in the market while simultaneously, landlords are now required to respond to a more competitive environment which, in many cases means keeping rents steady or in some areas reducing rents in order to keep a tenant,’ he added. He also pointed out that CoreLogic has tracked annual rental changes since 1996 and over that time, rental growth conditions have never been weaker. At the same time last year rental rates had increased by 1.7% highlighting that the slowdown in rental conditions has been sharp over the year. A breakdown of the figures shows that rents increased in the last year by 1.4% in Sydney, by 2.1% in Melbourne, by 0.1% in Hobart and by 1.8% in Canberra. They fell by 0.7% in Brisbane, by 0.4% in Adelaide, by 8.6% in Perth and by 13.4% in Darwin. Across every capital city except Canberra the rate of annual rental growth or decline is currently lower than it was a year ago indicating that the weaker rental market conditions are prevalent across most capital cities. Weekly rents across the combined capital city measure increased 0.2% over the month of January however they were unchanged over the past 12 months and currently, combined capital city rental rates are $487per week for houses and $465 per week for units. ‘It is possible that over the coming months, rental rates could begin to fall on an annual basis due to additional new rental supply entering the market,’ added Kusher. Continue reading
Canary Wharf set to see strongest office rental growth in central London this year
Canary Wharf is set to have the strongest central London office rental growth in 2016 with an increase of 12.8%, followed by Shoreditch at 10% and Midtown at 9.6%, according to a new analysis. Affordability is the main driver for rents to increase, along with the development of Crossrail, integrating Canary Wharf with the rest of central London, and a general shortage of available offices across London, says the Knight Frank report. This will push tenants seeking high quality affordable offices eastwards, with Canary Wharf well placed to benefit. Expansion by Technology and Creative firms will contribute to the shift, as they are growing fast and increasingly seeking larger offices, it explains. It also says that Shoreditch’s increase in office rents will principally be driven by technology sector expansion. The more mature, established heavy weight tech firms have firmly established a London rival for California’s Silicon Valley in the area, which is set to continue to grow over the next 12 months. Indeed, the technology sector was the largest source of demand for office space in central London in 2015, for the fifth consecutive year, and rents in Shoreditch grew by nearly 24% in 2015, nearly double the 12% increase seen in the neighbouring City Core which is London’s traditional financial district. Moreover, at £65.00 per square foot, rents in Shoreditch have closed the gap on the City Core rents which stood at £70 per square foot at the end of the fourth quarter of 2015. In 2007, Shoreditch rents were £42.50 per square foot, about a third less than the City Core at £63.50 per square foot. Central London vacancy rate levels are at a 14 year low, the report also shows, the lowest since the first quarter of 2001, with the West End at 3.4%, the lowest since 1989. ‘The gap between rents in traditional core areas and other sub-markets has never been so small. Occupiers are making decisions based on quality of product and amenity, availability of scale, adjacency of workforce and not by postcode,’ said Dan Gaunt, head of City Leasing at Knight Frank. According to James Roberts, Knight Frank chief economist, what has surprised everyone is that Shoreditch office rents have got so close to those of the City Core. ‘Everyone assumed the tech firms could not afford rents that high,’ he said. ‘However, the more successful start-ups from five or six years ago have matured into larger, established companies with deeper pockets. They now need bigger, modern, high quality offices, and they can afford to pay to get what they want. It’s what happened in Silicon Valley but there the process took decades, in Shoreditch it has happened in a few years,’ he added. Continue reading
