Tag Archives: british
Average house prices in British seaside towns up by a third since 2005
House prices have increased, on average, by a third across British seaside towns over the past decade, according to the latest research. Prices are up by 31% or £49,207, equivalent to £410 per month, from £159,522 to £208,729, the data from UK lender the Halifax shows. However, there is a marked north/south divide in property values in seaside towns, with all 10 of the most expensive seaside towns in southern England, and seven in the south west alone. Salcombe at £672,874 in Devon and Sandbanks at £614,726 in Dorset are the two most expensive seaside towns in Great Britain and both are in the south west. Outside this region the most expensive seaside towns are Aldeburgh on the Suffolk coast with an average price of £413,393, Lymington in the New Forest at £404,781 and East Wittering in West Sussex at £330,146. Outside southern England, the most expensive seaside areas are the Scottish towns of St. Andrews at £294,586, North Berwick at £294,076 and Stonehaven at £243,741 while in Wales the most expensive is the Mumbles at £271,349. The biggest house price rises in the average price of seaside towns over the past decade were all recorded in Scotland. Fraserburgh in Aberdeenshire recorded the largest rise, with a 109% increase in property values from £63,540 in 2005 to £132,920 in 2015. Lerwick in the Shetlands and Peterhead in Aberdeenshire saw the next largest rises both 102%. A further 15 coastal towns out of a total of 59 surveyed have recorded price increases of at least 50% since 2005. Partly due to the substantial rises in the top performing towns, the average house price in Scotland's seaside towns rose by 38% between 2005 and 2014, exceeding the 31% increase for Great Britain as a whole. Newtonhill saw the largest house price increase over the last year, going from £199,902 in 2013 to £240,899 in 2014, a rise of 21%, followed by Dalgety Bay at 16% and Macduff at 15%. The research also shows an east/west divide in house prices in Scottish seaside towns, with nine of the 10 most expensive seaside towns being located on the eastern coastline while all of the 10 least expensive seaside towns are in western Scotland. Port Bannantyne is the most inexpensive in Scotland with an average price of £73,539. Outside Scotland, the biggest increase in average prices during the last 10 years was recorded in Salcombe with growth of 69%, followed by Workington in Cumbria up 60% and Brighton up 58%. House prices have continued to increase in several seaside towns over the past year. Newtonhill in Aberdeenshire and Shoreham by the Sea recorded the largest average price growth in the last 12 months, with increases of 20%, four times the average increase for all seaside towns in the past year which was 5%. The next biggest price rises were in Sandwich in Kent and Watchet in Somerset, both with year on year growth of 18%, followed by Seaton on the… Continue reading
Property sales in Canada up for third month in a row, latest data shows
Home sales across Canada increased in April month on month for the third time a row, according to the latest data from the Canadian Real Estate Association. Sales were up 2.3% from March to April but actual, not seasonally adjusted activity was 10% above levels a year ago while the CREA home price index increased 4.97% year on year. The data also shows that the national average sale price rose 9.5% on a year on year basis in April but excluding Greater Vancouver and Greater Toronto, it increased by 3.4%. April sales were up from the previous month in two thirds of all local markets, led by the Greater Toronto Area, the surrounding Golden Horseshoe region, and Montreal. ‘As expected, low mortgage interest rates and the onset of spring ushered many home buyers off the sidelines, particularly in regions where winter was long and bitter,’ said CREA president Pauline Aunger. Gregory Klump, CREA chief economist, pointed out that in recent years, the seasonal pattern for home sales and listings has become amplified in places where listings are in short supply relative to demand. ‘This particularly stands out in and around Toronto. Sellers there have increasingly delayed listing their home until spring. Once listed, it sells fairly quickly. Sales over the year as a whole in Southern Ontario are likely being constrained to some degree by a short supply of single family homes,’ he said. ‘However, the busy spring home buying and selling season has become that much busier as a result of sellers waiting until winter has faded before listing,’ he added. A breakdown of the figures shows that sales were up on a year on year basis in about 70% of all local markets, led by activity in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, Greater Toronto, and Montreal. Of the 18 local markets that set new records for the month of April, all but two are in Southern Ontario. The number of newly listed homes was virtually unchanged, up 0.1% in April compared to March. Below the surface, new supply rose in almost two thirds of all local markets, led by a big rebound in Halifax-Dartmouth following a sharp drop in March. This was offset by declines in Greater Vancouver, Victoria, and the Okanagan Region, as well as by a continuing pullback in new supply in Calgary. New listings in Calgary have dropped by a third from their multiyear high at the end of last year to their current multi-year low. The national sales to new listings ratio was 55.3% in April, up from 50.4% three months earlier as the ratio has steadily risen along with sales so far this year. A sales to new listings ratio between 40% and 60% is generally consistent with balanced housing market conditions, with readings above and below this range indicating sellers’ and buyers’ markets respectively. The ratio was within this range in the majority of local housing markets in April. The number of months of inventory… Continue reading
UK residential rents up 4.7% in last 12 months, latest research shows
The cost of renting a new home in the UK has increased 4.7% over the last 12 months while tenants renewing their contract saw their rent increase 1.8%, new research shows. It means that squeezed yields, particularly across London and the South East, have led to more landlords looking to buy rental properties with a tenant already in situ to preserve their return. Indeed, the proportion of properties in the UK bought by landlords with a sitting tenant has reached the highest level since 2005, according to the latest report from Countrywide Residential Lettings. Last year 11% of all rental properties bought by a landlord came with a sitting tenant, a fourfold increase on 2008. Landlords are increasingly recognising the value of keeping a reliable, long term tenant and are prepared to reward them with longer contracts, the report points out. Tenants in properties sold as occupied have lived in their home significantly longer than the average tenant. A quarter of these tenants signed contracts of two years or longer compared to just 5% of tenants overall. This means for a growing number of renters, the decision to sell by their landlord does not affect their living conditions. Across every region of the UK, the proportion of sales with a sitting tenant rose, with over quarter of all purchases by landlords in the Capital coming with a sitting tenant, up from 12% in 2008. It is in London and the South East where yields are lowest and where the proportion of landlord purchases with a sitting tenant is highest. Here, landlords are most likely to buy a property with a sitting tenant to ensure they receive a rental income immediately, improving their return. This is achieved by landlords buying directly from other landlords who are selling up, rather than buying from an owner occupier and having to find a new tenant. Between 2008 and 2014, the North East of England saw the largest uplift in landlords buying with a tenant already in place. Given the limited growth in house prices since 2008, landlords attach great importance to the yield they are able to achieve. Selling with a sitting tenant allows a vendor to demonstrate the yield they are already achieving and means the new landlord will receive an income immediately in a market where it takes longer than average to get a tenant. Equally the new landlord won’t incur search costs or suffer any void period. ‘It seems that the secondary market of landlords selling investment properties to other landlords is growing. Landlords are increasingly recognising the long term value attached to keeping a reliable, high quality tenant,’ said David Fell, research analyst, Countrywide plc. ‘Properties sold with a tenant in situ, which offer a readymade guaranteed income, can even trade at a premium. At Countrywide, we are able to assist landlords in their quest to find a landlord… Continue reading
