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New property for sale figures down across the UK
The number of new properties being listed by estate agents fell by 6.6% across the UK in August, adding to the lack of properties on the market for sale, new research has found. The biggest month on month fall was in Taunton where the number fell 31.1% new property listings in Loughborough dropped 28.5% despite seeing a significant increase of 12.6% the previous month. In London the lack of supply is reaching critical levels, according to the supply index compiled by online estate agent House Simple. The number of Londoners putting their properties on the market has fallen dramatically over the summer, with new property listings down 24.8% since June. The index, compiled from data relating to the number of new properties listed on Rightmove every month in more than 100 major towns and cities across the UK and all London boroughs, shows that the Midlands and South of England have been the worst hit regions in August, with 12 of the 15 cities experiencing the biggest drop in new property listings last month in these areas. It also reveals that since the start of June, not a single borough in London has seen an overall rise in new property listings. Kensington and Chelsea has been the worst affected borough with new property listings down 43.6% since the start of June, while the borough of Haringey saw new stock levels fall 36% since the start of the summer. ‘Across the country there are thousands of frustrated buyers, with finance in place, ready to purchase, but the property supply reservoir has dried up,’ said Alex Gosling, the firm’s chief executive officer. ‘They must be scratching their heads as to why sellers aren’t marketing, as there’s no clear or single reason why sellers are sitting on their hands. The general election was expected to be the catalyst for sellers returning to the market,’ he pointed out. ‘We would expect to see activity drop off over the summer holidays, so September will give us a better gauge as to how imbalanced supply and demand are right now. The hope is that after a summer when supply fell off a cliff, sellers will rediscover their appetite over the coming months,’ he concluded. Continue reading
Lending for new home investors in Australia reached all-time high
Lending to investors buying new homes reached an all-time high in Australia July but lending to owner occupiers remained below the peak that occurred nearly a year ago. The total number of loans to owner occupiers purchasing or constructing new homes remained largely unchanged in July 2015 compared with the level in June, but was 9.4% lower than the peak level of lending that occurred in September of last year, the data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows. In contrast, lending to investors constructing new homes increased strongly in July. The value of lending in this category jumped by 11.7% in the month alone to reach a new all-time high. Investors have played a major role in the current new home building cycle, contributing a larger share of new housing supply than has historically been the case, according to the Housing Industry Association, the voice of the residential building industry. ‘New home building has been a key element to the broader domestic economy’s continual growth in recent years, but critically, it has also made meaningful headway in satisfying the housing needs of Australia’s growing population,’ said HIA economist, Diwa Hopkins. A breakdown of the figures show that compared with 12 months ago, the number of owner occupier loans for the construction or purchase of new dwellings declined across most states. New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory were the only areas to record increases at 0.7% and 4.8% respectively. The number of loans declined in the Northern Territory by 29.7%, in Tasmania by 29.4%, in Western Australia by 17.4%, in Queensland by 8.9%, in Victoria by 7.8% and in South Australia by 6.6%. Continue reading
UK to get new buy to let index
A new property index is being launched in the UK that will include more micro level data aimed at providing advanced insight into buy to let investment. The Landbay Rental Index, powered by MIAC for the peer to peer buy to let mortgage lender, will be available for the first time later this month and will monitor rental prices and market trends across the country. The index is intended to serve as a more practical guide to current and potential landlords looking to invest in buy to let properties, as well as others interested in trends in the private rented sector. Rental trends will be reported by granular geographical levels including region, county and London boroughs. Rents will also be analysed by the number of bedrooms and include detailed analysis and explanation of emerging trends. Each monthly report will contain national and local breakdowns, alongside practical detail for rental asking prices by number of bedrooms with input data sourced from Zoopla. ‘The ability to offer new and highly developed data insights into the buy to let and wider property market is very exciting for us. Our P2P mortgage lending platform was developed using the latest innovations in financial technology, so data and insight are already in our DNA,’ said John Goodall, Landbay chief executive officer. ‘We’re confident our partnership with MIAC will give answers to what is driving prices and trends in the private rented sector. Being able to see how rental trends differ by number of bedrooms will be useful in a very practical way, particularly for those looking to invest in buy to let. We hope this tool will prove a useful guide to buy to let investors, and stimulate a discussion amongst industry commentators,’ he explained. ‘The UK property market is fluid and complicated. To really pinpoint what is happening we need local and bedroom number data. With this index we’ll truly find out who and where is pulling the levers in the rental market,’ he added. According to Joe Macklin, director of risk and analytics of MIAC, the new index will benefit from the richest available underlying data and the most fit for purpose statistical techniques to deliver a rental index that is both granular and accurate. Continue reading
