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Property sales in Spain reach three year high
Residential property sales in Spain increased in May to their highest level for three years, according to the latest official figures. But there is an ongoing collapse in new home sales, the data from the National Institute of Statistics (INE) shows. Overall there were 26,455 homes sale in May, up 5% on last year and 11% on the year before that. But a breakdown of the figures shows that the increase came from the resale market, up 34% over 12 months, whilst new home sales fell 42% to just over 6,000. According to Mark Stucklin, of Spanish Property Insight the overall picture is one of a recovery in demand for property in all areas where foreigners tend to buy, but with the market hamstring being a lack of attractive new homes for sale. However this could be about to change. Demand is growing for new homes in Marbella, for example and developers are building again. Land is in high demand and for the first time in almost a decade residential, commercial and tourism projects are under construction and market sentiment is increasingly positive, according to Pia Arrieta, partner at DM Properties Knight Frank Marbella. ‘Genuine interest in good value, good quality, well located plots of land is on the increase. Land prices in Spain climbed 5.2% during the last quarter of 2014 and sales increased significantly compared with the same period in 2013,’ said Arrieta. Arrieta explained that the strong pound is encouraging UK buyers who are considering a broader range of investments, but northern Europeans, particularly those from Scandinavia, the Benelux nations, Germany and Russia are also ranking highly among those choosing to build their dream homes on the Costa del Sol. ‘The demand for land stems from a growing appetite amongst end users’ for turnkey, contemporary products with the latest gadgets and luxuries. Competitive construction costs and the decline in land prices in recent years has spurred developers on,’ she pointed out. ‘Marbella’s accessibility along with continuing investment in the town such as its new boardwalk and the increasing number of top rated restaurants are also encouraging new development,’ she added. According to Knight Frank’s head of sales in Spain Christian de Meillac this upturn in demand has also been replicated in registration figures. ‘In the first half of 2015 Knight Frank has seen a 65% increase in new applicants registering their interest in Marbella compared with the same period last year,’ he said. ‘Buyers are seeing value again. Prices have come down, the exchange rate is favourable and buyers are seeing long term growth potential,’ he added. Continue reading
Property prices in England and Wales up for second month in row to new record
The price of UK properties being put up for sale has increased for the second month in a row by 0.1% taking the average price to a new record high of £294,542, the latest index figures show. But there has been a sharp drop in the number of new sellers, adding to an already diminishing supply of homes for sales and a shortage of people trading up, according to the July market report from Rightmove. Year on year prices are up 5.1% but the headline figures hide considerable regional variations. In Wales prices are down 1.7% year on year but up 1.5% month on month, taking the average price to £177,280. Annual growth is small in the North East at 0.9% but monthly growth is 2.1%, taking the average price to £147,251. In the West Midlands annual price growth is 3.2%, taking the average price of a home to £200,129 but the region saw a 0.5% fall month on month. In neighbouring East Midlands average prices have climbed 7.4% year on year and 1.2% month on month, to an average of £313,255. The South West has also seen prices fall month on month, down 0.6% but prices are still up 2.9% year on year to an average of £286,155. Elsewhere in the south growth has been largely positive. In the South East prices are up 5.8% year on year and 0.4% month on month to £386,988 and in Greater London they are up 7.8% year on year but down slightly by 0.2% month on month to £615,115. The East Midlands, the North West and Yorkshire and Humber, areas where price growth has struggled to keep up with other parts of the country, have seen positive growth. In the East Midlands prices are up 4.2% year on year and 0.7% month on month to £190,192 and in the North West they are up 2.7% year on year and 0.1% month on month to £176,277. Meanwhile in Yorkshire and the Humber average prices have increased by 2% year on year and by 0.8% month on month to an average of £172,412. Indeed, the number of new sellers is down 10.6% compared to 2014 and this comes at a time when demand is high. Rightmove reports that visits and enquiries to agents are both up 22% on last year. The shortage is most acute for smaller homes with two bedrooms or fewer, where Rightmove sees the biggest demand in excess of supply. According to Miles Shipside, director and housing market analyst at Rightmove, the drop in new homes for sale could be due to the onset of the seasonal summer slowdown, and buyers’ constraints in affording record prices. He said that the latter underlines the need for more new build homes that are affordable, of the right type and in the right locations and emphasises the importance of the recent government announcement on speeding up residential planning permissions aimed at boosting supply. ‘Another month, and… Continue reading
Australian office leasing market growth led by New South Wales
The New South Wales office leasing market is leading the way in the Australian commercial market in the first half of 2015, with almost twice as much office space leased year on year. There has been a 13% increase in the number of leasing deals done nationally in 2015, compared to the first half of 2014, according to figures from Colliers International. The amount of space leased is up 22% from 198,360 square meters last year to 241,551 square meter this year, led by New South Wales with 112, 937 square meters leased year to date, compared to 64,629 in the first half of 2014. Cameron Williams, Colliers International National Director of Office Leasing, said there was increased traction nationally at the larger end of the market. ‘This is in contrast to 2014 enquiry data, which is a reflection of what we are seeing on the ground. Larger firms are driving demand for office accommodation in 2015 compared to 2014, when we saw smaller space in strong demand,’ he said. ‘Our enquiry data for the second quarter of 2015 also shows a significant shift in the industries searching for office space,’ he added. The research also reveals that in 2014 the government sector dominated as they put large requirements into the market. However, moving into the second half of 2015 it is business services, communications and finance that are catching up and dominating both in enquiry levels and leasing deals being negotiated. Businesses searching for substantial office accommodation were driving demand across key office CBD markets, with the business services, communications and finance sectors accounting for the lion’s share of enquiries. Overall, enquiries for office space nationally increased by 31% from the second quarter of 2014 compared to the second quarter of 2015 for office space in the 1,000 square meters to the 3,000 square meters category. Sydney in particular saw an increase in this category, with a 25% rise in demand from the first quarter of 2015 with 51,003 square meters to 63,650 square meters in the second quarter. Williams said activity was increasing in the Sydney CBD office market, particularly in the last quarter. ‘The big change has been growth. The tenants that are in the market at the moment are predominantly growth driven,’ he explained. ‘The growth in the market is mostly being driven by technology companies and finance. At the smaller end of the market there has been a lot of activity from Asian investment companies that have a preference to be located in Sydney’s midtown,’ he said. ‘This growth is naturally having a positive impact on net absorption and lessors are becoming more confident,’ he added. Continue reading
