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Solid home price growth in the US in last quarter of 2014
Home prices in the United States posted solid gains in the fourth quarter of 2014, with the majority of metro areas seeing a slightly stronger price growth. This growth was propelled by tight housing supplies, low interest rates, and a strengthening job market, according to the latest quarterly report from the National Association of Realtors. It means that the national median existing single family home price was $208,700 in the fourth quarter, up 6% year on year and the median existing single family home price rose in 150 out of the 175 metro markets tracked, some 86%. That marks a stronger price gain compared to the third quarter when 73% of the metro areas had posted increases. The data also shows that 24 areas, or 14%, saw double digit increases in the fourth quarter. ‘Home prices in metro areas throughout the country continue to show solid price growth, up 25 percent over the past three years on average,’ said Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist. ‘This is good news for current home owners, but remains a challenge for buyers who are seeing home prices continue to outpace their wages. Low interest rates helped preserve affordability last quarter, but it’ll take stronger income gains and more housing supply to help meet the pent-up demand for buying,’ he explained. Meanwhile, total existing home sales, including single family and condos, fell 1% in the fourth quarter to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.07 million. But existing home sales are still 2.6% higher year on year. By the end of the fourth quarter, 1.85 million existing homes were available for sale, which is slightly below the 2.01 million homes for sale during the fourth quarter of 2013. The average supply was 4.9 months in the fourth quarter. Most economists consider a supply of six to seven months a healthy balance of supply between buyers and sellers. ‘Despite affordable housing conditions in most of the country, an upward pressure on home prices still persists in some metro areas, particularly in the West, where the current supply of new and existing homes for sale is failing to keep pace with overall demand and growing populations,’ Yun pointed out. ‘Unless home builders significantly boost construction, housing supply shortages could develop and lead to further price acceleration this spring,’ he added. The most expensive housing markets in the fourth quarter were San Jose, California, where the median existing single family home price reached $855,000, followed by San Francisco at $742,900, Honolulu at $701,300, Anaheim-Santa Ana, California at $688,500 and San Diego at $493,100. A regional breakdown shows that in the Northeast total existing home sales increased 2.5% in the fourth quarter and are 4.1% below the fourth quarter of 2013. Median existing single family home price was $246,300, up 2.2% from a year ago. In the Midwest existing home sales fell 4.7% in the fourth quarter and are 0.6% below a year ago. Median existing single family home prices reached $162,000, a 6.2% jump… Continue reading
Record December for house prices in Scotland
Scottish house prices have increased by £6,700 in the last 12 months to hit a six year high, nearing the pre-recession peak, the latest index report shows. Prices in December increased by 0.3% and year on year price growth is up 4.2%, taking the average house price to £165,075, according to the Your Move Scotland house price index. Total home sales in 2014 were 11% higher than 2013, led by the first time buyer market and despite falling oil prices property values in Aberdeen have seen some of the strongest annual growth, up 10%. Indeed, average house prices in Aberdeenshire and the Shetland Islands both reached new records in December, while overall Scottish house prices reached a crescendo at the end of 2014, ending on a high note with an all-time record December. ‘After the brief unsteadying influence of the independence referendum, house price growth has firmly fallen back into a steady rhythm, and values climbed 0.3% in December,’ said Christine Campbell, regional managing director of Your Move. She pointed out that values have risen 4.2% or £6,688 in a year, taking them to the highest level seen since June 2008. Standing at £165,075 in December, this means the average house price in Scotland is now just £440 shy of the pre-recession peak, and households across the country are beginning to taste the fruits of the economic revival. ‘Speculation has been running wild as to the effect of plummeting oil prices on Aberdeen’s housing market. However, the city actually witnessed the biggest annual jump in house prices on mainland Scotland, up 10% in the past 12 months, equivalent to £20,438,’ explained Campbell. ‘Aberdeen is also holding its ground as one of the most expensive places to buy, and during December the city recorded the highest price paid for a property in Scotland throughout the whole of 2014, at £3million,’ she pointed out. ‘Growth is making its way beyond these urban economic centres though, and the Shetland Islands joins Aberdeenshire in setting a new record house price in December. Stronger activity at the bottom rungs of the ladder has pushed the average price for a terraced home in the Shetland Islands up from £106,000 in the fourth quarter of 2013 to £156,000 in the fourth quarter of 2014,’ she added. Demand from first time buyers means that at the lower end for affordable starter homes sector flats have become the most frequently purchased type of property in Scotland. Sales of flats between July and December 2014 have seen a 6% rise on the same period a year previously. Argyll and Bute saw the biggest year on year increase in transactions during the second half of the year, with flats sales up 28%. The data shows that overall, the total number of home sales in Scotland during 2014 was 11% up on 2013 but the majority of that progress was made in the busier first six months of the year, showing an increase of… Continue reading
UK house prices up almost 10% in year to December 2014
UK house prices increased by 9.8% in the year to December 2014, down from 9.9% in the year to November 2014, according to the latest official figures. House price annual inflation was 10.2% in England, 4% in Wales, 5.5% in Scotland and 4.9% in Northern Ireland, the figures from the Office of National Statistics show. The index report says that house prices continue to increase strongly across the majority of the UK, with prices in London again showing the highest growth. Annual house price increases in England were driven by an annual increase in London of 13.3% and to a lesser extent increases in the South East of 11.5% and the East at 11.4%. However, excluding London and the South East, UK house prices increased by 7.4% in the 12 months to December 2014. On a seasonally adjusted basis, average house prices increased by 0.7% between November and December 2014, the data also shows. In December 2014, prices paid by first time buyers were 9.5% higher on average than in December 2013. For existing owners, prices increased by 9.8% for the same period. According to Graham Davidson, managing director of Sequre Property Investment, the annual increase in 2014 in London is not sustainable and prices simply cannot continue to grow at this rate throughout 2015. But Adrian Gill, director of Your Move and Reeds Rains estate agents, pointed out that house price growth has wavered recently and quietened down from a thunderous charge earlier in 2014. ‘But property values ended the year on a stronger note, with a sturdy monthly upswing in December. Rankings of annual growth across the country still read in neat geographical order with price inflation flowing out from the London and the South East, and northern regions bringing up the rear,’ he explained. ‘Schemes like Help to Buy have jump started growth in these regions, where homes are cheaper and prices still to break free of the long shadow of the recession. While the London market is adjusting to more sustainable conditions and taking a breather, other parts of the UK now have their moment to shine,’ he added. He also said that it is encouraging to see new price records being set in Wales and the West Midlands in December. ‘Lower stamp duty and record low mortgage rates should act as further injections of support to make sure the housing recovery drives further forward across the country,’ he added. Continue reading
