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Over half of UK property owners don’t like their home, research suggests
One in 10 home owners in the UK regret buying their home with the biggest reason being that they think they rushed into it and 57% actually dislike their homes, new research has found. Buying a house is the biggest purchase most people will ever make, and 90% of people don’t regret their purchase. However, that leaves 10% who do, the survey carried out for mortgage and loans provider Ocean Finance has found. Some 28% said they had rushed into buying, 20% said they don’t like their neighbours, 16% said it is not big enough,12% said it needed more work done than they thought and 6% said they can’t really afford their mortgage. Also 6% said they would make a loss if they sold. The older you are, the more likely you are to make a considered buying decision it seems. Just 5% of people over 55 regret purchasing their home, compared with 23% of people aged between 25 and 34. Even people who don’t regret buying their home may not actually like it. While 43% of homeowners questioned for Ocean said that they liked everything about their houses. However 57% disliked one or more aspect of where they live. Some 28% said their home is too small, 21% said it needs too much work done on it, 17% said it is too cold, 15% don’t like the area where they live and 12% said there is not enough space outside. ‘The key lesson from our survey is to spend more time choosing a house before you buy. Getting to know the area and the neighbours before committing is really important, as is making an honest assessment about the amount of work that the property needs, how big it is and whether it will suit you not just now, but as your family grows,’ said Ocean spokesman Ian Williams. Continue reading
Property in French Alps now offers a better deal due to currency changes
Buyers in the French Alps are not happy to buy for the sake of buying but increasingly wanting to rent their property so it provides an income all year round, a new analysis has found. There is also strong demand for off-plan projects, according to the latest prime ski rental index report from international real estate firm Knight Frank. On top of this currency fluctuations are favouring certain nationalities such as the British and Americans. Overall Alpine resorts have seen muted sales activity since the financial crisis took hold in 2008 but new investment in infrastructure, a broader pool of demand and the realisation that a ski chalet is able to offer a competitive investment return is reinvigorating the market,’ the Knight Frank report says. During the 2013/2014 season demand continued to be focussed on the resorts located within an hour of Geneva Airport in particular Morzine/Les Gets, Megeve and Chamonix. The €1.5million to €2 million price bracket in Val d’Isere also saw strong activity, with many buyers wanting to be in the heart of the resort. In the year to June 2014 Knight Frank’s Alpine enquiries came predominantly from prospective European buyers, who together accounted for 61% of all applicants. The Europeans were followed by Asian and Middle Eastern buyers at 12% each, then Russians and CIS nationals at 5% and North Americans also at 5%. An analysis of Knight Frank’s enquiries data by price band shows that there was stronger demand for properties priced below €2.5 million in 2014 with this price bracket accounting for 72% of applicants, compared with 47% a year earlier. The proportion of buyers looking at properties above a €20 million threshold by comparison shrunk from 7.6% in 2013 to 3.8% in 2014. The report points out that price of a luxury home in the Alps can vary significantly, a fact that surprises some non-European buyers. Courchevel 1850 leads the pricing stakes with the average luxury property priced around €30,000 to €32,000 per square meter but in Chamonix, a two hour drive away and crucially outside the desirable Trois Vallées, prime prices are €7,000 to €8,000 per square meter. In the Alps, the authorities in Courchevel have announced they are spending over €100 million on upgrading the resort’s lift system, complementing the new €67 million aquatic centre which is due to open in 2015. Chamonix has gone one better announcing investment of around €477 million to improve its ski lift system, albeit over a longer time period. Knight Frank also says that sales enquiries are now less seasonal than they were. Buyers are recognising the year round appeal of the Alps and gardens, for example, now being sought by more applicants registering with the firm. ‘Buyers today are comfortable with the concept of buying off-plan through CGI imagery, floor plans, site plans and stage payments,’ said Knight Frank’s Roddy Aris, adding that over a period of four months the firm has sold virtually half of the Carré Blanc… Continue reading
UK house price sentiment moderates
Almost 20% of households in the UK perceived that the value of their home rose in January, according to the latest House Price Sentiment Index which reveals a downward trend in 2014. Some 19.5% of the 1,500 households surveyed across the UK said that the value of their home had risen over the last month, while 3.1% reported a fall, the data from Knight Frank and Markit Economics shows. This gave the HPSI a reading of 58.2, the twenty second consecutive month that the reading has been above 50. The index report points out that the HPSI was on a general downward trend for most of the second half of 2014. January’s reading of 58.2, the lowest in 14 months, was a continuation of this trend and well below the average reading for last year of 61. In spite of the month on month fall, households in all 11 regions covered by the index reported that prices rose in January, led by Londoners at 65.3 and households in the South East at 63, while, households in the North West at 53 and Wales at 53.9 perceived the slowest rates of price growth over the course of the month. In London, perceptions of house price growth moderated compared to the previous month and stand well below the previous high of 74.9 in April last year, suggesting that households are less confident that the value of their property has risen than previously. The future HPSI, which measures what households think will happen to the value of their property over the next year, fell in January to 69.5, down from 70.5 the previous month. This was the second consecutive monthly fall in house price expectations across the UK. The future HPSI stands well below its record high of 75.1, which was seen in May 2014. Households in London at 75.3 are the most likely to expect price rises over the next 12 months, followed by those in the South West at 75.1 and the South East at 74.9, the index shows. Expectations of price growth are highest among mortgage borrowers and those who own their home outright with readings of 75.8 and 71.3 respectively, followed by those living rent free at 66.8. ‘House price sentiment has slowed across the country despite the cut in stamp duty introduced by the Chancellor in December. Households in London and the South East signal slower annual rises in house prices this month than last month, an important development as these areas have been the engines of high house price growth over the last year,’ said Grainne Gilmore, head of UK residential research at Knight Frank. ‘Even the prospect of record-low interest rates being in place for longer than anticipated has not been enough to lift expectations for house price growth on a monthly basis in January, however this, coupled with an expected rise in wage growth will likely result in modest price uplifts over 2015,’ she added. Tim Moore, senior economist at… Continue reading
