Tag Archives: crisis
Households across the UK positive about property price growth
UK house price sentiment remains positive with households in all regions believing that property prices increased in September, the latest index shows. Some 22.5% of households surveyed across the UK said that the value of their home had risen over the last month, while 3.8% said that prices had fallen, according to the index from Knight Frank and Markit Economics. The index, which is a bellwether for house price movements across the country, recorded a reading of 59.3 and has now had a reading above 50 for 30 months in a row. Any figure over 50 indicates that prices are rising, and the higher the figure, the stronger the increase. Any figure below 50 indicates that prices are falling. However there is a north-south divide with the average reading for the north of England in September at 54.9 and the south of England at 64.1. This is the second widest gap between the two readings this year. While households in all UK regions perceive that property prices rose in September, Londoners perceived the highest rate of house price growth over the course of the month, followed by those in the East of England. However, in Yorkshire and the Humber perceptions of house price growth eased notably in September after rising for the previous three months to reach 60.4 in August. While households in the region still perceive that prices are rising, they are reporting that the pace of increases has slowed, with a reading of 54 this month. The index also shows that households in all UK regions expect house prices to rise over the next 12 months, led by households in the East and South East of England while some 5.9% of households expect to buy a property over the next 12 months, while a further 6.4% said that they would purchase a house within one to two years. The future HPSI, which measures what households think will happen to the value of their property over the next year, rose in September to 70 from 69.5 the previous month. However, the future HPSI remains well below its peak of 75.1 achieved in May last year, the report points out. ‘UK price sentiment remains in positive territory, and has stayed broadly stable since the election in May. However the north-south divide is evident, with the average reading for the north of England in September at 54.9 and the south of England at 64.1,’ said Gráinne Gilmore, head of UK residential research at Knight Frank. ‘This is the second widest gap between the two readings this year. Overall, households expect prices to rise over the next 12 months, with eight times as many households anticipating a rise in the value of their home as anticipating a decline,’ she explained. ‘Sentiment is being underpinned by the improving economy, with positive employment data as well as wage growth boosting buyer confidence. At the same time a shortage of stock on the market is serving, in some cases,… Continue reading
Property sales in Canada up slightly month on month, latest data shows
Residential sales in Canada increased slightly by 0.3% month on month in August and transactions were up 4% compared to a year ago, the latest index shows. The data from the Canadian Real Estate Association also shows that the number of newly listed homes for sale increased by 0.5% while prices are up 8.7% year on year but this drops to 4.2% when Greater Vancouver and Greater Toronto are taken out of the calculation. ‘August marked the fourth month in a row for strong and stable national sales activity, While home prices increased in British Columbia and in the Greater Toronto area, they have been holding fairly steady in many other parts of the country for some time now,’ said CREA President Pauline Aunger. The figures also shows that prices continue to rise in Ontario and British Columbia, where listings are either in short supply or heading in that direction. August also provided early evidence that modest price growth is re-emerging in some markets in Quebec and New Brunswick. ‘The continuation of low interest rates is supporting home sales and price trends, and is likely to keep doing so for some time,’ said Gregory Klump, CREA’s chief economist. Actual activity in August was up 4% from the same month last year and it was the third highest August sales figure on record after 2005 and 2007, and 6.6% above the 10 year average for August. Actual sales were up from year ago levels in a little over 60% of all local markets, led by the lower mainland region of British Columbia and the Greater Toronto Area. Sales in Calgary continued to post the largest year on year declines after having run near record levels there last year. The number of months of inventory, regarded as an important measure of the balance between housing supply and demand, was 5.6 on a national basis at the end of August, unchanged from the previous three months and holding at a three year low. Year on year price growth picked up in August for all home types tracked by the index with the exception of townhouse/row units. Two storey single family homes continue to post the biggest year on year price rise at 8.85% followed by single storey single family homes at 6.09%, townhouse/row units at 4.29% and apartment units up 3.08%. Year on year price growth varied among housing markets tracked by the index. Greater Vancouver with growth of 11.96% and Greater Toronto up 9.99%, continue to post by far the biggest year on year price increases. By comparison, year on year price growth in the Fraser Valley was 7% while Victoria and Vancouver Island recorded 5% growth. Prices in Calgary were flat on a year on year basis, the first month since September 2011 of no annual price growth while prices in Saskatoon also ran roughly even with year ago levels. Elsewhere, home prices were up from August 2014 levels by 1.5% in Ottawa but fell by… 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
