Tag Archives: crisis
New home building in Australia reaches record high but stamp duty also up
New home building in Australia bounced back in the second quarter of 2015 but overall all home owners are paying more in property tax, new figures show. The number of detached houses beginning construction held steady at a relatively high level, while a rebound in multi-unit dwelling commencements provided the overall lift to reach the highest level for any quarter on record, according to the figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The figures show there was a 0.7% increase in detached home commencements while others, predominantly multi-unit dwellings, jumped by 19.2%, driven by a surge in the state of Victoria. The state recorded over 9,000 multi-unit commencements, which is a record high. In the 12 months to March, almost 205,000 new dwellings were commenced, the first time the 200,000 mark has been breached. According to the Housing Industry Association (HIA) leading indicators suggests that the number of commencements in the June quarter will be even higher. ‘When we get the final result for the 2014/2015 fiscal year it is likely to show more than 210,000 new dwellings were commenced during the year,’ said HIA economist Geordan Murray. A breakdown of the figures show that new home starts increased by 1.9% in New South Wales, by 18.8% in Victoria, 20.9% in Queensland and by 12% in the Northern Territory. But elsewhere, there were sizable declines, most notably in South Australia where the strong result in the December quarter was reversed by an 18% fall. They were down 4.8% in Western Australia, 14.7% in Tasmania and down 14.4% in ACT. However, the HIA is warning that for the whole of the housing market the burden of stamp duty payable on house sales is becoming more of a burden, especially for new builds. Its latest Stamp Duty Watch analysis shows that the property tax has increased across the country. In New South Wales, Victoria and the Northern Territory, the typical stamp duty bill now amounts to over $20,000. Stamp duty bills have increased particularly sharply in NSW and Victoria since late last year, according to Shane Garrett, HIA senior economist. ‘Clearly, stamp duty is a major impediment to housing affordability. It is a particularly onerous tax on new housing. In many instances stamp duty is paid multiple times as transactions occur during the new dwelling’s life cycle. This is one example of the inequitable tax treatment of new housing relative to existing property,’ he explained. ‘Independent research conducted for HIA last year provided compelling evidence of the benefits to Australian living standards and economic growth from the replacement of stamp duty with more efficient, broad based revenue raising measures,’ he added. The highest tax on a typical home is in the Northern Territory at $23,128, followed by New South Wales at $22,490, Victoria at $21,790, Western Australia at $17,053, ACT at $16,350, South Australia at $15,080, Tasmania at $8,735 and Queensland at $5,950. Continue reading
Average property prices in Scotland up 3.5% year on year
Average property prices in Scotland increased by 3.5% to £167,765 in the second quarter of this year compared to the previous year, according to the latest data from the Registers of Scotland. It means that the average price of a home is now at its highest for this quarter since Registers of Scotland began compiling quarterly statistics in 2003. The highest rise was 10.1% recorded in West Dunbartonshire, taking the average price to £120,822, while Edinburgh recorded the highest average at £237,286, a rise of 4.4% compared with the same quarter the previous year. The largest percentage fall in price was in East Renfrewshire, with a drop of 7% taking the average price to £216,565. Sales of property across Scotland increased by of 1.6% on the same quarter the previous year, the highest volume of sales for this quarter since 2008. Glasgow saw the biggest rise in the number of sales with an increase of 17.6% compared to the same period in the previous year. This increase brought Glasgow above Edinburgh in terms of volume with 3,035 residential house sales compared to 3,002 in Edinburgh. This is the first time that the volume of Glasgow sales have exceeded those in Edinburgh since quarter four of 2012. Aberdeenshire sae the biggest decrease in the number of sales with a fall of 18% as in Aberdeenshire, and the total value of sales across Scotland increased by 5.1% compared to the previous year to over £4.14 billion, the highest value of sales for this quarter since 2008. Edinburgh was the largest market with sales of over £712 million for the quarter, an increase of 6.4% on the previous year. West Dunbartonshire recorded the highest increase in value with sales of over £45 million, an increase of 27% compared with the same quarter last year. In terms of type, flats showed the biggest increase in average house price in this quarter, up 4.7% to £133,790. Semi-detached properties also showed an increase of 1.8% on the previous year. Meanwhile detached and terraced properties saw decreases in average house prices of 0.2% and 0.3% respectively. Semi-detached properties and flats both showed an increase in sales volumes, with flats showing the biggest increase at 6.9%. Detached and terraced properties showed a decrease in sales volumes with terraced properties showing the biggest decrease of 3.7%. Property consultancy, CKD Galbraith, said that its own research shows a similar pattern and Simon Brown, partner and head of residential sales at CKD Galbraith, said it is an encouraging picture for the Scottish property market as a whole which has witnessed steady growth over the first half of 2015. ‘The market has improved somewhat post-referendum and we have witnessed a surge in viewings being conducted, the numbers of prospective buyers registering with us and the number of properties coming onto the market, all highlighting a real boost in market confidence both from sellers and buyers alike,’ he explained. ‘We believe this will continue as… Continue reading
Stamp duty hike hits prime property market in UK, research suggests
Sales of homes worth over £1.5 million in the UK have reached a plateau and are set to fall for the first time in two years due to property tax change, according to a new report. This is despite growth in this price sector of 36% year on year from 2012 to 2014, says the latest market analysis report from national estate agents Jackson-Stops & Staff. ‘The wider UK residential property markets are reasonably buoyant now that we have the general election behind us and the uncertainties that any potential political changes bring,’ said Nicholas Leeming, chairman of Jackson-Stops & Staff. ‘However, the revision to stamp duty rates late last year has contributed to the widespread stagnation of the higher valued markets in 2015, both in London and the country, where many properties are finding it difficult to attract buyers,’ he explained. ‘Sale volumes have plateaued across the country in response to high transaction costs, reflecting the fact that the UK has one of the highest taxed property sectors in the world,’ he pointed out. Under new stamp duty legislation the value portion between £925,001 and £1.5 million has resulted in an additional 10% bill, and anything above £1.5 million added another 12% charge. ‘We have an ageing house owner population with too few younger entrants onto the property ladder. Mortgage funding is difficult to raise for people in their forties, even if they have been previous house owners, irrespective of their credit history,’ Leeming said. ‘We need to encourage trading down so that larger houses are released to families needing more space. The changes to inheritance tax will incentivise older house owners to trade down, but we also need to enable property owners to move without new restrictions to mortgage funding and reduce the top levels of stamp duty to free up the higher value markets at no net loss to the Exchequer,’ he added. Alastair Hancock, the firm’s director at its Sevenoaks office, revealed that over a third of available stock is priced in excess of £1.5million and this is due to a lack of incentives for buyers at the mid to high end of the market. ‘Since the stamp duty hike last December, we have seen a significant decline in volume of sales at this level as the 12% continues to penalise the country house market, which is still struggling to recover from the recession,’ he said. Continue reading
