Tag Archives: crisis
New home starts in Australia hit all-time high, latest data shows
More new homes in Australia were started in the September quarter of 2014 than in any quarter since records began in the mid-1980s, the latest figures shows. Building activity figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows that detached dwelling commencements increased by 0.8% in the quarter while ‘other dwelling’, predominantly multi-unit dwellings, rebounded by 30.2%. In aggregate, the total number of dwellings commenced increased by 12.5% in the quarter to reach 52,380, a new record. With New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia, the four largest states, all recording their strongest quarters on record for multi-unit dwelling commencements at the same time, there is little surprise that activity reached a new record, according to the Housing Industry Association. ‘Furthermore, another incremental increase in detached dwelling starts sees this part of the market record the strongest quarterly result since 2010. This result confirms that residential building activity was tracking along at a very strong level during 2014,’ said HIA senior economist Shane Garrett. ‘However, part of the particularly strong September quarter result can be attributed to a catch up after the rather disappointing result in the June quarter when the number of starts fell well short of expectations,’ he pointed out. ‘Following the surge in residential buildings approved in late 2013 and early 2014, there was a substantial accumulation of multi-unit residential building projects that had obtained approval but did not commence construction in the first half of the year. The figures confirm that much of the activity in the pipeline entered the construction phase in the September quarter,’ he added. A breakdown of the figures show that new home starts increased in all states with the exception of South Australia where activity fell by 5.7%. Activity in New South Wales increased by 30.7%, in Victoria by 0.9%, in Queensland by 18.1%, in Western Australia by 5.1%, in Tasmania by 2.9%, in the Northern Territory by 9.6% and by 22.8% in the ACT. Continue reading
Average UK property prices down 0.4% in December 2014
Average property prices in the UK fell by 0.4% in December but are still 8.2% above the same month in 2013, the latest index figures show. This takes the average price of a UK home to £205,150, according to the data from independent estate agency haart. But in London prices fell by 0.2% month on month with annual growth of 11.4% taking the average price to £482,746. The data also shows that the deposit needed by a first time buyer fell 5% over 12 months and the average first time buyer mortgage increased 12% annually to £133,872. There were 11 buyers chasing each property available across the UK and nearly 20 in London, but sales are down, some 2.4% in December compared to November and 17.1% compared to December 2013. ‘Affordability is beginning to make a comeback in 2015 as prices start to stabilise, mortgage deals proliferate and higher loan-to-values become more commonplace,’ said Paul Smith, chief executive officer of haart. ‘We are highly unlikely to see a repeat of last spring’s meteoric annual price growth in London that broke the 20% mark and broke the 10% barrier nationally. This is good for consumer confidence and certainly better than talk of bubbles and boom and bust,’ he pointed out. He believes that a great opportunity now exists for first time buyers as lenders compete for their business. ‘Our data shows deposits reducing, despite larger mortgages and average first time buyer property prices which have grown at a rapid rate since summer 2014,’ he explained. ‘Following the Stamp Duty reforms, the purchaser of a typical first time buyer home will now save £828 which could help to cover some of the moving costs,’ he added. Continue reading
Demand for smaller units remains robust in Hong Kong property market
The new build residential real estate market in Hong Kong remained robust in December with small to medium sized units continuing to be sought after, the latest property market report shows. Overall during 2014 some 63,807 residential sales were recorded according to the Land Registry, an increase of 25.9% from 2013 and the first rebound since 2011 after cooling measures were implemented. The report from international real estate firm Knight Frank also shows that luxury residential sales over HK$10 million or above rebounded by almost 50% year on year, to reach a total of 7,778 sales in 2014. The firm points out that this robust trend has extended into 2015 when developers remained active in launching new projects, particularly small to medium sized units. The report also says that in order to tackle Hong Kong’s housing shortage, the government has proposed to increase private home supply to 19,000 units per year in the coming decade. ‘Despite this increase, we still expect to see mild growth of up to 5% in mass residential prices this year,’ the monthly report says. ‘Meanwhile, the potential interest rate rise in the United States and the continuing implementation of government cooling measures are expected to suppress the price growth of luxury flats,’ it explains. ‘More landlords will put their apartments up for lease instead of selling, resulting in an increase in rental supply which will drag down luxury residential rents,’ it adds. The report also records that the office leasing market was quiet in December, traditionally the slowest time for the market. Grade A office rents remained stable while year on year they are up 2% in major business districts in Hong Kong, up 5% on Hong Kong Island but down 6% in Kowloon. Sales were down 37% in 2014 compared with 2013, according to official figures but sentiment increased towards the end of the year driven by demand for large office space from end users motivated by cost savings. ‘In 2015 we expect we expect to see this trend continue with increased demand, not only from large banks and insurance companies looking to own their own offices in Hong Kong, but also from small to medium sized firms seeking to buy their own work space to reduce occupation costs,’ the report explains. ‘Looking forward we expect Grade A office rents in CBD areas to remain firm or experience a modest increase of up to 5% in 2015 given the limited supply and sustained demand,’ it continues. ‘Meanwhile, rents in non core districts should remain stable in 2015 with supply abundant, especially in Kowloon East where about three million square feet of new Grade A office space is scheduled for completion this year,’ it adds. Continue reading
