Tag Archives: crisis
Property sales up over 20% month on month due to property tax change
Property sales in Scotland increased by 21% month on month to record the strongest March for homes sales in eight years, the latest index figures show. The rise was partly due to buy to let landlords rushing to beat the extra 3% property tax imposed on additional homes at the beginning of April, according to the index report from Your Move. The data also shows that Midlothian recorded record high house prices and the fastest increase in sales, rising 48% in the first quarter of 2016 year on year while overall property values were up 0.8% month on month in March, the quickest rise since August 2015. However year on year property prices in Scotland are down 9.7% year on year, taking the average house price to £169,379. Christine Campbell, Your Move managing director in Scotland, pointed out that sales in Scotland were not as high as elsewhere in the UK where transactions soared by 60% month on month in March. She said that the more modest increase in Scotland may have been due to John Swinney announcing the property tax changes a month later than George Osborne, so many second home buyers may not have had time to plan their investments. But Scottish sales for the first quarter of this year are still well above the same period in 2015, up 18% year on year and Campbell explained that the construction of new homes in Midlothian has enabled the area to become the only place in Scotland where house prices stand at a record high in March. She also pointed out that while house price growth is down year on year, it’s important to remember that this was due to the huge spike in house prices back in March 2015, following a rush of sales brought forward to avoid the introduction of the LBTT. ‘But with buy to let landlords opting to buy flats and other more affordable properties, this hasn’t translated into too much price turbulence. House prices have generally risen by between 0.01 and 0.8% each month since July 2015, which suggests the current spurt is healthy and sustainable,’ said Campbell. She also pointed out that an uplift in million pound home sales has propelled East Renfrewshire up the rankings in March, with house prices in the area increasing faster than anywhere else in Scotland, up 8.1% month on month. These additional high end home sales mean the area now also has the highest average property value of any area at £257,529. Continue reading
Buy to let stamp duty rush sees increase in supply of rental properties in UK
There was an increase in the number of new rental properties in the UK following the rush by buy to let landlords to beat the introduction of additional stamp duty tax on homes in April. New research has found that Worcester saw new rental listings shoot up by almost a half with a rise of 48.9% in April while there was a rise of 38% in Chelmsford and 36.4% in Stevenage. Overall there was a national rise of 11.5% but in London it was just 9.1%, according to the study which looked at the number of new rental properties being advertised last month compared to March in 90 towns and cities from property crowdfunding platform Property Partner. Other locations that saw significant increases included Southport, Telford, Bath, Newport, Woking, Gloucester, Milton Keynes, Oxford, Oldham and St Helens with rise of between 34.4% and 22.5%. ‘The rental market experienced a much-needed boost in April. Unfortunately, this was created by investor frenzy to beat the stamp duty hike, and supply is unlikely to continue on an upward trajectory,’ said Dan Gandesha, chief executive officer of Property Partner. ‘If anything, options for tenants could become more limited in the next couple of months as traditional landlords balk at the prospect of paying the surcharge now, and losing mortgage interest tax relief from next year,’ he pointed out. ‘There is still strong tenant demand, but the Government has changed the traditional buy to let landscape, and this will have ramifications for the rental market longer term. That demand will increasingly have to be met by professional landlords offering tenants a better product, and investors a better deal,’ he added. Continue reading
UK’s South East office market makes strong start to 2016
Office market in the South East of the UK has seen the strongest start to a year since 2008, according to new research. Overall take-up in the South East Office market increased by 30% in the first quarter of 2016, according to the latest M25 Offices report from Knight Frank. A total of 973,000 square feet of space was let or acquired during the quarter, 10% above the 10 year average. The high level of take-up ensured that overall supply remains historically low with availability across the South East markets 25% to 30% below the long term trend. The report says that following record investment volumes in 2015, the first quarter of this year has recorded £494 million of investment, which is consistent with the 10 year average. It points out that the £325 million acquisition of SEGRO’s 972,000 square foot office portfolio in Slough by AEW was significant representing, not only the largest transaction in the South East market for two years, but also further evidence of overseas purchasers becoming more active and widening their UK focus beyond Central London. With stock levels improving in the second quarter of 2016 Knight Frank predict an increase in transaction volumes from the middle of the year and expect investment volumes to be close to £2 billion by the end of the year. Emma Goodford, head of National Offices at Knight Frank, said that overall take-up in the first quarter has been encouraging, particularly set against increased market anxiety relating to the forthcoming referendum on the future of the UK in the European Union. ‘Although, some decision making will clearly be deferred until after the vote, we continue to see interest rise from diverse array of occupiers with active named demand topping 6.6 million square feet. With this in mind, we are predicting strong rental growth in key locations, particularly where new development is accompanied by infrastructure and amenity improvements,’ she explained. According to Tim Smither, head of National Offices Investment at Knight Frank, the weight of capital targeting opportunities in the South East remains robust. ‘Whilst some investors pause to await the outcome of the EU referendum, others are seeing opportunity. In particular, high yielding, asset management opportunities remain keenly sought after, supported by a strong rental growth outlook for the region,’ he said. Continue reading
