Tag Archives: europe
Survey reveals positive attitude to renting in the UK
The majority of tenants in the UK private rented sector are satisfied with their current landlord with only 5% refused a longer term tenancy, new research shows. Overall 65% of tenants believe their rental payment represents ‘good’ or ‘very good’ value for money and have positive attitudes towards renting, according to the study commissioned by Paragon Mortgages. The quarter two tenant market analysis, carried out by BDRC Continental, reported a rise in tenant satisfaction with 80% satisfied with their current landlord and 87% of tenants now regarding their rented property as their home rather than a short term arrangement. The research also highlighted that the average duration of tenants living in their current rented property in the second quarter of 2015 was seven years, with the typical total stay in the private rented sector being 12 years. When asked about their long term housing plans some 35% of participating tenants intend to remain within the sector and 24% intended to buy a house in the future, with the proportion of respondents citing the unaffordability of housing as the reason for renting privately increasing from 69% to 74%. ‘This research provides a valuable insight into the sector. There are many surveys of landlords and many academic reports on the PRS. There are, however, too few surveys that poll tenants directly on their experience of renting privately,’ said John Heron, managing director of Paragon Mortgages. ‘This survey has identified high levels of tenant satisfaction and an appreciation of the good value that rented accommodation can offer across the country. It is more disappointing though to see that affordability constraints are impacting negatively on future choices in housing with less than a quarter of tenants expecting to buy their own home in due course,’ he added. Continue reading
House prices growth flattens in Sydney, latest index shows
House price growth in Sydney has flattened and values in three other Australian capital cities fell in September, according to the latest residential index. Overall there was a 0.9% rise in capital city property prices over the month and a 4% rise in the September quarter, the CoreLogic RP Data home value index shows. However, across the capital cities, the month on month results ranged from a 2.4% rise in Melbourne to a 1.9% fall in Hobart while Sydney, posted a month on month gain of just 0.1% in September. During the September quarter, half of Australia’s capital cities posted a decline in dwelling values with Hobart down 2% over the three months. In Adelaide values slipped by 1.6%, in Perth they fell by 0.7% and Canberra values were down 0.4%. The most substantial capital gains over the quarter were achieved in Melbourne where dwelling values were up by 7.4% followed by Sydney at 4.6 %, Brisbane at 1.9% and Darwin up by 0.4%. Head of research Tim Lawless pointed out that the flat growth rate in Sydney comes after dwelling values increased by 16.7% over the past 12 months and they are 49.6% higher over the growth cycle to date. ‘The slower month on month reading across the Sydney market comes at a time when auction clearance rates have slipped to the low 70% range from week to week and the number of advertised properties has risen,’ said Lawless. ‘Vendors are still enjoying strong selling conditions, but it looks like buyers are slowly regaining some leverage in what has been a very hot market. Meanwhile, while half of Australia’s capital cities have seen values rise over the past quarter and year, the other half did not fare as well,’ he added. In Darwin, dwelling values fell by 3.9% over the 12 months to the end of September, while in Perth values were 0.9% lower over the year. Adelaide home values dropped by 0.3% and Hobart values are 0.2% lower. Weakening labour markets, slower population growth and less demand for housing is placing downwards pressure on prices to differing degrees across these markets, according to Lawless. Looking at which sector of the housing market is driving the highest capital gains, across the combined capital cities it has been the most expensive quartile of the market where growth has been the most substantial. Across the combined capitals, the top quartile of dwellings based on value has recorded growth of 12.3% over the past 12 months, while the most affordable end of the market has recorded a lower growth rate of 8.5%. ‘This trend holds true across Sydney and Melbourne, however in Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth it is actually the most affordable end of the housing market that has recorded the best results,’ Lawless said. CoreLogic's analysis of houses versus apartments reveals some substantial differences in market performances across the capital cities. At a capital city level over the quarter, the results don’t show a great deal of difference with… Continue reading
London and Paris still dominate wish list of European real estate investors
European real estate investors are increasingly looking beyond London and Europe’s gateway cities such as London and Paris as they seek to meet their return objectives, new research suggests. But not every regional city is suitable for investors and returns can disappoint in the medium term if one does not factor-in local market fundamentals such as local growth trends, demographic changes and human capital, it points out. According to the latest LaSalle Investment Management’s European Regional Growth Index (E-REGI), which ranks Europe’s top 100 cities, the region’s economy is driven by dynamic urban centres with London and Paris once again in first and second position in the ranking. The index report explains that the extraordinary resilience of such cities, combined with their deep investment markets, justifies targeting them for a wide range of investment strategies. Other cities increasingly coming to the fore include Manchester at 17 and Bristol at 25 which have both climbed three spots in the European ranking, while Birmingham at 37 is up two spots. ‘Having published this index for 16 years, we now have an unrivalled understanding of the different economic patterns in Europe’s leading cities,’ said Mahdi Mokrane, LaSalle Investment Management’s head of research and strategy for Europe. ‘The index not only determines which real estate markets are likely to out or underperform in the medium term, but combined with our on the ground expertise we also use the index as a strategic framework to match cities with the most relevant investment styles,’ he explained. In order to help investors navigate the complexity of the different strategies which best match different cities, LaSalle has categorised them into four distinct groups: consistent, affluent, mover and aspiring. Consistent is the largest group in the E-REGI analysis. Cities in this group are generally sizeable and combine deep investment markets with long term economic strengths related to demographics, technology and urbanisation (DTU), creating the right conditions for growth focused strategies. London and Paris top this group of consistent performers, but balanced E-REGI scores and consistent performance over time are not limited to the top of the ranking. Munich, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Stuttgart and Amsterdam also seem suited for value-add or opportunistic strategies. Düsseldorf, Mannheim-Karlsruhe, Cologne-Bonn, Rotterdam-The Hague, Utrecht, Edinburgh and Leeds are also included in the group but the report says core investment would be more suited given their smaller market size. Affluent is a small group of cities that also support long term strategies but are more difficult to transact-in due to their smaller size and stronger domestic investor base. Consumer related strategies are most attractive in these cities as their strong E-REGI scores are predominantly driven by their wealth and research and development spending components. This group includes Stockholm, Luxemburg, Oslo, Copenhagen-Malmo and Zürich. Movers are more ‘cynical’ market where timing is of the essence for investment in these more cyclical markets. For example Spanish cities have seen moves at both the top and the bottom of the… Continue reading
