Tag Archives: europe
Home mover market in UK hits nine year high
The number of home movers in the UK increased by 9% in the first six months of 2016 compared with the same period in 2015, according to the latest research. Some 174,700 people moved up the housing ladder in the first half of the year even although rising house prices mean home movers need a higher level of deposit for their next property, the report from Lloyds Bank reveals. It means that the number of home movers has reached its highest level since 2008 when it was 179,800 over the same six month period. Since hitting a market low of 117,900 in the first half of 2009 the number of buyers moving along the housing ladder has grown by 48%. However, the report points out that the current number of home movers is still at around half the pre-crisis level of 327,600 recorded in the first half of 2007. Housing affordability for second steppers stood at 6.5 times gross annual average earnings in June 2016. On this measure, affordability has improved over the past five years from 7.3 in 2011. The research also shows that most regions of the UK have seen an improvement in Second Stepper affordability since 2011. The largest improvement was in Northern Ireland where this ratio has fallen from 6.2 in 2011 to 4.9 in 2016, followed by the North down from 7.2 to six and Scotland down from 6.6 to 5.6. In contrast, affordability has deteriorated in London from 9.7 to 10.9 and the South East from 8.7 to 9.4. Whilst a mortgage term of 25 years has been the norm for some time, many home movers are increasingly taking out mortgages where payments are spread over a longer period. In the first half of 2011 the proportion of home movers taking up a 25 to 35 year mortgage stood at an average of 9%. The research reveals that for the same period in 2016 this figure had doubled to almost one in five or 18%. Over the same period, the share of mortgages with a 20 to 25 year term dropped from 36% to 29%. Over the past five years, the average price paid by home movers has grown by 38% from £206,997 in 2011, to £261,550 in June 2016, an increase of £78,609, equivalent to a monthly increase of £1,310. In London the average home mover price has grown by 55% since June 2011 to £540,440, the largest increase in the UK. The capital is followed by the South East where home movers now pay on average, £382,324 an increase of 45% in the past five years. By contrast, the average home mover price in Northern Ireland has edged up over the same period by just 2% from £156,764 to £159,326. In the past year the average home mover price has grown by 9% or £24,056 to £285,606. The average deposit put down by a home mover has increased by 32% in the… Continue reading
Edinburgh named as top city to invest in student accommodation in UK
Edinburgh, Bristol and Brighton are the best university cities to invest in student property in the UK, with Oxford further down the list in fifth place and Cambridge seventh. The research from real estate agent Chestertons takes into account a range of factors including average cost, rent charges and growth in house prices and rates each city out of 10 with the top scoring 8.3, 7.9 and 7.8 respectively. Reading was not far behind with 7.7, then Oxford with 7.5, York with 7.1, Cambridge and St Andrews both on seven, and Southampton and Warwick, both on 6.6 making up the rest of the top 10. Aberystwyth in west Wales, Liverpool and Lancaster came out as the least beneficial investments among the 24 cities covered by the research, owing to more affordable rents and slower house price growth. Aberystwyth came last with a score of just 4.3 due to the lowest graduate income of just £16,000 and housing market growth in the region of -6%. Liverpool and Lancaster, both in the North West, followed closely behind, each scoring 5.3. ‘Student lets are generally seen as a great investment. There will always be a reliable level of demand and universities can often be really helpful in pointing students your way,’ said Daniel Killick, from Chestertons. ‘Some locations, however, offer a better return than others. We were keen to get some deeper insights into the UK’s student property market and understand where the most attractive prospects are and the ones that are less likely to pay off,’ he added. Continue reading
New home approvals in Australia down in June, latest data shows
The number of new home approvals in Australia fell by 0.9% in June, the second monthly fall in a row, according to the latest data to be published. In seasonally adjusted terms, total approvals decreased 2.9% with both total other residential dwelling approvals and total houses down by 3.4% and 2.4% respectively. The figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) also show that the value of total building approved rose 1.2% in June, in trend terms, and has risen for six months. The value of residential building rose 0.1% while non-residential building rose 3.7%. A breakdown of the figures show that home approvals decreased by 5.2% in Western Australia, by 3.7% in Tasmania, by 3.2% in Queensland, by 2.8% in the Australian Capital Territory and by 0.1% in Victoria. They increased by 3.6% in the Northern Territory, by 1.6% in South Australia and by 0.8% in New South Wales. Private sector house approvals fell by 3.5% in Western Australia, by 0.6% in Victoria, by 0.5% in Queensland and by 0.3% in South Australia but increased by 0.9% in New South Wales. Overall approvals are continuing to ease back from the record highs hit last year, according to Shane Garrett, senior economist for the Housing Industry Association (HIA). He explained that approvals for both the detached house and multi-unit side peaked in the middle of 2015. ‘Since then, detached house approvals have glided lower in an orderly manner. Multi-unit approvals have continued to be resilient, although sit at levels slightly lower than a year ago,’ Garrett pointed out. ‘The immediate pipeline of new home building work is set to remain very solid, based on this latest approvals update. Recent approvals releases have also highlighted the considerable variation in new home building activity across the different states and territories. We expect the trajectory of new dwelling approvals to continue retreating at a modest pace over coming months,’ he added. Continue reading
