Tag Archives: europe
New combined index for the whole of UK shows prices up 0.6% in April
Property prices in the UK increased by 0.6% in April month on month and by 8.2% year on year, according to the first single index for the whole of the country. It merges previous indices that were published separately for England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland taking data from the Land Registry, Registers of Scotland, Land & Property Services Northern Ireland and the Valuation Office Agency. It shows that the average price of a property in Scotland in April was £138,445, up 3.3% year on year and 1.5% month on month while in Wales prices increased by 1.7% year on year and 1.9% month on month to an average of £139,385. In England, the April data shows an annual price increase of 9.1% and a monthly rise of 0.7%, taking the average property value to £224,731 while in London prices increased by 14.5% year on year and 0.6% month on month to an average of £470,025. A breakdown of the figures show that the North West of England saw the greatest monthly growth with an increase of 2.3% and the North East saw the lowest annual price growth with an increase of 0.1% while the South West saw the most significant monthly price fall with a fall of 2.8%. The number of UK home sales continued to grow in the three months to April 2016, rising by 8.3% relative to the preceding three months although sales fell by 45.2% in April 2016 compared with March 2016. The number of completed house sales in England increased by 1.1%to 56,884 compared with 56,261 in February 2015, the number of completed house sales in Wales increased by 4.1% to 2,796 compared with 2,686 in February 2015 and the number of completed house sales in London fell by 10.5% to 6,926 compared with 7,740 in February 2015. Due to a period of two to eight weeks between completion and registration of sales in Scotland, volume figures for the most recent two months are not yet complete, so they are not included in the index report. The creation of a single index for the UK has been widely welcomed but there is still concerns that the time lag amounts to six weeks. According to Rob Weaver, director of investments at property crowdfunding platform Property Partner, on first viewing, the new single index looks like a fair representation of the market and consistent with current sentiment. But he pointed out that with transaction volumes at historic lows, the sample size for April will be smaller than normal and added that the next one will give a better indication as to whether or not this month’s referendum on the future of the UK in the European Union has affected sales and prices. But with historically low interest rates, strong employment and the continuing chronic undersupply of housing, he believes that the upward trend in prices looks set to continue later in the year. He also pointed out that one official… Continue reading
Research reveals the housing market winners to mark first games of Euro football cup
With the European Championship football tournament underway new research shows which countries have done best in terms of house prices since the last cup four years ago. The price of mainstream homes have increases in more than 74% of the countries competing in the tournament, according to the study from international real estate agent Knight Frank. Turkey topped the rankings with an increase of 65.6%, followed by the Republic of Ireland with price growth of 34.3% and Sweden up 32%. In fourth place is Iceland with house prices up by 30.6%, followed closely by England where prices are up 29.7%, Germany up 19.7%, Austria up 16.5%, Northern Ireland up by 15.6% and Russia up 15.2%. Next is Wales with price growth of 14.1% in the last four years, Switzerland up 10.3%, the Czech Republic up 8.2%, Hungary up 8.1%, Belgium up 4%, Poland up by 1.8%, Portugal up by 1.4% and Slovakia up by 0.9%. The country with the worst ranking is Ukraine where house prices have fallen by 22.6% but this is not surprising considering the unrest in recent years. Second from bottom is Italy where prices are down 13.1% and then Croatia where prices have fallen by 9% since the last tournament in 2012. In Romania prices are down 0.5%, France down 5.7%, Spain down 7.2%. Kate Everett-Allen, head of international residential research at Knight Frank, pointed out that the divergent performance of northern and southern Europe is evident. ‘The Nordic countries along with Ireland, England and Germany have seen prices accelerate while prices in most of the southern European economies still sit below their level in 2012,’ she said. Continue reading
EU vote contributing to slow down in home lending in the UK
A further slowdown in home lending in May ahead of the referendum on the future of the UK in the European Union means house purchase lending activity has fallen to a 12 month low. There were 65,113 house purchase approvals, down 1.7% from 66,250 the previous month, according to the latest Mortgage Monitor from residential chartered surveyor e.surv. This marks a 12 month low in lending levels and is the lowest monthly figure for home purchase loans since the 64,626 granted in May 2015. It follows monthly declines of 5.8% in April and 3% in March meaning volumes have fallen 10.5% over the last three months and the report says that the political uncertainty ahead of the EU Referendum may be causing caution amongst lenders and borrowers alike. The recent falls represent a marked turnaround from the peak in lending seen at the start of the year. January and February both saw strong numbers of house purchase approvals granted at 73,060 and 72,512 per month respectively as buy to let landlords and second home buyers pushed through purchases ahead of the stamp duty changes in April. Now, by comparison, the lending market is settling back into its usual rhythm. On an annual basis however, house purchase lending rose marginally in May by 0.8%. The proportion of small deposit lending also dropped slightly in May comprising 18.4% of total home lending, down from 19.1% the previous month. Meanwhile, lending to large deposit buyers, those with a deposit of 60% or more, picked up significantly and now makes up 30.7% of all borrowing. Richard Sexton, director of e.surv chartered surveyors, said that despite the uncertainty the mortgage market remains on an even keel and home buyers have more options than ever as lenders work to expand their range of mortgage options further. He pointed out that new mortgages with longer repayment terms and innovative inter-generational mortgages are offering financial buoyancy aids for buyers but there can be little doubt that the referendum is causing some nervousness within financial circles and bringing new unknowns with it. ‘This political milestone could impact the UK’s economic outlook and slowing growth could pose problems of its own for both lenders and borrowers. Juggling these challenges will be key to maintaining the current health of the mortgage market and lenders should brace themselves for possible surprises,’ he explained. ‘Faced with this uncertainty, it’s perhaps no surprise that home lending levels are falling slightly. The result is a slight tail off in the middle of the year as home buyers pause for thought and lenders are gifted more time to investigate the potential of offering additional mortgage choices. A lull in buy to let lending following April’s stamp duty changes has also added to this calming in the market,’ he added. The report also shows that small deposit loans(to buyers with a deposit worth 15% or less of their properties’ total value totalled 11,981 in absolute terms in May,… Continue reading
