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Demand for high end properties in Venice up 20% year on year

Enquiries for prime real estate in Venice have increased by 20% year on year with demand particularly for centrally located properties, according to a new report. The market in Venice is very active at the moment, especially at the top end with rich buyers seeking prestige properties finished to the highest of standards, says Ann-Marie Doyle of Sotheby’s International Realty. Buyers increasingly favour turn-key solutions over restoration projects and those from the UK, France, Germany and Austria have been key players in the Venetian market for years and this international interest has remained strong. ‘However, this year we have seen a noticeable rise in demand for prime properties priced between €3 million and €10 million. Notably, US buyers are now returning to the market due to the advantageous exchange rates,’ she explained. An example is Palazzo Molin, a 15th century residential conversion which has been converted into 17 highly specified apartments that combine classic Venetian architecture with contemporary design located minutes from landmarks such as Piazza San Marco and the Fenice Opera House. Apartments in the historic palace have been bought as second homes and buy to let investments with 50% now sold. ‘Whilst Venice is not a traditional buy to let location, it is a city where buyers can have the best of both worlds in terms of a second home in one of the most beautiful cities in the world, as well as strong rental investment potential,’ said Doyle. ‘There is an ever-increasing demand for prestige short term rental apartments in Venice and this, coupled with the shortfall of top quality apartments that appeal to a sophisticated international clientele, is driving the high end rental market,’ she explained. ‘Visitors, and indeed buyers, come to Venice for its rich cultural offering, and events such as the Biennale reaffirm its timeless global appeal,’ she added. Continue reading →

Posted on June 3, 2015 by tsiadmin | Posted in Investment, investments, London, News, Property, Real Estate, Taylor Scott International, TSI, Uk | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Demand for high end properties in Venice up 20% year on year

Downward house growth trend in UK continues, says latest index report

UK house prices increased by 0.3% in May and the annual price growth figures moderated to 4.6% from 5.2% in April, according to the latest index figures. The data from the Nationwide Building Society confirms a gradual downward trend that takes the average price in the country to £195,166. Robert Gardner, Nationwide's chief economist, pointed out that this general trend has been in evidence since the summer of 2014 but was briefly interrupted in April when price growth edged up to 5.2% from 5.1% in March. However, annual house price growth is now running at less than half the pace prevailing in the middle of 2014. ‘Over the longer term we would expect house price growth to converge with earnings growth, which has typically been around 4% per annum. However, much will depend on supply side developments and in recent years the rate of building activity has remained well below that required to keep up with population growth,’ Gardner explained. The index report shows that cash transactions remain relatively high in the UK residential market. ‘We estimate that the share of cash purchases in the housing market reached an all-time high of 38% in the first quarter of 2015,’ said Gardner. ‘Continued healthy demand from cash buyers has helped to support transaction levels in recent quarters, since mortgage lending has remained relatively subdued. For example, in the first quarter of 2015 overall housing transactions were down by around 5% compared with the first quarter of 2014, while mortgage completions were around 11% lower,’ he pointed out. ‘Although the 38% share was a record, it was only modestly above the average of 36% prevailing in 2014. The significant rise in the share of cash transactions occurred in the wake of the financial crisis, where a tightening in credit conditions and a deterioration in the labour market limited the number of people able to buy with a mortgage,’ he added. Gardner also said that the current low interest rate environment is likely to have supported the flow of cash into other asset classes in recent years, including UK residential property. The Nationwide data suggests that the share of cash purchases in London is not out of line with the rest of the UK, which can be regarded as a surprise, given the greater involvement of investors, both domestic and overseas, in the London property market. ‘A limiting factor may be that house prices in the capital are over twice as high as the rest of the UK at £408,780 versus £188,566 in the first quarter of 2015,’ added Gardner. Continue reading →

Posted on June 3, 2015 by tsiadmin | Posted in Investment, investments, London, News, Property, Real Estate, Shows, Taylor Scott International, TSI, Uk | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Downward house growth trend in UK continues, says latest index report

Slower development land value growth in UK due to increasingly polarised land market

Development land values across the UK have remained stable or increased only slightly in the last three to six months, according to the latest research report. Greenfield land values increased by 0.5% in the first quarter of 2015 compared to 0.6% in the fourth quarter of 2014, bringing annual growth to 5.8%, the data from international real estate firm Savills shows. Growth in urban land values, replicating their previous quarter performance, increased by 1.6% in the first three months of 2015 with annual growth at 9% exceeding that of greenfield land. Residential development land values in London remained stable over the six months to March 2015 following a period of strong growth, the data also shows. The UK as a whole has experienced increased construction costs and the scarcity of bricklayers and joiners has increasingly become a problem, the report points out. In some parts of the UK there have been fewer bids per site due to the selectivity of house builders. These factors have prevented land values from rising significantly. Download the full PDF report > > However, the picture across the country is varied and is becoming relatively polarised between higher value markets of stronger demand, generally in the South East, and the rest of the country. Residential development land values in London remained stable over the last six months after very strong increases in values in 2013 and 2014 with 25.8% growth in the year to March 2014. Sentiment for London residential land remains strong, the report says, particularly in areas with good transport links or planned infrastructure improvement and sites continue to attract a high number of bids. However, increasing construction costs, the introduction of CIL in some boroughs and election uncertainty have kept residential development land values from increasing. The growth in hotel and office development land values in London has lagged behind residential since the start of the recovery in 2009. However, in the last six months values for hotel and office land continue to grow while land values for residential stand still. Development land values for hotels and offices in the capital increased by 3.8% and 4.4% over the six months to March 2015 compared to 0% for residential development land. Scotland stands out as experiencing strong increases in urban development land values which rose by 6.9% in the quarter. This follows the bounce back in greenfield land values last quarter after the referendum in September 2014. Both urban and greenfield land values had relatively low growth leading up to that point. Urban land values in Edinburgh and Glasgow have been at the forefront of this growth and now stand at double that of their 2008/2009 lows, approximately three quarters of their 2007/2008 peak. The South East and Cambridge has the highest value land market where sites, according to a survey of agents, receive the greatest number of bids. Development land values in this area are the highest in the country, in many cases above their… Continue reading →

Posted on June 3, 2015 by tsiadmin | Posted in Investment, investments, London, News, Property, Real Estate, Shows, Taylor Scott International, TSI, Uk | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Slower development land value growth in UK due to increasingly polarised land market