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UK home owners waiting longer than expected to move up housing ladder
Some 33% of home owners in the UK expected to be further along the housing ladder than they are now, according to new research, rising to 44% for first time buyers. The survey from Lloyds Bank also found that 83% believe home owners have to wait a lot longer to reach their long term family home than a decade ago while 36% of first time buyers hope to achieve their housing aspirations by the time they are 45. Despite recent improvements in the housing market, 40% still consider the housing market to be having an impact on aspirations, although this figure has fallen since 2013 when it was 47% and 2012 when it was 53%. Almost half, 48%, of first time buyers think that the housing market will have an impact on how long it takes them to reach their family home. Even with anticipated delays in moving up the housing ladder, 44% expect not to make any compromises and believe their long term home is a realistic achievement and 18% expect it to be a better property than their childhood home. ‘Many current home owners clearly still feel that they are not progressing up the ladder as quickly as they would like, with higher house prices in some regions meaning people are waiting longer to move into to their long term family home,’ said Andy Hulme, mortgages director at Lloyds Bank. ‘Despite this, almost two thirds still believe they’ll be in their long term home in less than five years, with the vast majority thinking this will only require one more move,’ he added. The research also shows that despite an increase in the number of people feeling they need a bigger property, the house that the majority of home owners in the UK aspire to own has three bedrooms with 43% seeking this kind of property. Some 24% want four bedrooms, with many people aspiring to have nice gardens, conservatories and high quality kitchens and bathrooms. Some 63% of home owners believe they will reach their long term family home in less than five years while 64% of those who are still waiting to be in their long term home think they will only have to make one more move to achieve their housing aspirations. Applicants for three bed properties, which are seen by many as long term homes, are on average 35 years old in London and the South East. This is a year older than the national average. These regions remain the least affordable in the UK for three bed houses, as a result of the high house prices. In contrast, long term family homes in the North and Wales are more affordable with the average three bed property costing £129,447 in the North and £135,070 in Wales. Average incomes of the applicants are lower at £38,606 and £36,390 respectively, but long term homes are still more affordable in both regions. Continue reading
Property sales in New Zealand surged by over 40% last month, latest data shows
Residential property sales in New Zealand increased by 42.5% in February compared to the previous month while prices were up 0.9% month on month. The data from the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand also shows that sales are up 12.6% on February 2014 and the month saw the highest February sales level since 2007. The national median price was $430,000 for February, an increase of $15,000 or 3.6% compared to February 2014 and an increase of $4,000 from January. The surge in sales volumes in February compared to January was stronger than is normal, but this partly reflects a catch up after there were fewer sales than expected in January, according to REINZ chief executive Colleen Milne. But it is Auckland that is leading the growth with a rise of 14% in median prices from $592,000 to $675,000. In effect there has been no increase in the median price for New Zealand, excluding Auckland, between February last year and February just gone. ‘This underlines again the view that there are two distinct real estate markets in New Zealand, Auckland and the rest of the country. While politicians and policy makers focus on solutions to the Auckland region’s housing supply problems, they will also be right to reflect on the need to ensure that any national application of new policies doesn’t have an adverse effect on the rest of the country,’ said Milne. All regions recorded an increase in sales volume compared to January, with Waikato/Bay of Plenty recording the largest increase, of 61.8%, followed by Canterbury/Westland with 58.6% and Hawkes Bay with 54.3%. In comparison with February 2014, nine regions recorded increases in sales volume, with Waikato/Bay of Plenty recording the largest, of 40.6%, followed by Otago with 21.8% and Northland with 17.1%. Overall seven regions recording an increase in prices and but on a seasonally adjusted basis the national median house price eased 0.5% compared with January and rose 3.6% compared to February 2014. Auckland recorded the largest percentage increase in median price compared to February 2014, at 14%, followed by Central Otago Lakes at 12% and Otago at 6.8%. Compared to January, Otago recorded the largest percentage increase in median price, at 7%, followed by Manawatu at 5.5% and Nelson/Marlborough at 3.4%. The REINZ Stratified Housing Price Index, which adjusts for some of the variations in the mix that can affect the median price, is 6.1% higher than in February 2014, at 4,069.7. The Auckland Index rose 15.4% compared to February 2014, the Christchurch Index 6.1% and the Wellington Index was flat. Homes took a median of 41 days to sell in February, one day less than for January and the same as for February 2014. Seven regions saw an improvement in the number of days to sell compared to January 2015, with Taranaki recording an improvement of 19 days, Otago 11, and Auckland and Northland two. Otago recorded the shortest median days to sell in February, at 31,… Continue reading
More people in UK back new homes being built in their area, new survey shows
Support for new house building in the UK has almost doubled in the past four years and there is more support for aspiring home owners, new figures show. The data from the British Social Attitude survey reveals that 56% of those questioned support new home being built in their area, some 27 points higher than in 2010. Similarly, the numbers opposed to local house building have more than halved during the same period, from 46% in 2010 to just over one in five now. Housing Minister Brandon Lewis welcomed the figures and said that house building and efforts to help aspiring home owners are central to the government’s long term economic plan. He pointed out that over the past year, housing starts have increased by 10%, while the numbers of first time buyers are at their highest for seven years. ‘Since 2010 the government has scrapped top down targets that pitted neighbours against developers, and replaced them with locally led development through local and neighbourhood plans,’ said Lewis. Councils have also received over £3.4 billion in New Homes Bonus payments to reward communities for building new homes and in the year to October, planning permission has been granted on 240,000 new homes across the country,’ he added. The figures show that those strongly supporting new house building in their area has tripled, from 5% in 2010 to 16% in 2014, while strong opposition has fallen by nearly a third over the same period. The figures also show strong support for efforts to help aspiring home owners, with 38% of those surveyed citing financial support for first time buyers as the best thing the government can do to make homes more affordable. Lewis also pointed out that to date, the Help to Buy scheme has helped over 88,000 households to buy with a fraction of the deposit they would normally require and the new Starter Homes initiative will also enable young first time buyers to purchase a newly built home with a 20% discount. The survey also shows that another 27% backed moves to allocate funding to councils and housing associations to build more homes and since 2010, nearly 217,000 affordable homes have been delivered while council house building starts are at a 23 year high. Continue reading
