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US homes market experiencing a shortage of properties for sale at lower end
More higher priced homes in the US are being put up for sale but there is still a shortage of lower priced homes on the market, new research suggests. Buyers searching for homes will find more homes for sale overall, but supply of lower priced homes is growing more slowly than high priced homes in most of the country, according to the latest home value index from Zillow. Overall, median home values rose 6.4% from October 2013 and 0.4% from September. Both monthly and annual home value gains were well below the faster paces recorded earlier in the year. Rising inventory and slowing home value growth are two signs that the housing market is beginning to level off across the nation. As the market has cooled, buyers looking for less expensive homes did find some relief in the hottest metro areas, including San Diego, Los Angeles and the Bay Area. In San Francisco, the number of low priced homes on the market rose by 39% but there were fewer high priced homes on the market. While inventory was still tight there in October, the homes that were available spread evenly across the price spectrum. National rents were up 3.5% in October from a year ago. Month on month national rents were flat compared with September. Inventory of all homes nationwide rose by 15.8% year on year. A breakdown of the figures shows that in the bottom home price market it increased by 68.3% while in the top home price tier it rose 82.2%. In Denver, there were almost four times as many homes available for sale in the upper price tier, that is homes priced at $357,900 or more, than there were homes priced in the lowest price tier at less than $219,000. The same was true in many other markets. Dallas, Atlanta, Phoenix and Nashville had at least two times more homes for sale in the top tier than the bottom tier. In 25 of the 35 largest metros analysed there were more homes for sale this October than last October in all three price tiers. In 14 of those metros, the increase in number of homes for sale was in the double digits in all price tiers. ‘Depending on their finances, it's likely that individual buyers in the same market might be having completely different home buying experiences. Even as conditions improve for buyers overall, it remains a tough row to hoe for first time buyers and lower income buyers, especially compared to their more well off contemporaries,’ said Zillow chief economist Stan Humphries. Continue reading
UK gross mortgage lending slows, latest figures show
Gross mortgage borrowing in the UK in October was £10.5 billion, some 2% higher than in the same month last year, and 1.3% lower than in September 2014. The latest figures from the British Banking Association (BBA) also shows that approvals have dipped. Some £9.2 billion was approved in October, down from £9.5 billion in September. Compared to the same time a year earlier, approvals in October for house purchase were down 16%, remortgaging down 21% and equity withdrawal down 34%. The total number of mortgage approvals in October was 61,097, down 2.9% from 62,900 in September. According to David Newnes, director of Reeds Rains and Your Move estate agents, believes all looks okay for next year. ‘Since the dark days of the recession the UK property market has improved unrecognisably and leaving aside seasonal factors, there is still some momentum in the pipeline for 2015,’ he said. ‘However, today’s sharper than expected slowdown underlines the need for continued support. The majority of aspiring home owners still haven’t felt the benefits of a burgeoning economic recovery, and those households still deserve a leg up onto the property ladder,’ he explained. While the Bank of England and the Government have an admirable desire for long term sustainability in the British property market, that should be tempered with a balanced look at the next six months. Otherwise, until pay packets pick up, home ownership could remain a dream for too many families,’ he added. Continue reading
Scottish rent rises outpace rest of UK
Scotland is seeing stronger annual rent growth than England and Wales, with average residential rents up 2.2% compared to a year ago, the latest index shows. In England and Wales monthly rents increased just 1.5% on average in the past year, according to data from lettings agent network Your Move. The average rent in Scotland now stands at £537 per month, back in line with the record set in August this year. Rents climbed a moderate 0.3% in the month to October, recovering from a dip during September. But taking a longer term view, the rate of growth has cooled. Annual rent rises have eased from a 3.2% increase over the year to October 2013. ‘Snags in supply and concerns over potential rent caps are setting the stride in Scotland, but in the longer term, the march of private sector rents is easing back on an annual basis. After years of consistency and incremental adjustments, rent rises quickened rapidly after the changes to lettings legislation made tenancy fees illegal. Instead of facing a one-off payment, tenants saw their monthly rents rise at a much accelerated pace. This market is only just starting to self correct and steady,’ said Christine Campbell, regional managing director of Your Move. ‘The introduction of any further lettings controls or restrictions by the Scottish government could further disrupt what was a healthy and extremely gradual rhythm of rent growth, to the detriment of thousands of renters. Complicating legislation would ostracise existing landlords and discourage new investment in the private rented sector, squeezing the supply of homes to let and simply adding to the bottleneck of the current housing shortage,’ she explained. ‘The private rented sector is the lifeblood of the economy, allowing workers flexibility and accessibility to the jobs market. Tenant demand needs to be balanced by greater availability of homes to let, to protect against unnaturally bloated rent increases,’ she added. A breakdown of the figures shows that on a monthly basis, rents are higher than September across all but one region of Scotland. The biggest month on month increase was recorded in the East, with rents climbing 1.1% between September and October. The data also shows that average rents in Edinburgh and the Lothians set a new peak of £615 per month, following 0.6% growth since September. The only region to experience a price fall on a monthly basis was Glasgow and Clyde where, the average monthly rent dropped £5 or 0.7% in the month to October, to £565. Rents have risen on an annual basis in three out of five regions of Scotland in October. Edinburgh and the Lothians have seen the strongest annual uplift in average monthly rents, rising 5.7% in the 12 months to October. This is followed by a 3.2% annual increase in Glasgow and Clyde, while rents in the East rose 2.2% over the last year. Rental prices dropped across two regions over the year to October. The average monthly rent in the South has fallen 0.5% since October 2013,… Continue reading
