Tag Archives: finance
Property market in England and Wales sees active start to year with price rise of 0.5%
Property prices in England and Wales have increased 0.5% month on month, with the residential market seeing an active start to 2016, according to the latest index figures. Prices are also up 6.5% year on year taking the average price of a home to £290.963, the data from Rightmove also shows, making it the second highest festive period rise since 2007. However, the good news for those getting onto the property ladder is that prices in the lower end of the market where first time buyers are usually found, typically two bedroom homes, have only increased by 0.1%. Demand as measured by visits to the Rightmove website in the first working week of 2016 is up by 21% on the same period in 2015. ‘Upwards price pressure remains, with the second highest rise seen at this time of year for nine years but encouragingly for first time buyers there’s more fresh choice with more property coming to market in their target sector,’ said Miles Shipside, Rightmove director and housing market analyst. ‘With their asking prices pretty much the same as a month ago, perhaps the knock-on effects of the more punitive landlord tax regime have arrived early and they now face a dilemma over whether to buy now or wait to see if prices drop in this sector over the next few months,’ he added. While the 0.5% rise in new seller asking prices is lower than the 1.4% recorded in January 2015, Shipside pointed out that it is higher than every other January since 2007, before the credit crunch began. A breakdown of the data shows there are variations across locations. Prices fell by 0.9% in Greater London to an average of £610,741 and are up 7.8% year on year. They also fell by 1.8% in the East Midlands to £182,318 and by 0.2% in Yorkshire and Humber to £165,722, but are up 2.9% and 2.8% respectively year on year. The biggest monthly rise was in the South West, up 3.5% to £282,373, and up 5.5% year on year. They increased by 2.3% in the West Midlands to £198,595 and up 4.9% year on year while they rose 1.8% in the North East to £142,006 with annual growth of 5.1%. In Wales prices increased by 1.6% month on month to £166,051 but are down 0.5% compared to a year ago. They rose by 1% in the East of England to £312,921 and up by 9.8% year on year, by 0.6% in the South East to £383,787 and by 7.3% year on year while in the North West prices were up just 0.2% to £171,588 and up annually by 4.9%. The report also shows that a lack of property coming to market has been an upwards driver of both prices and unfulfilled demand, though encouragingly there has been a slight 1.8% year on year uplift in the number of newly marketed properties. However, the only sector that has increased is that of… Continue reading
Dubai rents expected to remain stable in 2016
Dubai is set to see a more stable real estate market in 2016 with prices expected to rise slightly and rents remain stable in the coming 12 months. New growth is likely to centre on affordable homes with several developers already announcing a foray into this sector of the real estate market. International City, IMPZ, Dubailand, Sports City, JVC and Silicon Oasis already have a number of lower cost options for buyers. The latest data from the Real Estate Regulatory Authority shows that rents for one and two bedroom apartments fell in 2015 across much of Dubai. Rents for one bedroom flats fell by between 4.55% and 11% depending on location. Two bed rents in Downtown Dubai are down by between 5.26% and 5.88% while in Jumeirah Lakes Towers (JLT) they fell by between 8.33% and 10%. In International City, rents of two bedroom apartments are down by 7.69% to 10%, in Dubai Marina they are down 5.26%, in Palm Jumeirah they dropped by u to 5.55% and in Discovery Gardens they fell by 5.8%. However rents in this sector were stable in many other locations including the Greens, Silicon Oasis, Jumeirah Village Circle, Arjan, Dubai Sports City, Dubailand and the International Media Production Zone. The arbitrary nature of rent prices is also shown in the latest data from real estate portal Bayut. It shows that average rents at the end of 2015 were AED 137,000, up 2.14% from AED 134,000 at the end of December 2014. A breakdown of the figures show that for studio apartments average rents were unchanged year on year but those for one bedroom flats increased 6.6% while two and three bedroom apartment rents fell by 4% and 2% respectively. Four bedroom rents fell by 12%. The firm believes that more affordable property will prove popular and is expecting 2016 to be a busy year in the residential real estate market as the population continues to increase and the economy continues to diversify. ‘Business and job growth will drive demand for residential and commercial spaces and ultimately help push property prices upwards,’ the firm added. Continue reading
Value of US housing stock in 2015 down from overall growth the previous year
The value of all homes nationwide in the United States grew $1.1 trillion in 2015 and is expected to end the year at $28.5 trillion total. However, the value of the entire housing stock grew 4.1% in 2015, slower than the 6% growth in 2014, according to the data from real estate firm Zillow. The total value of all homes has regained $5.3 trillion since hitting its lowest point during the housing bust in December 2011, but is still $782 billion below the bubble peak value of $29.2 trillion, reached in October 2006. The dollar amount itself underscores the significance of housing to the US economy. In the third quarter of 2015, the US gross domestic product was $18.1 trillion, $10 trillion less than the total value of the housing stock. ‘This reminds us of the large role housing plays in the overall economy. Total home value growth slowed this year, but there was still a significant increase in overall value, and many markets are more valuable than they've ever been,’ said Zillow chief economist Svenja Gudell. ‘At the same time, more renter households and rising rents combined to set new records in rental spending in 2015. Americans are spending a lot of money on housing, and that will make affordability an important issue next year,’ she added. The research data shows that housing value isn't distributed equally across the country. California is home to about 12% of the population but the state accounts for nearly a quarter of the country's total home value, driven by highly valued markets like Los Angeles and San Francisco. Zillow data also shows that Americans shelled out nearly $20 billion more in rent in 2015 than in 2014 as people around the country set up 1.8 million new renter households and median monthly rents rose at a record pace. In all, renters spent $535 billion on rent in 2015, nearly as much as the total budget of the Department of Defence ($575 billion), according to a new Zillow rentals analysis. In 2014, they spent $516 billion. Renters of single family homes and apartments spent about the same amount on rent this year, with apartment renters paying $239 billion and single family home renters paying $245 billion. Renters in the New York/Northern New Jersey metro area spent the most on rent in 2015 at about $56 billion. Los Angeles area renters spent nearly $35 billion, and San Francisco renters spent $17 billion. About two thirds of the total rent paid in 2015 was spent in the 50 largest metros. Home values rose 3.9% annually in November to a Zillow Home Value Index of $183,000, according to Zillow's November Real Estate Market Reports. Denver home values grew fastest for the tenth consecutive month at 15.5% annual appreciation. Miami joined Dallas, San Francisco, San Jose, and Portland as other metros seeing double digit growth. Rents also continued their steady climb, growing 3.8% annually to a Zillow Rent Index of $1,382. The pace of rental… Continue reading
