Tag Archives: finance
South east and east of England and Scotland seeing strongest house price growth
The south east and east of England are likely to see the strongest house price growth in the UK in 2015 with Scotland also likely to be a strong performer, according to the latest outlook report. The south east is expected to see overall growth of 5.8% this year with the east of England and Scotland both at around 5.8%, according to the report from Strutt & Parker, with Greater London at 5.1%. The firm’s five year outlook also sees these regions having some of the strongest growth with price inflation of 22.8% predicted for the east of England, 22.7% for the south east, 19.8% for Greater London and 18.5% for Scotland. Other areas of interest include the south west with five year growth of 16.5% expected. ‘From our Housing Futures research we know that there is a huge aspiration to live there,’ said Stephanie McMahon, Strutt & Parker’s Head of Research ‘Our national survey showed that 15.6% of respondents who said they had plans to move within the next five years wanted to live in the south west, particularly for retirement and lifestyle reasons,’ she explained. ‘That said, our survey also showed that taking into account all respondents, and analysing by age, that the south west was one of the areas that would experience a large exodus of people between the ages of 18 to 29, indicating that older people have perhaps greater flexibility in their working styles,’ she added. The outlook report predicts house price growth of 15.7% for Northern Ireland over five years, 15.4% for the east midlands, 14.2% for the west midlands, 13.4% for the north west, 11.7% for Yorkshire and Humber, 11.3% for Wales, and 10% for the north east. The report also explains how major developments and events are likely to affect house prices. For example, central London, most notably locations such as Farringdon and Shepherd’s Bush are seeing rises due to the Crossrail infrastructure project. Outside of London, the electrification of the Great Western line with the first stages due to open in 2017 between London, Oxford, Newbury, Bristol and Cardiff means that property prices could rise and homes in the south east, Oxford and Bicester could benefit from the train line from Marylebone being brought into Oxford. The report mentions that there is real concern about potential interest rate increases in 2016 even although they are likely to come incremental shifts. This could affect first time buyers and also home owners with interest only mortgages. Another concern on the horizon is the Bank of England having powers over the buy to let market which could limit the sector and looking further ahead the referendum on whether the UK should remain in the European Union has the potential to have an effect on markets. ‘The EU Referendum will take place before the end of 2017. The lobbying has already begun and will escalate over the coming months. Although an immediate and direct impact on the majority… Continue reading
Central London commercial property availability rises for first time in two years
The availability of central London commercial property was still below trend at the end of the third quarter of 2015 despite seeing its first rise in two years, according to new research. Following two years of decline, the figure increased by 6% but was still 29% below the 10 year average of 14.7 million square feet, the data report from global real estate consultancy CBRE shows. It explains that the 6% increase in availability is partly due to a dip in take-up, which fell 11% while remaining above the 10 year average, but more down to the 42% rise in marketed availability as many un-let properties moved within 12 months of completion. Developments headed for completion in 2015 are expected to reach 3.6 million square feet t. and forecasters predict this figure will rise to 6.6 million in 2016, marking a return to pre-crisis levels. ‘Availability in central London crept upwards in the third quarter after a small dip in take-up, given the hefty rise in City developments nearing completion. I find it extremely promising that by next year, completions will be well over six million square feet, the highest levels we’ve seen since 2009,’ said Emma Crawford, head of central London leasing at CBRE. The report also shows that the availability of newly completed and second hand space fell over the third quarter, reflected in a drop in the vacancy rate from 2.8% to 2.7%. Meanwhile, developments under offer remained above the 10 year average, despite falling 4% in the quarter. For the first time in two years, the highest proportion of these properties, some 32%, were in the West End. ‘We’re seeing significant take-up in the West End, with a wave of global capital targeting the area and high profile occupants like Facebook taking up large office spaces. Looking at the central London area as a whole, despite a small dip in developments under offer, we’re sitting way above average for the decade and should take comfort in the overall growth we’ve seen this year,’ Crawford pointed out. Meanwhile, the UK regional office markets have continued to build upon 2014’s growth, with the volume of office space taken in the UK’s big six regional cities in the third quarter totalling 939,000 square feet, just 7% below the level recorded at the same time last year. Over a longer time frame, combined take-up over the first nine months of 2015 totalled 3.5 million square feet which is 5% higher than the same period one year ago. As a result, the grand total for 2015 is likely reach if not surpass last year’s total, and well on target to exceed the five year annual average level of four million square feet. In many of the core regional cities, pre-letting has returned in strength, with professional service firms in particular taking advantage of the new generation of office buildings that are about to emerge in cities such… Continue reading
Spain is seeing a spectacular turnaround in its higher end property market
A renewed confidence amongst buyers, low prices and the Spanish banks’ willingness to offer competitive mortgages is attracting increasing numbers of new buyers in the country, according to a new analysis. In Spain’s major cities, international buyers are now beginning to compete against local buyers to secure the best properties in prime locations, according to the report from Lucas Fox covering the first six months of 2015. Indeed, Spain is seeing a ‘spectacular’ turnaround in its property market, according to the firm’s founding partner Alexander Vaughan. The report says that Barcelona is expected to be the most significant year of recovery for the prime residential property market in the past seven years. Prices have stabilised in the past 12 to 18 months, and international interest for turnkey properties is forcing up demand, alongside renewed confidence amongst local buyers. In Maresme, whereas in previous years local buyers accounted for as little as 20% of Lucas Fox’s sales enquiries, this figure is now closer to 50% and there has been a substantial increase in the number of sales transactions to local clients. The report also says that on the Costa Brava, sales in the first half of the year have been dominated by Northern European buyers with British, French, Swiss, Dutch and Scandinavian buyers being the most active. On Ibiza, while national averages of property prices continued to decline slightly throughout 2014 and are levelling off in 2015, average prices in Ibiza have seen increases since the start of 2013. In Marbella, sales have increased across the region, leading to a shortage of good quality properties in prime locations. Turnkey projects are selling so fast that Lucas Fox is seeing regular price increases of new off plan properties coming onto the market while in Valencia, the first quarter of 2015 has seen an increase of 14% for property re-sales. Madrid continues to attract more and more investment from both national and international investors. Lucas Fox data suggests that 60% of clients buy for investment purposes and 20% for the so called golden visa that allows non-European Union citizens to live in the country if they invest in real estate. Continue reading
