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Overall UK property market sees rise in new listings
There may be hope the UK’s property supply crisis is starting to ease, as the number of new properties coming onto the market across the UK in October increased for the second consecutive month. September saw new property listings up 9.1%, following several months where new supply had dried up. In October, supply continued to rise, albeit at a gentler rate, with new property listings up 2.8% in October and up 3.8% in London. The data from online estate agents HouseSimple also shows that Bottle in Merseyside saw the biggest increase with listings up by 47.4% followed by Truro with growth of 46.8% while in London the borough of Newham saw the biggest rise in new supply with an increase of 40.5% month on month. Sunderland saw the steepest decline in the number of new listings with a fall of 20.5% and in Guildford, where new property stock grew by over a third last month, new property listings fell by 19.4%. The borough of Camden in London has also seen a big change with new listing falling 15.8% in October compared with September when supply almost doubled. ‘Average property prices in the UK hit a record high in October, reaching almost £200,000 according to the latest Nationwide’s house price index. Lack of supply has contributed to this, but there is a glimmer of hope the UK’s supply crisis may be starting to ease,’ said Alex Gosling, the firm’s chief executive officer. ‘We are starting to see more new properties coming to the market, but levels are still well down on what would be considered healthy levels. There is still a massive demand supply imbalance, and in many towns and cities the numbers of new property listings fluctuates dramatically from month to month,’ he explained. ‘Until we start to see consistent and stable increases in supply, the market is likely to see upward pressure on prices continue,’ he added. Continue reading
Top end of prime central London property market still seeing low activity
Buyers in the prime central London property market are still cautious with the £5 million plus sector seeing particularly low activity levels, according to new research. There is an increasingly polarised market in this sector where growth is still being seen at the lower end and high end sales are limited in volume, according to the latest statistics covering the third quarter of 2015 from Strutt & Parker. ‘Whilst some commentators are predicting falls in values across the market, we believe these positions are being disproportionately impacted by the £5 million plus segment of the PCL market, which has experienced particularly low activity levels in 2015,’ said Stephanie McMahon, head of research at Strutt & Parker. A total of 720 properties were sold during the third quarter of 2015, a fall of 3.7% compared to the same period last year. Compared to the five year quarterly average, the total volume of transactions were 17% down and flats remain the preferred purchase, accounting for nearly 57% of . The research also shows that the downturn in price growth in 2015 has reduced the number of these properties entering the market as discretionary vendors are willing to wait for prices to recover. This is matched by increased buyer caution as Stamp Duty reforms, an accumulation of recent tax revisions aimed at high net worth property owners, and a strong pound, have discouraged foreign investors from entering the UK market. Overall, this has resulted in investors taking longer to make decisions and considering alternatives. These trends look set to continue for the remainder of 2015 with the ultra-prime segment likely to show zero and in some cases negative growth. However, sellers placing properties on the market that are sensibly priced and good quality will continue to do well. ‘Since the summer break, increasing activity in PCL shows that buyers and tenants are making the most of relative aligning of asking prices. There is no doubt that confidence is on the up and the considerable tax changes of the last few years are now being regarded as the new norm,’ said Charlie Willis, head of London residential at Strutt & Parker. The data also shows that there were 3,936 property lets agreed in PCL during the third quarter of 2015, which was just 1.9% below the five year quarterly average. Zoë Rose, head of London lettings at Strutt & Parker, explained that the PCL lettings market has experienced a slowdown, particularly affecting the three and four bedroom mid-market. ‘That said, demand for one and two bed properties from young professionals remains robust and uncompromising. Properties that are well presented continue to rent successfully,’ she added. ‘The prime London markets have slowed over the past 12 months with the spate of intervention from the government, combined with a strong pound. The coming year brings further uncertainty with the Mayoral election and lobbying around Brexit,’ McMahon pointed… Continue reading
Residential rent gap between London and rest of UK widens again
The gap between the pace of annual rent rises in London and the rest of the UK has widened again after converging over the summer months, the latest index report shows. Rents were up 7.5% year on year in London and 3.5% in the rest of the UK in the third quarter of the year, according to the date from the HomeLet Rental Index. On average London tenants paid £1,560 per calendar month, which is over £800 more per month that the rest of the UK and for the second month in a row rents are now rising most quickly in Scotland, up by 9%. While the pace of rent rises has slowed over the autumn, rent inflation has increased in nine out of 12 regions of the country with the exception of the North West, where rents were 4.9% down, Northern Ireland with a fall of 2.1% and East Anglia down 1.2%. The October index report also includes new research into tenants’ views about the rental market which reveals that a large proportion of tenants are renting their homes for the long term and that they value relationships of trust with landlords and letting agents. Some 64% said that they planned to continue renting for a year or longer and 90% said they were happy with their landlord. However 71% would prefer to buy a home with 66% believing that saving for a deposit is the biggest barrier preventing them from doing so. ‘Our survey showed that many tenants ultimately aspire to own their own home, but that just over half of them aren’t actively saving for a deposit yet. 66% of those questioned said that a deposit wasn’t affordable for them,’ said Martin Totty, chief executive of HomeLet parent company Barbon Insurance Group. ‘However, the positive news is that almost nine out of 10 tenants told us that they were happy with the standard of their current rented property and the majority of tenants told us they were happy with the service provided by their landlord or letting agent,’ he pointed out. ‘Whilst we are seeing upward pressure on the rental market it’s important that the sector continues to drive professional standards forwards for mutual benefit of tenants, landlords and letting agents,’ he added. Continue reading
