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England and Wales asking prices up 0.9% in August, says latest index
Asking prices in England and Wales increased by 0.9% month on month in September taking the average asking price to £264,875, according to the latest index from Rightmove. This followed a 2.9% contraction in August and it is the first rise at this time of the year since 2011. Rightmove says that it marks an earlier than usual sign of autumn activity picking up. London also saw prices edge up by 0.9% over the month to reach £557,792 on average. Three regions have seen prices fall. They were down 1.8% in the West Midlands, down 1.6% in Wales and down 0.8% in the North West. The report says that the indications are that pent-up demand remains in spite of a summer lull and enquiries to agents are up overall by 16% year on year, the second highest ever monthly level. It also suggests that the upturn has been aided by holidaying home hunters being constantly in touch, with 45% growth in enquiries from mobile devices in August compared to last year. However it adds that the current ‘window to move’ may be compromised by economic uncertainty if Scotland votes for independence with the referendum vote later this week as markets do not like uncertainty. ‘We usually see a price fall at this time of year as potential home movers are generally still in holiday mode. However, it looks like there are early signs of a bounce back in demand after the summer lull, leaving those estate agents with a shortage of stock at a potential disadvantage and therefore eager to attract new instructions,’ said Miles Shipside, Rightmove director and housing market analyst. ‘While there is more property coming to market this year, it has been more than swallowed up by increased sales. There is already 10% less property available per estate agency branch compared to this time a year ago, and with enquiries by phone and email to agents up by 16% compared to August last year, and at near record levels, you can see why there has been an earlier than usual price pick-up,’ he explained. ‘The ability of potential buyers to remain on-watch and in-touch and react more quickly is also a factor. While you may be switched off from work during the summer break, many people’s mobile devices are still switched on to the internet to see what’s coming to market,’ he added. But he pointed out that there is a risk of less certain consumer outlook for remainder of 2014. So far 2014 has proved to be the ‘year to move’, with consumer confidence buoyed by consistently low interest rates and improving economic data after several years of an uncertain outlook. The number of housing transactions recorded by HMRC in England and Wales for the year is currently on course to be between 1.1 and 1.2 million, which would be a significant improvement on the 970,000 transactions last year and the 800,000 average of the previous five years. HMRC’s transaction numbers for completed sales in… Continue reading
UK home rental price growth eases, latest index shows
Rental price growth across the UK eased in August, with every region seeing smaller rent increases than in previous months, according to the latest index. The average rent in the UK now stands at £921 a month, compared to £851 a year ago, according to the data from the August HomeLet Rental Index, the largest monthly survey of private tenants in the UK. The average monthly private rent in London stood at £1,464 and in the rest of the country £729 although some regions that were previously showing high growth month on month have fallen and in total the average monthly variation in rent across the UK was 2.3%. Only London at 2.4% and the South East at 3%, registered increases of more than 2%. East Anglia and the South West, both of which have been recording strong growth in recent months, have seen a slowdown in August with rents in East Anglia increasing by just 1% and the South West recording a drop in rental prices by 0.9%. Rents were also lower in Scotland, Wales, the North West and North East of England as well as the East Midlands. The biggest fall in rental prices is in the North West where rents paid for new tenancies last month were, on average, 3.5% lower than those paid on new tenancies in July. Elsewhere, rents were up by 1.9% in the West Midlands, and by 1% in the East Midlands and Northern Ireland. ‘August can traditionally be a slower month for the rental market and similar dips have been seen in rental prices in previous years,’ said Martin Totty, chief executive of the Barbon Insurance Group which owns HomeLet ‘Nevertheless, the cooling in the rental sector may prove to represent the beginning of a trend towards a more settled market after several months of much more significant growth. A similar cooling has been seen in the wider housing market, with house price indices recording an easing of house price growth,’ he added. On an annualised basis rental growth continues to show strength, with only the North East and the East Midlands reporting lower rents for new tenancies in August than in the same month of last year. Across the UK, the average private home rent rose by 8.2% over the year to August 2014. In London, rents were up by 11.4% on a year ago, while East Anglia saw annual growth of 8.4% and the South East 5.3%. ‘While a calmer period for the rental sector is likely to be welcomed by landlords and tenants alike, with affordability concerns having increased in some parts of the country in recent months, demand for rental property is set to remain strong,’ said Totty. Continue reading
House price momentum slows right down in the UK, says RICS index
House price momentum in the UK has slowed to the same level it was a year ago and new buyer enquiries fell for the second consecutive month, according to the latest index from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. The number of agreed house sales also dipped for the first time since September 2012, but the overall picture shows a return to a less volatile market, with more stable price expectations over the next three months. The August index report shows that a net balance of 9% of surveyors are now expecting prices to rise rather than fall, down considerably from 51% at the start of the year. Significantly, the concern over a potential rise in interest rates could be a contributing factor to the fall in buyer interest and the number of agreed house sales, says RICS. Members also indicated that Mortgage Market Review from April and an increasingly acute shortage of conveyancers is adding between two to four weeks onto the time it takes to complete a transaction. At a national level, the sales and demand picture was mixed. In London, the South West and the West Midlands, there was a significant dip in new buyer interest, but Scotland and Northern Ireland were noticeable exceptions, where buyer enquiries remain firm, with a net balance of 43% and 52% respectively. While a lack of supply remains a challenge for the market across the whole of the country, there are at last some signs in the capital, where this problem has been most chronic, that instructions are now picking up. Prices over the next 12 months are still projected by surveyors to rise over the next year by 2.3% across the whole country, which is down from 3.7% at the start of 2014. Surveyors in Northern Ireland now appear most optimistic, anticipating a price gain of 3.9%. ‘Buyer activity in the London market has been particularly pronounced but that is in a sense consistent with the move to a more sustainable market in the capital,’ said Simon Rubinsohn, RICS chief economist. ‘Elsewhere around the country, the market in general is showing a greater degree of resilience, but that largely reflects the fact that in some areas the recovery has only recently taken hold and affordability is rather less stretched. Significantly, members now expect price gains over the next year to be faster outside of the Capital, than in it,’ he explained. ‘Some of the momentum has come out of the housing market of late reflecting in part concerns over a likely rise in the cost of borrowing at some point in the not too distant future. However, we are also being told that the implementation of the recommendations of the MMR is taking its toll on activity; slowing the transaction process by on average up to a month,’ he pointed out. ‘Meanwhile, there are increasing signs that the London market is gradually moving onto a more sustainable footing with a modest increase in the number of instructions coming through slowly helping… Continue reading
