Tag Archives: housing
UK property prices down slightly between June and July, says latest index
Residential property prices in the UK fell slightly by 0.6% between June and July and annual house price growth has slowed to 7.9%, according to the latest monthly index from the Halifax. It shows the fragility of the housing market recovery as different lenders show prices rising and falling, but only by marginal amounts so there is some stability in the housing market. Just a few days the Nationwide reported in its monthly index data that prices increased by 0.4% in July and annual property price growth edged up to 3.5%. Meanwhile one set of data said that prime property prices in central London are still falling and another showed a slight rise. Both the Halifax and the Nationwide show that the average home price is now nudging £200,000. Today’s data from the Halifax put it at £198,883. The Halifax index also shows that sales increased by 5% between May and June. Confidence in the outlook for house price growth remains substantially higher than at the beginning of 2015, according to Stephen Noakes, managing director of retail customer products at the Halifax. He believes that the market is robust, pointing out that house prices in the three months to July were 2.4% higher than in the previous quarter. However, this measure of the underlying rate of house price growth has eased and annual house price growth also declined, to 7.9% from 9.6% in June and is at its lowest since December 2014. ‘The underlying pace of house price growth remains robust notwithstanding the easing in July. Continuing economic recovery, earnings growth in excess of consumer price inflation and very low mortgage rates all underpin housing demand,’ said Noakes. ‘Supply is highly restricted with the stock of homes available for sale falling further to new record lows. This combination of well supported demand and tight supply is likely to ensure that house price growth remains relatively strong in the near term,’ he added. He also pointed out that the Halifax housing market confidence tracker shows that confidence in the outlook for house price growth hit its highest level in four years following the general election in May, but dropped back in June. Price Optimism (HPO) hit +68 in May 2015, and although it slipped back slightly in June to +64, it remains substantially higher than at the beginning of 2015 when it was +52. Jonathan Samuels, chief executive of Dragonfly Property Finance, pointed out that despite the fall in prices during July, house prices overall are still rising. ‘The dominant narrative within the UK property market continues to be weak supply and strong demand,’ he said. He explained that demand is strong because of mortgage rates being at record lows, more people in work, low inflation and a generally positive economic outlook, however, the increasing likelihood of an interest rate rise in the not too distant future has the potential to recalibrate demand and the market as a whole. ‘After so many years of 0.5% rates, even a… Continue reading
New home permissions reach record in NZ but not enough to meet housing shortfall
Planning permission for new homes in New Zealand in the first half of 2015 was higher than any previous year, new data shows, but not enough to match current shortfall. Between January and June 2015 some12,057 new dwellings, worth almost $4 billion, were consented, according to the figures from Statistics New Zealand. The new building consent figures show the total floor area for the new homes was 221 hectares, enough to cover an area twice the size of Wellington Airport. In the month of June some 2,042 new dwellings were consented nationally, up 2% compared with June 2014. However, in seasonally adjusted terms, the number was down 4.1% from May 2015. Numbers in Auckland increased by 18% but in Canterbury consents decreased by 13%. ‘New dwelling consents growth this month was led by Auckland, which offset the fall in Canterbury,’ said business indicators manager Clara Eatherley. The data also shows that the total value of consents for all buildings in June 2015 was $1.3 billion, comprising $832 million for residential buildings and $454 million for non-residential buildings. However the number of new homes being built in Auckland continues to fall well short of what is required to meet the region's population growth. It is estimated that 13,000 new homes a year are needed in Auckland just to keep pace with current population growth, which is an average of 1,083 consents a month. That means that current consents were just under two thirds of what is required and the supply of new homes will need to increase by around 50% from current levels before demand and supply start to get back into any sort of equilibrium. A new report suggests that Auckland's housing shortage might not peak for another three years and could last for more than a decade. According to the Auckland Council's Housing Project Office (HPO) the shortfall could rise rapidly to 25,000 homes in 2018, compared to current levels of roughly 15,000. The HPO looked at the rate of population change, the number of dwellings required, and the likely rate of consenting to estimate how many homes would need to be built between over the next 15 years. Officials said consent numbers were continuing to increase and it was not unrealistic to assume Auckland could get to 12,000 dwelling consents a year by 2021 and if 90% of consented dwellings were built, Auckland's shortfall could be eliminated by 2027. Recently the Productivity Commission put the current shortfall at 32,000 homes and said 13,000 homes would be needed each year to accommodate new growth. Continue reading
UK house prices creep up month on month and year on year
UK house prices increased by 0.4% in July and annual property price growth edged up to 3.5%, according to the latest residential index from the Nationwide building society. The monthly rise follows a slight dip of 0.2% that was recorded in June and takes the average price of a home to £195,621. While annual growth has increased from the 3.2% recorded the previous month. According to Robert Gardner, Nationwide's chief economist, after moderating over the past 12 months, there are tentative signs that annual house price growth may be stabilising close to the pace of earnings growth, which has historically been around 4%. ‘This would bode well for a sustainable increase in housing market activity, though whether this will be maintained will depend on whether building activity can keep pace with increasing demand,’ he said. He pointed out that the outlook on the demand side remains encouraging. ‘Employment growth has remained relatively robust in recent quarters, and, after a prolonged period of subdued growth, wage growth is also edging up. With consumer confidence buoyant and mortgage rates still close to all-time lows, demand for housing is likely to firm up in the quarters ahead,’ he explained. But he added that it remains unclear whether activity on the supply side will catch up with demand. ‘The number of new homes under construction has started to pick up, albeit from historically low levels, and further increases are required if a sustainable recovery in the housing market is to be maintained over the longer term,’ said Gardner. The July index report also reveals the effect of significant changes to the stamp duty paid on sales which were introduced six months ago, resulting in bunching relating to the new tax thresholds. Gardener explained that the old slab structure used to result in significant distortions with a clustering of transactions at the tax thresholds. Under that system, paying £1 more would result in significant additional stamp duty being due. For example, paying £1 over the £250,000 or the £500,000 threshold used to trigger an additional £5,000 of tax. ‘Even though the change to SDLT only came into effect six months ago, the impact on the pattern of transactions is already evident, with much less bunching of transactions around the £125,000, £500,000 and in particular the £250,000 price points,’ he said. ‘Moreover, based on the first six months of transactions data from the Land Registry, nearly 235,000 purchasers in England and Wales have paid less tax under the new regime, with an average benefit of around £1,800,’ he added. He pointed out that the benefits are greatest in the South of England where average house prices are higher. ‘We estimate that around 85% of transactions in London, the South West and South East have benefited from the changes, compared with around 55% in the North, Yorkshire and Humberside, and the North West of England,’ said Gardner. ‘However, we estimate that around 5,000 or 2% of purchasers paid more, two thirds of whom… Continue reading
