Tag Archives: investment
Property near London’s Crossrail could see price growth of up to 16% by 2020
The Crossrail train system in London, now due to open in less than three years, is likely to result in a 7% rise in average house prices at many locations along its route by 2020, according to new research. Many locations are already benefitting from higher property values, as well as new development and regeneration, and activity is expected to step up another gear in the run up to the line’s opening, the report from real estate services firm JLL says. The research shows that some Crossrail locations are expected to see house price growth of 16% above the Greater London average by the end of 2020 while on average, residential prices around Crossrail stations are forecast to see 7% greater uplift compared to non-Crossrail stations. Woolwich, West Drayton, Whitechapel and Ealing Broadway are the most advantageous locations to develop apartments for sale, the research also says. Woolwich is forecast to experience the highest house price growth along the Crossrail route, with prices expected to rise by 39%, while West Drayton, Whitechapel, Slough, Abbey Wood and Iver are all set to see prices rise by more than 33% over the next five years. ‘Crossrail continues to drive value growth right across its length. In the current market, what is becoming clear is the additional benefit it brings to some of the lower value locations along the route,’ said Neil Chegwidden, residential research director at JLL. ‘It is supporting regeneration through improved accessibility and, as a result, offers a longer-term capital growth potential that may be harder to identify in central zones,’ he added. Continue reading
Demand for single family homes in the US rising
Over three quarters of households in the US would purchase a single family home if they were to buy in the next six months, and 79% of renters would choose to buy outside of an urban area, new research shows. The latest quarterly consumer survey from the National Association of Realtors also shows that confidence about now being a good time to buy is waning amongst renters, particularly in the West where prices have solidly risen. Some 85% of current home owners and 75% of renters said they would purchase a single family home, while only 15% of home owners and 21% of renters said that would buy in an urban area. Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said that the survey findings call attention to the glaring need for more supply of single family homes. ‘The American Dream for most consumers is not a cramped, 500 square foot condo in the middle of the city, but instead a larger home within close proximity to the jobs and entertainment an urban area provides,’ he explained. ‘While this is not a new discovery, supply and demand imbalances and unhealthy levels of price growth in several metro areas have made buying an affordable home an onerous task for far too many first time buyers and middle class families,’ he added. According to Yun, it’s time for home builders to double their focus on constructing single family homes. With millennials increasingly buying in the suburbs tight inventory and affordability concerns will likely worsen without significant headways made in housing starts in relation to job creation. The survey found that 82% of home owners believe now is a good time to buy, no change from the previous survey in December 2015 but the number of renters thinking the same fell from 68% to 62%. ‘A high number of home owners are expressing that it’s a good time to buy and this sentiment is no doubt being fuelled by the $4.4 trillion in housing equity accumulation in the past three years,’ said Yun. ‘On the other hand, accelerating home prices and the perceived difficulty in obtaining a mortgage appears to be tugging at the confidence of renters,’ he pointed out. Overall, respondents over the age of 65, those living in the Midwest and those with incomes over $100,000 were the most optimistic about buying now. Among current home owners 56% thought it is a good time to sell compared to 61% in the fourth quarter of 2015. Amidst steep price increases and tight supply, respondents in the West were the most likely to think now is a good time to sell, while also being the least likely to think now is a good time to buy. Among all households in the survey, less than half believe the economy is improving at 48%, down from 50% in last quarter’s survey. Renters, those living in urban areas and respondents with lower incomes were the most optimistic. Across all age groups, when asked… Continue reading
Average property prices in UK cities now six times annual earnings
Average house prices in cities in the UK have reached their highest since 2008 and are more than six times annual earnings, new research shows. The affordable cities review report from Lloyds Bank shows that the average UK city house price has risen by 8% from £196,229 in 2015 to its highest ever level of £211,880 in 2016. This has resulted in average affordability in the nation’s cities worsening in the last 12 months from 6.2 to 6.6 times gross average annual earnings, the third successive annual decline in affordability. The latest figures from Lloyds Bank also reveal a significant North/South divide, with 17 of the 20 least affordable cities located in southern England and only Lichfield, Leicester and York appearing in the top 20 outside of the South. Winchester has recorded the biggest gains over the past decade, whilst London, not surprisingly, has seen the largest growth during the economic recovery of the last five years. By contrast, all of the 20 most affordable cities for home buyers are outside of southern England. Affordability in UK cities is, on average, now at its worst level since the average house price to earnings rose to 7.2 at the height of the last housing market boom in 2008. ‘House price rises in the past three years have risen more steeply than average wage growth, making it more expensive to buy a home in the majority of UK cities. This has also widened the North/South divide, as house prices in the South have generally seen stronger growth than in the North,’ said Andrew Mason, Lloyds Bank mortgage products director. Oxford is the UK's least affordable city with the average house price 10.68 the gross average earnings in the city. At an average price of £364,429, houses in Oxford are more expensive compared with average earnings in the city than in any other UK city. This is partly due to Oxford’s attractiveness to commuters working in London. Winchester at 10.54, London at 10.06, Cambridge at 9.9 and Bath at 9.77 make up the top five least affordable cities. The London average figure disguises considerable variations across the capital with central boroughs being significantly less affordable than the Greater London average. Lichfield at 7.53 and York at 7.5 are the least affordable cities outside southern England. Londonderry in Northern Ireland is now both the UK’s most affordable and least expensive city. The average property price in the Northern Ireland city of £113,302 is 3.8 times the gross average annual earnings. Elsewhere in Northern Ireland Belfast at 4.42 and Lisburn at 4.64 are the fourth and sixth most affordable cities respectively, due primarily to the relatively low house prices in the country. Northern English and Scottish cities make up the remainder of the top 10 most affordable cities with Bradford at 4.31, Hereford at 4.55, Durham at 4.73, Lancaster at 4.89, Carlisle at 5.03, Glasgow at 5.07 and Stirling at 4.11. Winchester has recorded the biggest price rise of any UK… Continue reading
