Tag Archives: investment
Fewer Chinese and Russians buyers likely for prime central London market in 2016
There is likely to be fewer Chinese and Russian buyers in the prime central London property market in 2016 but a rise in interest from the Middle East, particularly Iran, is forecast. Overall there is unlikely to be much growth in this market which has been hit by increased property tax charges with more set for second home and buy to let buyers in April. ‘We are cautiously optimistic about 2016, however the market is unsettled and liquidity is down. We don’t expect much growth in the central London market as a whole, except for the very best stock which we believe will keep increasing in value,’ said Rory Penn of property agents VanHan. ‘Prices at the top end of the market may adjust to compensate for increased tax costs. We expect there to be fewer Russian and Chinese buyers in the market than in previous years; the strength of the pound means that London is not currently considered to be such good value for money,’ he explained. ‘It is expected that sanctions against Iran will be lifted next year, and we are already seeing interest from wealthy Iranians looking to buy property in central London but we expect to see a drop in demand for some new build developments, such as Battersea Power Station, as the market is becoming over saturated,’ he added. One area where the firm does expect to see continued demand is Mayfair. ‘There is a lot of development going on and a high level of interest from foreign buyers who are still attracted to the social aspect,’ said Penn. Sales were better than expected for the firm in 2015 with seven residential sales in the £10 million to £50 million with an average transaction size of £16 million which included a £50 million house in central London, one of the largest residential transactions in the area. But it also points out that it remains to be seen what effect property tax will have in the coming months. ‘The slowdown in the prime residential markets last summer had less to do with the election and more to do with the changes in taxes relating to buying and holding residential real estate, although this has had less impact at the very top end of the market,’ said Penn. ‘As the luxury market has become more saturated, discerning buyers are increasingly looking for a boutique, bespoke service. Sellers are increasingly looking to sell properties off-market,’ he added. Continue reading
Bristol and Cambridge were most searched locations for homes in 2015
Bristol is the most searched city for property hunters in the UK, followed by Cambridge, according to new research from online property portal Rightmove. Margate has seen the highest asking price hikes and Welwyn Garden City is where properties have sold the quickest with March the busiest month of the year in terms of browsing for real estate. There were 110 million visits from home hunters each month to Rightmove in 2015, as demand for property hit an all-time high and supply issues in many parts of the country remained. Whilst the busiest month was March, the busiest day for browsing property was actually later in the year on Monday 10 August when home hunters browsed over 58.6 million pages of property, a common time of year for people to try and find a new home to be settled in before Christmas. Bristol and Cambridge came first and second for potential buyers and renters searching for property in 2015 outside London, with almost 14 million searches in these two places over the year. York was in third place for buying and Manchester came third for rental searches. Commuter towns Milton Keynes and Reading made the top 10 searches for both renting and buying, perhaps as people looked for more affordable options outside of the capital. Some areas fared particularly well in 2015 outside London, with new seller asking prices in a few locations going up by more than 20%. The seaside town of Margate in Kent saw the price of property coming to market go up by 24.2% to £204,631 between January and the end of November, followed closely by Altrincham in Cheshire with a rise of 21.9% to £484,258. The rest of the top five is made up of towns in Kent with Gravesend recording a rise of 20.5%, Ramsgate up 18.6% and Dartford up 17.4%. The average time for a property to sell across England and Wales was 62 days throughout 2015. Properties in Welwyn Garden City sold fastest outside London, spending an average of only 25 days on the site before being marked as sold, with nearby Hertford coming in second place with an average of 26 days. Places in the East of England dominated the top 10 fastest to sell list, as many parts of the region recorded strong growth. As the year ended, the annual new seller asking price increase in the East of England is 9.2%, recording the same rise as the South East. ‘2015 saw demand reach record levels for home hunters both buying and renting, and the ripple effect from London to the South East moved even further out to places like Essex and Hertfordshire, as you can see from how quick properties are selling in these locations,’ said Rightmove’s housing expert Sam Mitchell . ‘Usually January is Rightmove’s busiest month but the New Year rush stayed even longer this year, and we recorded our busiest ever month in March. It’ll be interesting to see… Continue reading
Generation of UK home owners stuck due to lack of downsize properties
A lack of suitable homes for downsizing is preventing a large number of home owners in the UK from moving to a smaller property, it is claimed. Some 33% of home owners aged 55 and over are considering or expect to consider downsizing, but a lack of suitable options is preventing them from moving, a new report says. A new YouGov survey for the report found 29% who have already downsized or are considering or expecting to consider downsizing did or expect to release in excess of £100,000 in equity, with the most prevalent way of using the money being to put it in a savings account. The report, Generation Stuck: Exploring the Reality of Downsizing in Later Life, has been written by the International Longevity Centre UK and commissioned by retirement house builder McCarthy & Stone. The report suggests that a 'Generation Stuck' dilemma is being created by a substantial number of older people who want to move and downsize, but can't due to a lack of choice in the market place. A chronic under supply of suitable properties for later life, including purpose built retirement housing, means the UK is running out of homes for its ageing population, leaving them stuck in under occupied properties unsuited to their needs. According to previous research findings some 52% of all people who classify as under occupiers in the UK are aged 55 and over and at current market trends, it would take 20 years for housing supply, at its current rate, to meet the demand of just half of people aged 60 and over interested in downsizing. As part of the report, a new YouGov survey found 48% of the 1,252 home owners surveyed would consider downsizing or have already moved to a more suitable property, making this an area worthy of much greater policy consideration by Government. Of those who have already downsized or are at least considering downsizing some 56% wanted to do so to spend less on property maintenance, 43% wanted to reduce their bills and 43% wanted to move as their children had left home. The finding that almost three in 10 home owners aged 55 or over expect to release more than £100,000 in equity from downsizing is reinforced by McCarthy & Stone's figures which show its home owners released an average of almost £60,000 in equity when downsizing to a retirement apartment, with 19% releasing more than £100,000. The report also details how these home owners used, or plan to use, such equity. Some 35% wanted to put it into a savings account, 30% to enhance their day to day life, and 19% to give it to family members. Of those aged 55 to 59 34% wanted to put it towards a pension. ‘Housing and planning policy should not just be about starter homes. Millions of older people want to downsize to more suitable housing but there is currently little incentive or choice for them to move…. Continue reading
