Tag Archives: london
Wealthy buyers increasingly attracted to Barcelona real estate market
Barcelona is attracting more wealthy real estate investors thanks to a reputation as a luxury lifestyle destination, it is claimed. Rich property buyers are looking to expand their portfolios beyond traditional property hotspots such as New York, Paris and London and are increasingly spending sums of €10 million and above. Agents Luca Fox International Properties said that affluent buyers are attracted by the lifestyle which has seen Barcelona transform itself into a prosperous, global city since the Olympic Games in 1992. The city is also regarded as a leading gastronomic hub with 23 Michelin starred restaurants, drawing in entrepreneurs and businessmen from all over the world, as well as some big name celebrities including Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood, who bought a property in 2013. Singer Shakira and FC Barcelona footballer Gerard Pique are currently building a home in the city’s outskirts, providing an additional glamorous vibe to this already buzzing coastal city and last year saw the launch of Barcelona’s superyacht marina, ideally positioned in the heart of the city and which regularly welcomes Roman Abramovich’s fleet of yachts. Barcelona’s fashion brands such as Desigual and Zazo and Brull have encouraged major international chains to make the city a key part of their strategy for flagship store openings in Southern Europe. There is also a growing number of tourists visiting the city. ‘Barcelona is a very seductive city. Progressive, creative and constantly re-inventing itself, it has always attracted a discerning, creative crowd but now we are seeing new wave of very wealthy investors, who recognize the city’s global appeal as well as its growth potential,’ said Lucas Fox co-founder Alexander Vaughan . ‘A number of high profile industry leaders, businessmen and personalities such as Ronnie Wood have chosen to buy through Lucas Fox in recent years and, as Barcelona continues to establish itself as one of the world’s leading cities, we believe this trend is set to continue,’ he added. Even at the lower end of the market buyers are spending more, according to a survey carried out at the recent Madrid International Property Show (SIMA). ‘Compared to previous years they have a bigger budget and foresee fewer difficulties in financing their purchase,’ said Eloy Bohua, managing director of Planner, the show’s organisers. The survey found that compared to the previous show a year ago the percentage of people looking for property at the cheapest end of the scale up to €150,000 has dropped from 36.5% to 22.1%. At the other end, those looking for property priced at over €300,000 have gone from 12.8% to 21.6% while 29% are searching for property between €150,000 and €210,000, and 28.3% between €210,000 and €300,000. Continue reading
UK housing market confidence falls slightly
Confidence in the UK housing market has fallen slightly despite the fact that interest rates were held again and average house prices continued to increase. According to the latest monthly Halifax Housing Market Confidence Tracker the headline House Price Outlook balance, that is the difference between the proportion of people across Britain that expect the average property price to rise less the proportion who think it will fall, slipped to +58 compared with +64 in March 2015. At the same time the net proportion of consumers who now believe the next 12 months will be a good time to buy has increased from +21 in March to +26 in April. Conversely, the net proportion who think that the next year will be a good time to sell has fallen from +33 to +30. The research found that 63% expected the average property price to be higher in one year’s time which is significantly lower than the 67% who said this in March and this is despite a number of positive short term factors. These include the emergence of record low mortgage rates, falling swap rates, GDP growth falling to its slowest pace in three years and Office of National Statistics figures showing negative inflation of 0.1% in April. MPC minutes also showed a unanimous vote to keep rates on hold at 0.5% in the latest meeting. These, along with other factors, such as rising employment levels, should start to see the consumer housing outlook improve over the next few months, according to Craig McKinlay, Halifax mortgages director. ‘With inflation now at its lowest level since records began, unemployment falling, and the economy still growing, the fundamentals for the housing market remain positive. Going forward the key factor in how consumers adjust to any changes in rates will be the way in which they manage their disposable income,’ he said. Continue reading
UK Building Societies providing bigger share of new mortgage lending
Building societies in the UK lent £12.7 billion of gross new mortgages in the first three months of the year, some 29% of all new lending across the market, the latest data shows. Societies also approved over 91,000 mortgages in the first quarter while net lending by all lenders totalled £3 billion, according to the figures from the Building Societies Association. Paul Broadhead, head of mortgage policy at the BSA, lending by building societies has been strong and without the contribution of this section of the market the stock of mortgage loans across the UK would have shrunk in the first three months of the year. ‘Societies hold a 20% share of mortgage balances, but have had a much greater share of the flow of new lending for some time. In the first quarter they delivered 29% of all new mortgages,’ he explained. ‘This is partly because of competitive products and partly due to the more personal approach they take to underwriting. The trend looks set to continue in the second quarter as around a third of mortgage approvals in the first quarter were from building societies,’ he added. Meanwhile, the latest research by specialist lender Paragon Mortgages shows the majority of intermediaries are seeing stable or growing levels of demand from landlord clients. The Financial Advisor Confidence Tracking survey for the first quarter, shows 91% of intermediaries view landlord demand as growing or stable and just 7% saying demand was weak. In terms of intermediaries’ views on levels of buy to let mortgage business, 53% said in the second quarter they expect the number of cases to remain stable. However, 45% are more optimistic saying they expect to write more buy to let business. Survey results for the first three months of the year also revealed that 23% of intermediaries’ business was buy to let, 18% was for first time buyers and 35% were remortgages. The quarterly survey has also, for the past 20 years, kept an intermediary confidence index taking the average number of mortgage cases completed in the current quarter, measured against expected business levels in the next quarter. Confidence for the first quarter of 2015 has increased with a score of 105.2 from 102.9 the previous quarter. The index recovered throughout 2013 and 2014, after it fell from 2008 onwards and reached its lowest level in the third quarter of 2010 of 63. ‘There were no great movements in this quarter’s survey findings, what is evident though, is intermediaries are feeling optimistic about the buy to let market. Following the results of the general election, it will be interesting to see whether we see an increase in intermediaries’ case load as confidence increases in the wider housing market,’ said John Heron, director of Paragon Mortgages. Continue reading
