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Scottish house prices see biggest monthly jump since 2007
Scottish property prices increased by 1.7% in February, the biggest monthly jump since the 2007 taking the average value to a new record high of £169,742. The latest data from the Your Move Scotland house price index also shows that the annual price growth has now reached 6% and there was a spike in sales of homes worth over £1 million, probably due to the introduction of the new property tax in April. The annual growth is the strongest it has been since August 2010 and Stirling experienced the fastest increase in property values across Scotland during February, with house prices soaring 5.3% while Aberdeen, Edinburgh, East Lothian and Angus all set new house price peaks in February. The index data also shows that overall sales were up 14% month on month but they are still 4% below the same levels seen in February last year. Christine Campbell, regional managing director of Your Move, explained that the monthly growth was much higher than in England and Wales where it was just 0.4% in February. ‘The impressive rise in house prices in February has been influenced by the introduction of the new Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT) in April, as high end buyers sought to complete expensive purchases under the old stamp duty rates,’ said Campbell. She pointed out that 15 properties priced at £1million or more were sold in Scotland during the month of February, compared to just six the previous month. ‘Tactical tax considerations have helped foster price growth in the Scottish housing market, and are likely to play a significant role in the months to come too,’ she said. ‘Now that the LBTT has come into force, we expect to see a temporary drop-off in the number of properties sold above £750,000, now liable for the top rate of tax, similar to the impact we’re currently seeing in London among £2 million properties in light of December’s stamp duty changes,’ Campbell added. She also pointed out that typically in the housing market cycle home sales ease back in February, in the aftermath of the costly Christmas period but this February moved against the seasonal grain, with completed home sales up 14% on January levels. A breakdown of the figures shows that over the past three months, completed home sales have fallen in every local authority area of Scotland on an annual basis, with Midlothian seeing the sharpest 31% drop. ‘However these year on year benchmarks have been artificially propped up following the extraordinary headway in sales activity over 2014, and as well as having to recalibrate onto a steadier course, the housing market this year also has an upcoming general election to contend with,’ said Campbell, who added that the slowdown in Scottish sales activity is being mirrored south of the border, as all across the UK political uncertainty is infusing home buyers with a new hesitancy. ‘But as soon as there is a… Continue reading
Newly let property rents up in the UK while others remain stable
Rents in the UK remain stable for renewed and occupied tenancies but continue to increase for newly let properties in the first quarter of 2015, according to the latest rental index. Overall average rents for newly let properties increased 4.5% in the quarter to £894 per calendar month, up from £853 in the fourth quarter of 2014. Arrears continue to decrease in England, Scotland and Wales, a sign that household income is less stretched than a year ago, the index from Countrywide also shows. A breakdown of the figures shows that average rents increase for one and two bedroom properties in the first three months of the year, up 0.8% and 0.4% respectively compared to the previous quarter to £730 and £817. Three and four plus bedroom properties saw rents remain stable with just a 0.1% decrease to £939 and £1,435 per calendar month respectively. However, when looking at March 2015 compared to February 2015 rent increased for three and four bedroom properties by 1.6% and 16.4%. Two bedroom properties see no change in average monthly rent and one bedroom properties a 1.4% decrease. The average monthly rent in the quarter decreased in over half of UK regions, with the greatest decrease in the South East of England, down 1.9% compared to the fourth quarter of 2014 to £1,097. Average rents remain unchanged in the North but increased in central London, up 3.1% to £2,561. Month on month, rents increased in the majority of regions, with the South East seeing the greatest increase, up 14.8% in March compared to February. Average rent decreased the greatest in central London, down 4.4%. The average UK rent for renewed tenancies in March is £848 per calendar month, an increase of 0.8% month on month and 2.3% year on year. By property size, increases and decreases in average monthly rent for renewed tenancies remained relatively unchanged in March when compared to February, apart from one bedroom properties which saw a 4.3% increase. Two bedroom properties see a 0.6% increase, three bedroom properties see a 0.6% decrease, whilst for four plus bedroom properties the average rent remains unchanged. The only region to see a decrease in rents in March was central London, down 2.3% on February to £2,485. All other regions saw no change or an increase in rents, with Wales seeing the greatest increase, up 13% to £654. Year on year, the East of England is the only region to see a decrease in rents, down 0.9% in March 2015 compared to March 2014. The average rent for all occupied rental properties is £840 per calendar month, an increase of 0.2% month on month and 2.4% year on year. By property size, rents for occupied rental properties see marginal changes in rents month on month, with one, two and three bedroom properties seeing an increase of 0.7% 0.3% and 0.2% to £693, £773 and £879 respectively. Four plus bedroom properties see a small decrease of just 0.1%… Continue reading
Average prime property prices outside London up 1% in first quarter
Growth figures reveal stability in the prime regional markets in the UK with average prices up by 1% outside of London in the first quarter of 2015, according to data from Savills Research. This means that year on year they have risen by 2.2%, despite the increase in stamp duty on sales over £937,500 that was introduced in the Autumn Statement last year and price growth continued to be strongest in the prime urban markets in the first quarter of the year. The firm’s latest Market in Minutes report also shows that in the 30 to 60 minute commuter band around London, prices of prime property in town and city locations have risen by 5.8% year on year. This is the highest of all of the sub-categories of property within Savills’ prime indices. By contrast, prices in the prime London markets are showing annual price falls of 1.6% marking an anticipated turning point in the market, where the gap between the pricing of prime property in London and the regions begins to narrow. Generally the country markets have remained a little more subdued. In particular, the large houses have had to contend with the biggest increases in stamp duty and the threat of a mansion tax in the run up to a general election. So whereas prime country cottages have seen annual price growth of 4.4%, prices of manor houses have on average fallen by 0.8% over the course of the year. Similar concerns have affected the markets on the high value private estates in the South East, such as St George's Hill and Wentworth. However, across the London suburbs and the inner commuter zone, prices have risen by 2.2% in the past year on average, meaning that they are 6.8% above their pre-crunch levels. In England quarterly price growth also returned to markets beyond the commuter zone with prices rising by just over 1% having softened marginally in the wake of the autumn statement. In particular, markets such as Bath and Cheshire are continuing to benefit from demand from aspiring young families and downsizers. Coastal markets that have generally been much slower to recover due to their dependency on discretionary buyers, also showed encouraging signs of increased activity as prices increased by an average of 4.1% over the past year. The divide between prime housing in urban and rural prime locations is also evident in Scotland, where prices rose marginally in the quarter leaving them up by just 0.4% year on year, compared to the prime markets of Edinburgh which are showing 6% annual growth. All of the regions, from the prime suburban towns in striking distance of London to the prime markets of the Midlands and the North, have seen annual price growth. However, there are significant differences in where prices sit relative to their peak in different sectors of the market. This is likely to shape the market over the medium term, says Savills. ‘In the same way that the value gap… Continue reading
