Tag Archives: london
Number of new homes being built in the UK up 10% since 2013
New figures show a rise in the numbers of new homes being built across the UK, with starts now 10% above 2013 and at their highest annual total since 2007. Starts on new homes in 2014 totalled 137,010 overall and in London, starts in 2013 to 2014 were the highest since 2005 to 2006, according to the figures released by the Department of Communities and Local Government. Overall 700,000 new homes have been delivered since the end of 2009 and over 200,000 of which have been since the launch of the government’s flagship Help to Buy scheme. ‘We inherited a broken housing market in which builders couldn’t build, lenders wouldn’t lend and buyers couldn’t buy. We’ve done a lot to help get the housing industry back on its legs, but there’s more to do,’ said Housing Minister Brandon Lewis. ‘These figures show we’re on track and turning this around. Now, housebuilding levels are at their highest annual total since 2007, and first time buyers are getting on the property ladder in record numbers. This is thanks to our long term economic plan and efforts to tackle the deficit we inherited, which are keeping interest rates at their record low and mean now is the best time on record to take out a mortgage,’ he added. The department pointed out that the 2008 economic crash devastated the house building industry, bringing building levels to their lowest since the 1920s and leading to the loss of a quarter of a million jobs but the government has prioritised limited financial resources to house building as a key part of its long term economic plan. This includes helping people onto the housing ladder and over 77,000 households have become homeowners with a fraction of the deposit they would normally require thanks to the Help to Buy scheme, with developers building more as a direct result. According to Lewis, reforms to the planning system has put power back in the hands of local people to have a say over the future development of their area, meaning support for local house building has increased dramatically over the past six years, and permission was granted on 240,000 homes in the year to October. The figures also show that nearly 217,000 affordable homes have been delivered since 2010 and £19.5 billion public and private funding has already been invested in affordable house building, with plans for a further £38 billion which will help ensure a further 275,000 new affordable homes are provided between 2015 and 2020. Lewis also pointed to efforts to keep interest rates low and mortgages more affordable and said that the numbers of first time buyers are at a seven year high, with the Mortgage Advice Bureau recently reporting now as the best time on record to take out a mortgage. Continue reading
Oxford prime property market outperforms rest of UK
Rising demand from international buyers and others from London relocating to Oxford has contributed to price growth in the city’s prime property market, new research shows. Oxford is a key city outside of London and attracts people because of its internationally renowned university and research from real estate firm Knight Frank shows that last year it outperformed both the wider prime property market in the UK and in the South East. Prices increased by 1.8% between October and December 2014, taking the annual rise in values in the city to 6.1%. Demand for homes valued between £1 million and £2 million was especially strong. Knight Frank says that a key driver of Oxford’s property market performance has been demand for homes from buyers from outside of the city. Indeed, the proportion of property buyers from outside Oxford more than doubled in 2014 compared to the previous year, accounting for 52% of all Knight Frank sales in the city last year, compared to just 24% in 2013. Demand from Londoners relocating to Oxford rose significantly year on year, from 3% to 18%, with many such buyers looking to take advantage of the relative price difference that currently exists between house prices in the capital and in Oxford. The proportion of international buyers in the city also rose to 17% in 2014, up from 11% the previous year. Access to top performing schools, strong local employment, as well as improving transport links into London, including a new rail line between Oxford and London Marylebone which is due to open this summer , have helped boost high levels of demand in Oxford, according to the report. The number of potential new buyers registering their interest in purchasing a new home was 18% higher last year than 2013 and the number of property viewings in the city was 8% higher over the same time. ‘All of this helped contribute to an increase in the number of sales completed by Knight Frank in Oxford in 2014, with the total number of transactions last year 22% higher than in 2013 and 41% higher than in 2012,’ said Oliver Knight of the firm’s residential research team. ‘The market for properties valued between £1 million and £2 million is especially strong and accounted for nearly 50% of all sales in 2014, compared to 41% in 2013,’ he added. Continue reading
Solid home price growth in the US in last quarter of 2014
Home prices in the United States posted solid gains in the fourth quarter of 2014, with the majority of metro areas seeing a slightly stronger price growth. This growth was propelled by tight housing supplies, low interest rates, and a strengthening job market, according to the latest quarterly report from the National Association of Realtors. It means that the national median existing single family home price was $208,700 in the fourth quarter, up 6% year on year and the median existing single family home price rose in 150 out of the 175 metro markets tracked, some 86%. That marks a stronger price gain compared to the third quarter when 73% of the metro areas had posted increases. The data also shows that 24 areas, or 14%, saw double digit increases in the fourth quarter. ‘Home prices in metro areas throughout the country continue to show solid price growth, up 25 percent over the past three years on average,’ said Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist. ‘This is good news for current home owners, but remains a challenge for buyers who are seeing home prices continue to outpace their wages. Low interest rates helped preserve affordability last quarter, but it’ll take stronger income gains and more housing supply to help meet the pent-up demand for buying,’ he explained. Meanwhile, total existing home sales, including single family and condos, fell 1% in the fourth quarter to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.07 million. But existing home sales are still 2.6% higher year on year. By the end of the fourth quarter, 1.85 million existing homes were available for sale, which is slightly below the 2.01 million homes for sale during the fourth quarter of 2013. The average supply was 4.9 months in the fourth quarter. Most economists consider a supply of six to seven months a healthy balance of supply between buyers and sellers. ‘Despite affordable housing conditions in most of the country, an upward pressure on home prices still persists in some metro areas, particularly in the West, where the current supply of new and existing homes for sale is failing to keep pace with overall demand and growing populations,’ Yun pointed out. ‘Unless home builders significantly boost construction, housing supply shortages could develop and lead to further price acceleration this spring,’ he added. The most expensive housing markets in the fourth quarter were San Jose, California, where the median existing single family home price reached $855,000, followed by San Francisco at $742,900, Honolulu at $701,300, Anaheim-Santa Ana, California at $688,500 and San Diego at $493,100. A regional breakdown shows that in the Northeast total existing home sales increased 2.5% in the fourth quarter and are 4.1% below the fourth quarter of 2013. Median existing single family home price was $246,300, up 2.2% from a year ago. In the Midwest existing home sales fell 4.7% in the fourth quarter and are 0.6% below a year ago. Median existing single family home prices reached $162,000, a 6.2% jump… Continue reading
