Tag Archives: middle-east
House prices in Scotland up twice the rate of England and Wales
House price growth in Scotland is outpacing that seen in England and Wales with values up 0.8% in November, twice the rate seen in the rest of the UK. This takes the average price of a home in Scotland to £169,850, up 2.4% compared wot November 2014, according to the latest index from Your Move. East Renfrewshire had the biggest upswing as new home developments lifted prices 5.2% since October and overall it was the strongest November for home sales since 2007 with transactions up 13% year on year. According to Christine Campbell, Your Move managing director in Scotland, the rise provides a welcome bounce back for home owners after a turbulent year but house prices are still below March’s record peak. The driving force behind this up and down has been the introduction of the Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT) last April which while lowering tax for the vast majority of buyers has hit the top end of the market. However, as high end housing stock starts to shift again, price rises are strengthening in more expensive areas but Campbell warned that the growth spurt may be short lived with the 3% surcharge on second home and buy to let property purchases coming into force in April. ‘If the impact of this tax increase mirrors the effect of the LBTT, we may see a sharp spike in values at the start of 2016 as buy to let buyers rush to avoid the tax hike, followed by a sudden dip after its introduction,’ said Campbell. ‘Investors may well be dissuaded from purchasing additional properties then, with a £250,000 home liable for an extra £7,500 in Stamp Duty once the tax is implemented. Sellers may find themselves having to subsequently reduce prices to make their properties more attractive, accounting for the higher surcharge for some buyers. There have been cases of some developers offering £10,000 contributions towards the LBTT in order to sell their units,’ she explained. The data also shows that on the back of strong monthly growth in October, East Lothian has now overtaken Inverclyde as the mainland region with the highest annual increase in property prices at 10.9%. ‘This region illustrates the recovery in the top end of the market with 30 sales of properties worth over half a million pounds in the last three months, a significant improvement on 18 sales in the same period last year,’ said Campbell. ‘The most notable of the sales was a nine bedroom property going for £2.6 million, the second most expensive property sold this year. This marks a clear turning point when you consider the drought of million pound home sales immediately after the introduction of the LBTT,’ she pointed out. She also explained that November’s home sales have defied the odds by avoiding the usual seasonal slowdown. Transactions increased 1.2% month on month in a period where there is usually see a 4% dip. South… Continue reading
Total value of housing in Britain moves past £6 trillion for first time
The total value of Britain’s housing stock has passed the £6 trillion mark for the first time after gains of £385 billion in 2015, according to new research. Housing wealth stands at £4.84 trillion, net of mortgage debt, or 2.7 times GDP and for owner occupiers with no mortgage total property wealth exceeded £2 trillion for the first time, the analysis from real estate adviser Savills shows. It also reveals that the private rented sector’s total value is now £1.29 trillion, up 55% in five years with number of homes in the sector up 28%. Net wealth passed £1 trillion in 2015, overtaking that held by mortgaged owner occupiers for the first time. The total value of homes in London exceeded £1.5 trillion for the first time at £1.612 trillion, accounting for more than a quarter of the total value of housing stock in the UK and having risen by £589 billion in five years. The South of England saw total value growth of £179 billion, exceeding London growth for the first time in five years while Bristol saw the biggest increase in total housing stock value outside of London, up £4.5 billion to £44 billion. The report points out that residential property has become an increasingly important store of wealth. Total equity now stands at around £4.8 trillion net of borrowing, equivalent to over 2.7 times the GDP of the UK. Over the past 10 years the total value of the UK’s homes has risen by over £1.6 trillion, but the biggest growth, almost £1.2 trillion, was seen in the past three years. This means the UK’s 28.2 million homes of all tenure now have an average value of £218,474, up 18.9% in five years. ‘Value and gains vary sharply according to location and ownership. Gains have been concentrated in equity rich markets, notably London and the south east, particularly benefitting those who own their homes outright. In 2015, for the first time, the total value of owner occupied homes without a mortgage exceeded the total value of those with a mortgage,’ said Lucian Cook, head of residential research at Savills. ‘While the difficulties faced in getting on and trading up the housing ladder and the consequential rise in private renting is well documented, these figures show the scale of the change and challenges faced by Government,’ he added. London and the South East accounted for 57% of total value gains at £218 billion in 2015 and now have a total value of almost £2.8 trillion. This means that 26% of the UK’s homes now account for 45% of the total value, and takes the average value of a home in London to £430,436 and £284,805 in the South East. At the other end of the spectrum, the total value of homes in the North East equates to less than a tenth of London’s value, having risen just 2.2% in 2015. At a total of £135 billion, the region’s… Continue reading
Dubai rents expected to remain stable in 2016
Dubai is set to see a more stable real estate market in 2016 with prices expected to rise slightly and rents remain stable in the coming 12 months. New growth is likely to centre on affordable homes with several developers already announcing a foray into this sector of the real estate market. International City, IMPZ, Dubailand, Sports City, JVC and Silicon Oasis already have a number of lower cost options for buyers. The latest data from the Real Estate Regulatory Authority shows that rents for one and two bedroom apartments fell in 2015 across much of Dubai. Rents for one bedroom flats fell by between 4.55% and 11% depending on location. Two bed rents in Downtown Dubai are down by between 5.26% and 5.88% while in Jumeirah Lakes Towers (JLT) they fell by between 8.33% and 10%. In International City, rents of two bedroom apartments are down by 7.69% to 10%, in Dubai Marina they are down 5.26%, in Palm Jumeirah they dropped by u to 5.55% and in Discovery Gardens they fell by 5.8%. However rents in this sector were stable in many other locations including the Greens, Silicon Oasis, Jumeirah Village Circle, Arjan, Dubai Sports City, Dubailand and the International Media Production Zone. The arbitrary nature of rent prices is also shown in the latest data from real estate portal Bayut. It shows that average rents at the end of 2015 were AED 137,000, up 2.14% from AED 134,000 at the end of December 2014. A breakdown of the figures show that for studio apartments average rents were unchanged year on year but those for one bedroom flats increased 6.6% while two and three bedroom apartment rents fell by 4% and 2% respectively. Four bedroom rents fell by 12%. The firm believes that more affordable property will prove popular and is expecting 2016 to be a busy year in the residential real estate market as the population continues to increase and the economy continues to diversify. ‘Business and job growth will drive demand for residential and commercial spaces and ultimately help push property prices upwards,’ the firm added. Continue reading
