Tag Archives: news
Auckland sees residential construction work double in four years
The value of construction in most regions in New Zealand increased in the third quarter of 2015 with Auckland seeing a new high of $943 million worth of residential work, up $107 million from a year ago. Overall building work worth $4.2 billion was put in place in the September 2015 quarter, up 4% on the September 2014 quarter, according to official figures from Statistics New Zealand. ‘The value of building work increased in most regions. Similar to last quarter, residential work grew most in Auckland, while non-residential work grew most in Canterbury,’ said Statistics New Zealand business indicators manager Neil Kelly. In Auckland, a new series high of $943 million worth of residential building work was recorded in the September 2015 quarter, up $107 million from a year ago. The current quarter's value is double what it was four years ago in the September 2011 quarter. After removing price changes and seasonal variations, the national volume of all building activity increased 0.5%, following a 1.6% increase in the June 2015 quarter. Within this, the volume of residential work increased 2.9% while non-residential work fell 2.6%. The volume trend for non-residential building activity grew 0.4% in the September 2015 quarter, a similar level as the previous series high in the March 2006 quarter. Meanwhile, the residential building activity volume trend grew 1.4% in the latest quarter, but the level was still 6.3% lower than the June 2004 quarter peak. The overall building activity volume trend grew to a level last seen 10 years ago in the June 2005 quarter, the previous series peak. Meanwhile, official data also shows that all 16 regions of New Zealand are projected to have more households in 2038 than in 2013 and most territory authority areas (TAs) will also have more households. The Auckland region is projected to account for about half of the national growth in the number of households between 2013 and 2038, increasing from 500,000 to 750,000. Over the same period, the region is projected to account for roughly 60% of New Zealand's population growth. By 2038, some 35% of all households in New Zealand will be in the Auckland region, up from 30% in 2013. Continue reading
UK house prices set to keep rising in 2016 due to shortage of supply
House prices in the UK are set to continue rising during 2016 due to a lack of available housing stock in the property market, according to the latest index report. There are 47% fewer properties currently for sale than in December 2007 and 16.1% fewer than in December 2014, the data from Home.co.uk’s asking price index shows. The firm says that this is creating ‘a vicious circle’ of price hikes that are set to continue throughout 2016, and follows a rise of 8% in England and Wales' property prices in 2015. Already, regions with the biggest shortages of available housing for sale are experiencing the quickest price rises, with the East of England in particular set for continued rapid price hikes next year. Overall the firm is predicting price growth of 9% in England and Wales with the highest of 13% in the East of England, followed by 12% in the South East, 9% in Greater London and 7% in both Scotland and the West Midlands. The rest of the country is likely to see more moderate growth with just 1% in the North East, 2% in Wales, the North West and Yorkshire and Humber and 6% in the East Midlands and the South West. A breakdown of the data shows that between November 2010 and November 2015, the supply of property in the East slumped by 27%, while prices in the region increased by 10.6% over 2015. Scotland's housing supply fell by 13% between November 2010 and November 2015. Other areas where the supply of properties for sale dried up over the same period include the East Midlands, which saw a fall of 12%, and the West Midlands, where supply dropped by 11%. The South East is another region to experience a drought in the volume of property for sale, with supply falling 10% over the same period while only two areas saw an increase in housing stock for sale between November 2010 and November 2015 with a rise of supply of 10% in Yorkshire and the Humber and 2% in Wales. For 2016, Home.co.uk is predicting a similar range of regional price rises as seen in 2015. However, due to further contractions in supply, the East of England and the South East are expected to outperform Greater London over the next 12 months. Buyers in Scotland, the West and East Midlands and the South West are advised to brace themselves for a year of rapid price growth as the supply crisis ripples out to these regions. Meanwhile, typical time on the market has also fallen due to this imbalance between high demand and low supply. In England and Wales, the typical time on the market in December this year is 104 days, compared to 110 days a year ago. ‘Next year is set to see the vicious circle of spiralling prices and falling supply deepen even further as buyers take advantage of cheap credit to chase ever fewer properties,’ said the firm’s… Continue reading
Number of British homes worth £1 million or more up 14% since beginning of year
The number of home owners in Britain whose property is worth £1 million or more has increased by 75,796 or 14% since January, according to the latest research. This 14% rise over the past year takes the total number of British so called property millionaires to 622,939, and means that 2.2% of all home owners have a property worth £1 million or more, up 1.9% over the past year. Of these million pound home some 82% are situated in London and the South East, a breakdown of the data from property website Zoopla shows. But Wales has the fewest and the number in Scotland have fallen by 4.5%. London, long the nation’s property powerhouse, has once again dominated the property millionaire league, with well over half (61%) of Britain’s million-pound piles located in the capital. In total, 380,337 homes in the city are now above the million-pound threshold, marking a 33,871 – or 10% increase – since the start of the year. Within London the boroughs with the highest number of property millionaires are notoriously expensive areas such as Westminster with 51,607 and Kensington and Chelsea with 44,972 but they have seen the smallest rise in £1 million plus properties of any borough over the past year, up just 0.9% and 0.6% respectively. Meanwhile, the boroughs that experienced the greatest increases of over 55% are within the top 10 lowest average priced boroughs in London including Barking and Dagenham, Newham, Redbridge and Waltham Forest, Outside of London, the East of England and Yorkshire and the Humber saw the largest increases of million pound properties, up 28% and 24% respectively since January. At the other end of the spectrum, Wales has the fewest million pound properties in Britain with only 1,404 in total despite, an 11% rise since January. Scotland was the only country to see a decrease in number of million pound homes in 2015, falling 4.5% to below 9,000 since the start of the year. ‘It's interesting to see that areas such as the East of England and Yorkshire have seen bigger percentage rises in the numbers of property millionaires over the last 12 months compared with the south which typically dominates each year,’ said Lawrence Hall of Zoopla. ‘However the number of properties valued at more than £1 million in the south still outweigh the rest of Britain boosted by wealthy hotspots such as Kensington and Chelsea and Westminster,’ he pointed out. ‘With an improving economy and the ongoing lack of housing supply, this continues to put upward pressure on house prices at all levels of the market and has nudged a whole new raft of properties over the £1 million mark. A price tag that was once the exclusive preserve of stately homes or massive mansions is now an increasingly common label for more modest houses, particularly in London,’ he added. Continue reading
