Tag Archives: news
UK residential housing market sees highest activity for six months
UK housing market activity has climbed to its highest level in six months and the second highest monthly level on record, new data shows. September saw just 0.5% fewer valuations carried out than in March 2015 which was the highest on record, according to the latest research from Connells Survey & Valuation. On an annual basis, total valuation activity is up 29% compared to September 2014, after a 23% month on month rebound since August 2015. ‘Britain’s housing market is going from strength to strength. Against a brightening economic background, players in all parts of the market are feeling more confident about their prospects. Valuation activity is growing beyond the seasonal pick-up at the end of August, with year-on-year growth gathering momentum,’ said John Bagshaw, the firm’s corporate services director. The data also shows that the number of valuations carried out specifically for first time buyers rose by 25% in September compared to the previous month and an 18% increase compared to September 2014. Valuation activity among established home movers performed even better. The number of valuations carried out for those moving house rose 26% when compared to last month and 23% since September 2014. ‘First time buyers aren’t just feeling more confident, they are now following this up with real action and contributing a good portion of growth in the UK housing market. There are no signs yet that schemes such as Help to Buy are going to be phased out, helping to suppress the barriers to setting a first foot on the ladder,’ Bagshaw explained. 'Meanwhile, wages are growing faster than inflation and purchase prices have cooled a little in recent months, all contributing to an acceleration in numbers of first time buyers. Moreover, the latest focus from the government on starter homes is a promising sign there is at least a strong intention to maintain support at the bottom of the ladder,’ he pointed out. ‘Home movers have also been buoyed by the same trends. Rising real term wages combined with steadily increasing property values mean that many of those who are already fortunate enough to have a place of their own feel it’s a great time to buy,’ he added. The data also shows that remortgaging experienced another stand out month. The number of valuations for those thinking of taking a fresh mortgage out against the value of their current home rose 16% on August of this year and 49% since September 2014. Meanwhile the buy to let sector has seen steadier growth, with the number of valuations growing 13% since September last year. On a monthly basis, valuations activity carried out on behalf of buy to let investors grew by 21% compared to August. ‘The remortgaging sector is continuing to power ahead with plenty of people still opting to improve rather than move. High demand in this sector is still being driven by the large number of good mortgage deals out there, as homeowners rush to capitalise on the value of… Continue reading
Residential sales fall in Hong Kong but prices holding up, latest research shows
Residential sales in Hong Kong fell almost 30% in one month as weak demand hit the property market but prices are still going up, the latest data shows. Figures from the Land Registry shows a 27.8% drop in transactions in August from the previous month and according to international real estate firm Knight Frank this was due to weakened demand caused by the slump in both the Mainland and local stock markets. However, home prices still recorded minor growth, due to strong end user demand and Knight Frank expects prices to remain firm for the rest of the year. Indeed the firm is predicting that at the top end luxury property prices are likely to grow between 2% and 5% this year while the rest of the market could see price growth of 5% to 8%. Residential land prices also remained firm, with the asking land premium for Lohas Park phase eight in Tseung Kwan O hitting a record high for a residential project in the area at HK$2.955 billion, or an accommodation value of HK$2,830 per square foot. The latest analysis report from Knight Frank suggest that the primary sector remained the market focus, with developers active in launching new flats and offering beneficial packages, including discounts and second mortgages. For example, discounts of 10% to 20% were offered for the latest batch of units at High Park Grand in Mong Kok. In Aspen Crest in Diamond Hill, meanwhile, second mortgages worth 30% of the total purchase price were offered, meaning homebuyers only needed to pay a 10% down payment. A breakdown of the figures in the Knight Frank report show that in the prime property market prices have held up but rents have fallen in some locations. In The Peak district prices were flat month on month but are 5.2% higher than August 2014. Prices were also flat in Island South month on month but up 2.6% year on year. Mid-Levels saw month on month price growth of 0.3% and year on year of 8.1%, Jardine’s Lookout/Happy Valley also saw month on month growth of 0.3% and annual growth of 9.8% while Pokfulam recorded monthly price growth of 0.1% and year on year growth of 9.5%. In the prime rental market there has been little growth. In The Peak rents fell 0.2% compared to July and are flat compared to August 2014, while in Island South rents are also flat compared to a year ago and down 0.3% month on month. Mid-Levels has seen growth of 0.5% year on year but rental prices were flat month on month, Jardine’s Lookout/Happy Valley has seen rents fall 0.2% month on month but up 0.2% year on year and in Pokfulam rents are flat month on month and up 0.5% year on year. Continue reading
Average rent of newly let home in UK now close to £1,000 per month
The average rent of a newly let home in the UK has increased by 3.6% year on year to £941 per month, according to the latest rental market index. The gap between the places where people can afford to rent and where they can afford to buy has widened in every year since the market downturn in 2008, the data from Countrywide plc also shows. People are also moving further away if they buy a home. The index report says that 51% who took their first steps on the housing ladder in 2015 bought outside the town or city where they had been renting, up from 39% in 2008. With house prices rising faster than rents, an increasing number of households find themselves renting in places where they couldn’t afford to buy and tenants in the South of England tend to move furthest to get on the housing ladder. This is where the gap between where people can afford to rent and buy is largest and has widened the most since 2012. Across London and the South East house prices have increased 42% since 2012, rising from £218,000 to £375,000. Over the same period rents have only increased 19% from £1,000 to reach £1,234 a month. The growing number of tenants moving further to buy is both a product of stretched affordability and first time buyers getting older, the report suggests, adding that tenants are increasingly choosing to compromise on location in in order to own their first home. Those renters who bought a home in the last year, bought in a place where the average house price was £35,000 lower than where they were renting. Across the UK as a whole, two thirds of tenants bought in a cheaper area but there were even more in the most expensive housing markets. In London some three quarters of tenants who bought in the last year, ended up living somewhere cheaper than where they had been renting with an average price gap between the two places of £93,000. Further north, however, a rather different picture starts to emerge. In some of the less expensive areas of the country, tenants tend to be less constrained by affordability when making the move into home ownership. Tenants buying in the North East, North West and Yorkshire, tend to buy in similarly priced areas to where they are renting. The average difference in price between where they were renting and where they bought is just £8,000. In a number of the cheapest northern cities such as Newcastle, the average tenant buying their first home actually moves from a cheaper area to a more expensive one. In addition to affordability, space is a deciding factor of where tenants choose to purchase, according to the report. Irrespective of location, those tenants making the move further afield also tend to buy the largest homes. Nationally, 32% of… Continue reading
