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Property prices in Ireland fall month on month for first time since January
Residential property prices in Ireland fell by 0.1% in June, the first monthly fall since January, but are still 6.6% higher than a year ago, according to the latest official figures to be published. This compares to a 0.2% rise in May with the data showing that price growth has slowed considerably from the 10.7% annual rise recorded in June 2015. The figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) also show that in Dublin property prices decreased by 0.7% in June and were 4.5% higher than a year ago. House prices decreased by 1% but are still 5% higher compared to a year earlier while apartment prices were 0.5% lower when compared with the same month of 2015. However, the CSO points out that it should be noted that the sub-indices for apartments are based on low volumes of observed transactions and consequently suffer from greater volatility than other series. The price of properties in the rest of Ireland increased by 0.5% in June compared with an increase of 0.4% in June of last year and were 8.6% higher than in June 2015. It means that house prices in Dublin are 33.5% lower than at their highest level in early 2007 while apartment prices in Dublin are 41.8% lower than they were in February 2007. Overall property prices in Dublin are 35.6% lower than at their highest level in February 2007. The price of properties in the rest of Ireland is 35.4% lower than their highest level in September 2007 and the national index is 33.3% lower than its highest level in 2007. The CSO will launch a new Residential Property Price Index (RPPI) for Ireland in early September 2016 which will replace the existing monthly RPPI. ‘The new RPPI will be based on Stamp Duty returns made to the Revenue Commissioners matched with other administrative data. It will now cover all market purchases of houses and apartments by households, both cash and mortgage based transactions,’ said a CSO spokesman. ‘The new RPPI represents a significant methodological improvement over the existing RPPI based on mortgage data from the credit institutions as it includes cash purchases, higher quality source data and more detailed locational characteristics in the price model,’ he added. Continue reading
City property price index reaches record high in Australia
Property prices in Australian capital cities increased by 0.8% in July, a new record high, with values now 6.3% higher than the first seven months of the year, the latest published data shows. However, while overall values are still rising, four of Australia’s eight capital cities recorded a fall in dwelling values over the month, the CoreLogic July home value index also shows. Simultaneously, the rate of growth across the combined capitals aggregate index slipped back a notch after bouncing higher in April and May. The annual rate of growth, which hit a recent peak at 11.1% across the combined capitals index in October last year, is now tracking at 6.1%, the slowest annual rate of appreciation since September 2013. Sydney and Melbourne have also seen the annual rate of growth slip back to below 10% with the July indices showing a respective 9.1% and 7.5% capital gain over the past 12 months. Previously both Sydney and Melbourne’s capital gains peaked higher with Sydney reaching a peak rate of annual growth in July last year when dwelling values were rising by 18.4% annum and when Melbourne values were increasing by 14.2% per annum over the 12 months ending September last year. Darwin and Perth remain as the only two capital cities to record a negative movement in dwelling values over the past year with prices in Darwin down 7.6% and Perth values falling by 5.6%. July marks the 50th month of the combined capitals growth cycle, which commenced in June 2012. Over the cycle to date, capital city dwelling values have risen by 38.3% and according to CoreLogic head of research Tim Lawless this demonstrates the strength in the Sydney and Melbourne growth trend with dwelling values across the two largest capitals recording a cumulative 61.3% and 42% over the cycle to date. Hobart, where the growth trend has recently accelerated, has been the next best performer with values rising 17.6% over the growth cycle followed by Brisbane at 17.4%, Adelaide at 14.3% and Canberra at 12.4%. ‘The recent moderation in the rate of capital gains should be viewed as a positive sign that growth in dwelling values may be returning to more sustainable levels. However, the growth trend rate is still tracking considerably faster than income growth resulting in a deterioration of housing affordability,’ said Lawless. ‘Using Sydney as a case in point, the Australian National University estimates that Sydney household incomes have grown by approximately 4.5% per annum since June 2012 while dwelling values are up 12.1% per annum,’ he added. Continue reading
Housing and Finance Institute praises UK housing policies
Former British Prime Minister David Cameron and his then Chancellor George Osborne introduced strong housing policies that can achieve their target of a million new homes by 2020, it is claimed. Their housing legacy is the strongest for a generation and more than 750,000 homes were built during their term of office with final figures to be released in the coming months. According to Natalie Elphicke, chief executive of The Housing and Finance Institute, it is wrong to assume that Theresa May has inherited a full blown housing crisis and that not enough homes being built. ‘It is true we have some serious housing challenges, but it is also a fact we have made some extraordinary steps forward since David Cameron and George Osborne took control of the tiller in 2010. For two politicians perceived to be masters of spin and presentation, they failed to sell their ground breaking housing achievements while in government,’ she said. ‘But they really did preside over record breaking house building, a reformed planning policy and a package of reforms that leave our housing industry in a much stronger position than when they took office six years ago. Cameron and Osborne’s is the strongest housing legacy of any government for over 35 years,’ she added. She believes that Osborne put housing at the heart of Britain’s recovery and growth strategy, committing over £38 billion of public money into the sector and says this is a scale of public finance housing support that has not seen since the post war era. ‘Financial commitment has been matched by root and branch reform across all parts of government which impact on housing, planning, public finances, local government finance, local government powers and the government’s entire public land estate,’ she explained. A key part of their programme was giving back control to councils and Elphicke explained that a recovery which worked for everyone needed to devolve power to find local solutions. This included money, direct access to billions of pounds which could be borrowed directly by councils for housing, growth and community building through the Housing Revenue Account settlements and Prudential Borrowing. ‘There has been wholesale reform of planning through the introduction of the National Planning Policy Framework. This is helping councils and housing businesses alike understand what housing is needed and where. Action has been taken on empty homes, on better utilisation of existing social housing stock and on keeping Britain building,’ she pointed out. The HFI has identified the flagship Help to Buy scheme as a key driver to their success. Often misanalysed as a demand side boost, the original Help to Buy scheme was a supply side boost to address the immediate challenge that volume house builders faced, which was that new buyers did not have the higher deposits necessary to secure a mortgage after the credit crunch. The Help to Buy programme… Continue reading
