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UK house builder calls for stamp duty change
The chairman of one of the UK's largest housebuilders has called for stamp duty and Help to Buy changes to drive the housing market forward and keep the economy growing. Redrow founder and chairman Steve Morgan was speaking at the launch of Woodford Garden Village, one of the largest brownfield redevelopments in the North West, where local community groups, politicians and industry professionals had gathered to help Redrow celebrate its opening. During the day he highlighted how housing transactions have gone down as stamp duty has gone up and the tax was affecting people's mobility. ‘Stamp duty has a huge impact on the market. Not only do buyers have to raise huge deposits, they then have to find thousands more in stamp duty. The last two increases have been very damaging, particularly to the London market,’ he said. He also called for the Government to extend the time limit from application to completion on Help to Buy equity loans to 12 months from the current six months. He said this would enable first time buyers to reserve a new build house farther in advance of its completion when using the incentive, allowing them to compete with investors who are free to reserve at an earlier stage. Overall though the Redrow chairman was positive about the housing market, and saw the current climate as a good time for house builders, with land finally coming through the planning system, albeit still too slowly for his liking, and for customers, with mortgage interest costs remaining low. He pointed out that the Woodford Garden Village development, on the former Woodford Aerodrome site, near Stockport, in Greater Manchester, is the first garden village site for over 100 years in the north west of England and one of the first of a new generation of garden villages with Redrow leading the way. ‘It's important that we're creating sustainable new communities that have longevity and Woodford Garden Village is a prime example of that. It will be a self-sustaining development with a new primary school, shops, a village pub and doctor's surgery to name but a few of its amenities,’ he explained. ‘It's also perfectly located for commuters, close to Manchester Airport and, importantly, it's a brownfield redevelopment, so it's bringing a redundant industrial site back into good use in a fantastic rural location,’ he added. He thanked officers and politicians of Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council for their positive role in bringing the scheme to fruition. Continue reading
Auckland residential rents up 5% year on year
Higher Auckland house prices are not flowing through directly into the rental market, with the city’s average weekly rents seeing year on year increases of around 5%. Rents continue to increase by approximately 5% year on year with the average weekly rent for a three bedroom Auckland home now $514, according to the latest report from Barfoot and Thompson. Suburb pricing trends continue but Mt Albert, Parnell and Sandringham break the mould with year on year increases of over 11, the data also shows. The average weekly rent for a three bedroom home in Auckland during the April to June quarter was $514, up less than 1% on last quarter and 4.8% on the same quarter in 2015. ‘Three bedroom rentals make up around 40% of our managed properties, making them a good measure of the market,’ said Barfoot and Thompson director Kiri Barfoot. ‘Other property categories generally follow the same trend, albeit at lower or higher price points depending on the number of bedrooms,’ she added. A breakdown of the figures show that one bedroom properties averaged $335 per week, up 5% from $319 in the April to June quarter 2015, and two bedrooms $428, up 6.2% from $403, while four bedroom homes were $648, up 4.2% from $622 and five plus bedroom homes averaged $801, up 4.8% from $764. Pricing trends continued across the suburbs as well, with the Central Auckland apartment market remaining the most expensive for smaller properties of one, two or three bedrooms, and the Eastern suburbs maintaining position as the most expensive for four or more bedrooms. ‘Outside the city apartment market, it continued to be a story of two halves for Auckland's North and South this quarter too,’ Barfoot pointed out. South Auckland rental properties saw the greatest percentage increase year on year for the quarter of 6.8%, while North Shore rental prices experienced the least percentage increase, not including Central Auckland, only rising 3.7 %. Looking more closely at rental data from the first two quarters of this year compared to the last two quarters of 2015 three suburbs broke the mould with three bedroom rental averages increasing 11% or more. These were Mt Albert up 14.7%, Parnell up 11.7% and Sandringham up 11.6%. ‘These areas are centrally located but still offer the benefits of suburban living, making them popular choices. These areas are fast becoming popular as the new central suburbs, the next Ponsonby and Grey Lynns if you will, and our data suggests continued future growth particularly for Mt Albert and Sandringham,’ Barfoot explained. The company anticipates a pre-spring upswing in rental activity during the coming quarter, when they typically see a slight increase in new letting. ‘While not as pronounced as summer spikes, we often find a number of tenants are eager to move on from properties during the cold winter months and as we head into spring,’ said Barfoot. ‘It's therefore a good time to remind landlords to keep on top of winter maintenance and look… Continue reading
Asking prices down across England and Wales post Brexit vote
The price of property coming onto the market in England and Wales has fallen by 0.9% or £2,647 with momentum continuing due to a supply shortage, according to the latest asking price report. Activity is within usual expectations for the run-up to the summer holiday season and buyer demand in the two weeks since the European Union referendum result is consistent with 2014 although down on 2015. The monthly report from property portal Rightmove points out that the same period in 2015 benefitted substantially from a post general election boost so enquiries this year are down 16% compared to that period. It adds that as 2014 was not distorted by the election it is a better basis for comparison, and buyer enquiries are at the same level as the like for like two weeks in 2014. Since 2010 the month of July has recorded average price falls of 0.4%. The Rightmove data shows that new seller asking prices fell by 1.2% or £7,407 this month in Greater London while in inner London they fell by 2.3% or £19,051. The seven cheapest inner London boroughs all saw price of newly listed property falling while asking prices in outer London were unchanged. Asking prices fell by 0.7% month on month in the North East, taking the average to £147,251 but are still up 0.3% year on year. In the North West they fell by 0.5% month on month to £176,277 and are 3.6% higher than a year ago and in Yorkshire and Humber they were down 2.1% month on month to £172,412, and up 1.3% year on year. In the West Midlands month on month prices were down 1.6% to £200,129 and still up by 3.6% year on year while in the East Midlands they were down 0.2% month on month to £190,192 and are up 3.9% year on year. The East of England saw asking prices fall by 0.7% to £313,255 but they are 7.3% up compared to a year ago. In the South East they fell 0.6% to £386,988 and are up 6.7% year on year while in the South West they were down 0.4% to £286,155 and up 5.2% year on year. In Wales asking prices fell by 2.3% month on month, taking the average price of a newly listed home to £177,280 but prices are 2% up compared to July 2015. According to Rightmove, most agents report market momentum continuing due to shortage of suitable property for sale, buyers fearful of missing out on scarce choice, and affordability and availability of low mortgage rates. Sellers seem undeterred as compared to the same period last year, the two weeks pre-referendum saw the number of new properties coming to market down by 8%, and the two weeks post referendum saw them up by 6%. Overall the figures covering the last four weeks, two weeks before and two weeks after the referendum, give an early but reassuring view into the short term effect of the political turmoil… Continue reading
