Tag Archives: real estate
Auckland property market gets boost after three cooler months
The average sales price of a property in Auckland, New Zealand increased by 1.9% in September to $836,275, the latest published data shows. The median sales price reached $790,000, a rise of 4.6%, the data from real estate firm Barfoot & Thompson also shows with the firm also reporting an extremely active month with sales up 3.4% month on month and up 41.6% compared to a year ago. Peter Thompson, managing director of Barfoot & Thompson, said that nearly a third of all homes sold were for in excess of $1 million, which is the highest number of $1 million plus homes ever sold in a month. ‘You have to go back to June this year to see a similar lift in values in one month to that we experienced in September. In part the price surge may be down to buyers getting in ahead of the new regulations around equity ratios for investors, which came into force in October, but without doubt an element of the traditional lift that comes with spring was there,’ he explained. Some 11.9% of all homes sold were properties for under $500,000. This is significantly lower than the 14.3% of sales in August in this sector or the 31.8% recorded in September last year. New listings at 1,940 were the highest in a September for 12 years, and created a reasonable level of choice, he also pointed out, which has given a boost to the residential real estate market following three months of cooling. ‘Whether September’s prices have set a trend for the remainder of the year has yet to be seen,’ said Thompson who also pointed out that new regulations for international buyers are due to come into force in November and these have coincided with a tightening of requirements around the export of money out of China. ‘In the last week of the month there was a falloff in sales made under the hammer at auctions, and there was less pressure on buyers to make immediate decisions. This end of the month development carries with it a note of caution that September’s prices may not prove to be the start of a new round of increases, and that buyer’s may not be prepared to overstretch themselves to secure a property. The future direction of prices still remains at the crossroads,’ he added. Continue reading
British still confident about house price growth, latest sentiment report shows
British households are still confident about the outlook for house price growth even although there has been a sharp increase in the proportion of who are expecting an interest rate rise in the next 12 months. Continued talk over the likely timing of an interest rate rise has seen a spike in the number of people who expect both mortgage and savings rates to be higher in 12 months’ time, according to the quarterly Halifax Housing Market Confidence Tracker report. The data shows that 58% now believe mortgage interest rates will be higher in 12 months compared to 48% the second quarter of the year and 35% expect savings interest rates will be higher, up from 26% in the previous quarter. Alongside annual house price inflation running at 9% and the average house price standing at £204,674, house price optimism remains high at +63 in the third quarter compared to +64 in the second quarter with 68% now expecting the average property prices to be higher in 12 months’ time and just 5% expecting it to be lower. The figures from the report also shows that there has been a further fall in the proportion of who think it will be a good time to buy in 12 months’ time, from 56% in the second quarter to 53% in the third quarter. But despite the apparent stability in house price expectations, there has also been a drop in selling sentiment, with the proportion who believe the next 12 months will be a good time to sell, falling seven percentage points to 52% from 59% in the second quarter. This brings positive selling sentiment back down to the levels seen in early 2015 and it is now at its lowest level for a year. Regionally, lower levels of people in London report a positive buying sentiment as just 40% said they thought the next 12 months would be a good time buy compared to Scotland at 77% and the North of England at 58%. Conversely, in terms of positive selling sentiment, London sees 64% saying ‘the next 12 months will be a good time sell, compared to 48% in Scotland, 47% in the North of England and 43% in the Midlands. ‘While economic optimism appears to have tailed off in the last quarter, house prices have continued to increase and the underlying pace of house price growth is strong. This has helped to maintain the expectation that house prices will continue to rise, despite more people expecting interest rate rises in the next 12 months,’ said Craig McKinlay, Halifax mortgage director. ‘The factors behind the upward pressure on house prices include the continued lack of second-hand properties for sale on the market and the availability of low mortgage rates. Without an increase in supply it’s likely to mean that house price growth continues to be robust in the short term, even if interest rates eventually begin to increase,’ he added. The research also found… Continue reading
Scotland’s rural property continues to tempt buyers from south of the border
Rural property in Scotland is attracting buyers from all over the globe, but especially from south of the border in the UK due to exceptional value for money, says a new report. There is a total pool of approximately £300 million in farms and estates in Scotland but political and legislative uncertainty slowed last year’s market, according to the analysis from international real estate firm Savills. Indeed last year only nine estates sold compared to more than twice that amount in a typical year but the firm expects that number to bounce back in 2015 now that the general election is over and the new land and transaction tax has been introduced. ‘There are a number of low ground and sporting properties new on the market and we anticipate a greater number of sales being completed in 2015, compared with last year, with a number having already been agreed. This is proof that the appetite for Scottish estates remains unabated, particularly from foreign climes,’ said Faisal Choudhry head of research in Scotland. ‘Shrewd buyers may consider 2015 as an opportune time to secure their properties ahead of the stronger competition that may arise. Scotland is offering terrific value for money and will need to continue to do so in the current climate to overcome any potential concerns that buyers may have. A better understanding of the Land Reform changes is helping to allay concerns from those who had been holding back,’ he added. He also explained that uncertainty posed by Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reform and poor weather restricted the volume of farmland coming on to the market in the first half of 2015, with low supply upholding values. Current values are closely linked to location, land quality and the residential weighting of the farm and there is a widening value gap between the most and least sought after land, the report points out. Prime arable land is likely to sell for between £7,500 and £9,000 an acre, while secondary land might reach between £5,000 and £7,500 and there is a shift in buyer profile with the farmland market now being driven by farmers rather than investors. English buyers are continuing their close interest in Scottish farmland, spurred on by the record value gap and Savills Research projects that average UK farmland values are set to grow by around 4% per annum over the next five years. Continue reading
