Tag Archives: real estate
Home prices and sales up in Scotland after property tax blip
House prices in Scotland increased by 2.6% in June, taking the average price to £169,227, according to the latest index figures, with sales up 25% month on month. It means that year on year prices have increased by 1.2% over a period that have seen a number of changes in the property market including the introduction of the new Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT) tax earlier this year in April. There was a flurry of sales at the upper end of the market before the tax was introduced and a dearth of sales in this sector afterwards but the Your Move index shows that June’s price growth was driven by a revival in million pound plus sales. The data also shows that home sales surged 25% in June compared with May, reaching the highest monthly total since July 2014. Glasgow saw the strongest jump in sales activity in the second quarter, up 18% in the past year on back of increased demand for flats. ‘The calm annual house price change of 1.2% recorded in June 2015 belies tumultuous currents of activity beneath the surface. The Scottish housing market has been buffeted around by taxation,’ said Christine Campbell, Your Move managing director in Scotland. She pointed out that on average in 2014, there were 12 £1million plus properties sold in Scotland during a month, but in June 2015 there were six, signalling an improvement in this sector of the market in just one month. On the mainland the biggest monthly rises were recorded by the two most expensive local authorities across Scotland with properties in East Renfrewshire and East Dunbartonshire experiencing price jumps of 26% and 21% respectively in June. ‘More generally, the LBTT front loaded sales into the start of the year, and activity dragged its heels throughout April and May, with the general election adding to the dampening effect,’ added Campbell. In Aberdeen, for example, sales of detached homes fell 39% between March and April. But June saw a 25% month on month leap in home sales, higher than what would typically be expected for this time of year, and 5% up on June 2014. Overall, Scotland saw 9,265 home sales during the month, the most activity since July 2014 and during the second quarter of 2015 flats have seen the most significant year on year increase in sales, up 7%. ‘This stems from the stamina of the first time buyer market, as this property type tends to be the most affordable for those getting their first footing on the property ladder. This is especially the case in cities, and Glasgow and Edinburgh accounted for 45% of all Scottish flat sales during the second quarter of 2015,’ said Campbell. ‘But affordability is the biggest steer to Scottish housing market at the moment. At £200,000, the average price of a flat in Edinburgh is more than one and half times as much as the cost of the… Continue reading
First time US buyers rent an average of six years before buying a home
Americans are renting more than twice as long before buying their first home as they did in the 1970s, new research has found. Aspiring home buyers are now renting for six years compared to an average of 2.6 years compared to 40 years ago, according to an analysis from real estate firm Zillow. The analysis report also shows that first time buyers are older and less likely to be married than they were in the past and overall Americans are buying increasingly expensive first homes and spending more relative to their incomes than any time in the past 40 years. In the 1970s, first time buyers bought homes that cost about 1.7 times their annual income. Now they're buying homes that cost 2.6 times their annual income. The firm says that part of this can be attributed to the housing markets where people are moving which are more expensive cities on the coasts, where there are growing job markets. The average first time buyer is about 33 with a median income of $54,340, which is about the same as what first time buyers made in the 1970s, when adjusted for inflation. In the late 1980s, some 52% of first time buyers were married but today that has fallen to 40% married, the research also shows. ‘Millennials are delaying all kinds of major life decisions, like getting married and having kids, so it makes sense that they would also delay buying a home,’ said Zillow chief economist Svenja Gudell. ‘We know millennials value home ownership and want to buy. The next challenge will be figuring out how they can save for a down payment and qualify for a mortgage, especially while the rental market is so unaffordable all over the country. The last hurdle will be finding a home they like amidst very tight inventory, especially among starter homes,’ added Gudell. Continue reading
UK residential property prices forecast for steady growth in next five years
House prices in the UK are expected to continue growing, with steady rises over the next five years across the country, the latest five year forecast shows. Cumulative growth in UK prices will total a little over 18% in the five years to the end of 2019, according to the latest forecast report from real estate firm Knight Frank. It says that while political risk for the prime London property market has fallen, affordability constraints will limit price growth in the near term, and predicts that overall UK rents and prime central London rents will rise 2.2% and 3.5% respectively in 2015. However, the risk that UK interest rates rise more rapidly than expected or that the global economy suffers a notable slowdown in activity remain the biggest risks to the UK housing market. It explains that the cumulative impact of recent and future reforms to Stamp Duty, mortgage interest relief for investors, Capital Gains Tax and IHT will take some time to work through the UK housing market. ‘Despite the pace of tax change, our view remains that it is interest rates and economic performance which will shape the outlook for prices and demand,’ the report adds. In the UK as a whole the forecast predicts house price growth of 3.5% for 2015, 2.5% next year, 3% in 2017, 4% in both 4.0% 2018 and 2019, to a cumulative 18.2% over five years. It also shows that while London saw growth of 17.8% in 2014 this is unlikely to be repeated with growth of 3.5%, 4%, 5%, 5.5% and 5.5% predicted. There is a similar pattern for the South East which saw growth of 10.6% last year, with the current forecast for 5% this year, 3% in 2016, 3.5% in 2017 and 5% for the two following years. The South West had growth of 8% in 2014 but this will fall to 4% this year, then 2.5%, 3%, 4.5% and the 4%. The prediction for East Anglia is 4.5% in 2015, followed by 3%, 3.5%, 4.5% and 5%, in the East Midlands the forecast is for 3.5%, 2%, 2.5% and then 4% in both 2018 and 2019 while in the West Midlands it is 3.5%, 2%, 2.5%, 4% and 4%. For the North East the forecast is even at 3% this year followed by 2% in 2016 and 2017, then 3% in 2018 and 3.5% in 2019. In the North West it is 3%, 1.5%, 2%, 3.5% and 3.5% while in Yorkshire and the Humber the forecast is for growth of 3% this year, 2% in both 2016 and 2017 then 3.5% in both 2018 and 2019. Wales saw annual price growth of just 1.4% in 2014 but this is expected to rise to 3% this year followed by 2% in 2016, 2.5% in 2017 and then 4% in both 2018 and 2019. Scotland is forecast to have growth of 3.5% this year, 2.5% in 2016, 3% in 2017 and then 4% in both… Continue reading
