Tag Archives: real estate
Property prices up 0.5% in England and Wales last month says Land Registry
Average property prices in England and Wales increased by 0.5% in February and are up 6.5% year on year, according to the latest index from the Land Registry. This takes the average house price in England and Wales to £180,252 but sales have slowed. From September 2013 to December 2013 there was an average of 77,174 sales per month. In the same months a year later, the figure was 75,553. In London prices increased 0.6% and are up 13.1% year on year. The average price of property in the capital is £463,872, the data also shows. The North West saw the lowest annual price growth 0.7% and the North East experienced the greatest monthly price rise with a movement of 6.2%. The North West also saw the largest monthly decrease with a fall of 1.7%. On a local authority basis Bracknell Forest experienced the greatest annual price increase in February with a rise of 14.5% and Gwynedd saw the greatest annual price fall with a fall of 3.6%. County by county Ceredigion experienced the strongest monthly growth with an increase of 4.6% and Torfaen saw the most significant monthly price fall with a fall of 2.6%. Four counties and unitary authorities saw no monthly price change. The metropolitan district with the largest annual price increase is Salford rising by 11.7% while Newcastle upon Tyne experienced the highest monthly price rise, with an increase of 2.7%. Bolton saw the greatest annual price fall with a movement of 2% and Sandwell saw the greatest monthly price fall with a decline of 2.6%. In London the borough with the highest annual price rise is Newham with an increase of 21.4% and Brent experienced the highest monthly increase with a rise of 1.9%. Kensington and Chelsea saw the lowest annual growth of 7.8% and Hackney had the greatest monthly fall with a decline of 1.5%. The index also shows that price index volatility is greater in areas where recorded sales volumes are low. Index volatility leads to erratic and high changes in reported price. Some of the areas that typically have very low transaction volumes include City of London, Rutland, the Isle of Anglesey, Merthyr Tydfil, Blaenau Gwent, Ceredigion and Torfaen. The number of properties sold in England and Wales for over £1 million in December 2014 decreased by 4% to 929 from 967 in December 2013 and the number of properties sold in London for over £1 million in December 2014 decreased by 6% to 621 from 622 in December 2013. David Whittaker, managing director of Mortgages for Business, believes that the index shows that there is a serious lack of supply. ‘That raises the continual spectre of many households being priced out of homeownership, and puts the spotlight clearly on the private rented sector,’ he said. ‘The longer the housing shortage continues, the more it will be left up to Britain’s landlords to fill the gap. As we approach a general election it will be particularly interesting… Continue reading
Home affordability in UK cities deteriorates to 2009 levels
The past year has seen a deterioration in affordability in UK cities, driven by rising house prices across the country, with Oxford names as the least affordable. Stirling in the most affordable and Aberdeen as seen the highest house price growth since 2005, according to the latest Lloyds Bank Affordable Cities Review. The average UK city house price has risen by 7%, from £181,667 in 2014 to £195,107 in 2015 and this has resulted in affordability in the nation’s cities worsening in the last 12 months from 5.8 to 6.1 times gross average annual earnings, the second successive annual decline in affordability. Affordability in UK cities is, on average, now at the same level as in 2009 but is 15% lower than the peak of 7.2 times earnings in 2008 at the height of the last housing market boom. The overall improvement in affordability across UK cities as a whole over the past seven years has been caused by a combination of an average house price decline of 6% and an increase in the gross average annual earnings in UK cities of 11%. Oxford’s average house price is 11 times the gross average earnings in the city. At an average price of £361,469, houses in Oxford are more expensive compared with local average earnings than any other UK city. This is partly due to Oxford’s attractiveness to commuters working in London. Winchester at 10.11, Cambridge at 9.76, Chichester at 9.19 and Brighton and Hove at 9.10 make up the top five least affordable cities. Greater London is not far behind with average property prices 8.75 times average gross annual earnings. This average figure disguises considerable variations across the capital with central boroughs being significantly less affordable than the Greater London average. The data also shows that Lichfield at 6.95, York at 6.83 and Leicester at 6.54 are the least affordable cities outside southern England. Stirling remains the UK’s most affordable city despite a deterioration in affordability over the past year. The average property price in the Scottish city of £158,645 is 3.9 times gross average annual earnings. Four of the 10 most affordable UK cities are in Northern Ireland due primarily to the relatively low house prices in the country with Londonderry at 3.92, Belfast at 4.49, Newry at 4.51 and Lisburn at 4.63. The most affordable cities in England are Lancaster at 4.03 and Bradford at 4.17. ‘House price rises in the past two years have resulted in a deterioration in home affordability in the majority of UK cities, and generally widening the north/south affordability divide as the market has been strongest in the south,’ said Andy Hulme, Lloyds Bank mortgages director. ‘The UK’s most successful cities economically have tended to see the strongest property price rises. Aberdeen, the country’s oil and gas capital, has recorded the biggest gains over the past decade whilst London has been the top performer during the economic recovery,’ he added. An analysis reveals a significant north/south divide in city… Continue reading
Optimism returns to UK housing market after mid 2014 dip, says BSA
Regardless of potential uncertainties such as the forthcoming general election, optimism has returned to the UK property market after a dip in the middle of 2014, a new survey shows. Some 36% of respondents to the property tracker index from the Building Societies Association said they believe that now is a good time to buy a home. The rebound since September is particularly marked by a substantial drop in the number of people who think now is a bad time to buy. Taken together, the Property Tracker index has bounced back from a 9% low in September 2014 to 23%. It points out that the dip in 2014 coincided with the introduction of new mortgage regulations and the announcement by the Financial Policy Committee of actions to limit lending in the housing market. Results now indicate that transaction volumes may begin to slowly pick up after cooling off late last year. Despite average wages increasing and high levels of employment, raising a deposit is the greatest barrier to buying a home. Overall, 59% of those surveyed say that this is the biggest hurdle they have to overcome, up by three percentage points on December 2014. The future prospect of a rise in the Bank Rate is an issue for many. Over one in 10 borrowers say that they would be forced to miss a payment on a bill if interest rates rose by 1% over the year ahead. A further 12% said that making loan repayments would be a constant struggle. ‘Optimism in the housing market is back after a long, slow winter. Conditions in the mortgage market and the wider economy are improving and this confidence is driving consumer sentiment, especially those looking to purchase a home,’ said BSA head of mortgage policy, Paul Broadhead. ‘Consumers and providers are also cheered by the fact that house building is starting to increase, household finances are less squeezed and inflation has fallen to 0%. Even if deflation happens, provided it is short lived and is not generated by a fall in demand in the economy, it should not be damaging,’ he pointed out. ‘The Financial Policy Committee will keep watching property prices and sales volumes carefully. It, saw the need to act last year and now has a range of new tools at its disposal. A more sustainable cure for the affordability challenge is increased housebuilding,’ explained Broadhead. ‘Earlier this month we asked for a revolution in the provision of new housing in our discussion document Housing at the Heart of Government. Like millions of others, we now await the outcome of the general election to discover whether housing will sit at the top of the political agenda as promised,’ he added. According to Paul Smith, chief executive officer of haart estate agents, it should be remembered that the last two years have been full of very positive news, particularly for first time buyers. He pointed out that they have benefitted from the introduction of… Continue reading
