Tag Archives: real-estate
US home prices up 6.5% year on year, latest index shows
Home prices across the United States, including distressed sales, increased by 6.5% in June 2015 compared with the same month in 2014, according to the latest index. It is the 40th month in a row of year on year price increases and values were also up month on month with growth of 1.7% in June compared to May, the CoreLogic home price index also shows. Excluding distressed sales, home prices increased by 6.4% in June 2015 compared with June 2014 and increased by 1.4% month on month with only Massachusetts (-1.5 percent) and Louisiana with an annual price fall of 1.5% and 0.1% respectively. Including distressed sales, that is short sales and real estate owned sales (REO), some 35 states were at or within 10% of their peak prices in June 2015 and 15 reached new price peaks. The firm’s latest house price forecast indicates that home prices, including distressed sales, are projected to increase by 0.6% month on month from June 2015 to July 2015 and by 4.5% on a year on year basis from June 2015 to June 2016. Excluding distressed sales, home prices are projected to increase by 0.5% month on month from June 2015 to July 2015 and by 4.2% year on year from June 2015 to June 2016. The index report also shows across the country there was 4.8 months supply but the measure varied greatly across cities. In San Jose and Denver, there was only 1.6 months’ supply of homes on the market, whereas Philadelphia had a seven months’ supply and Providence had a 6.6 months’ supply. Frank Nothaft, chief economist for CoreLogic, explained that the stronger appreciation was registered in cities with limited inventory and strong homebuyer activity, such as San Jose and Denver. According to Anand Nallathambi, president and chief executive officer of CoreLogic pent-up buying demand and affordability, together with higher consumer confidence buoyed by a more robust labour market, are a potent mix fuelling the 6.5% jump in home prices with more increases likely to come. Including distressed sales, the five states with the highest home price appreciation were Colorado with growth of 9.8%, Washington up 8.9%, New York up 8.3%, South Carolina up 8% and Nevada also up 8%. Excluding distressed sales, the five states with the highest home price appreciation were Colorado up 9.3%, New York up 8.5%, Washington up 8.3%, Oregon up 8.2% and Nevada up 7.9%. Including distressed sales, only four states experienced home price depreciation with the biggest fall of 5% in Massachusetts, while Connecticut was down 0.6%, Louisiana down 0.4% and Mississippi with a fall of 0.3. The five states with the largest peak to current declines, including distressed transactions, were Nevada with a fall of 32.2%, Florida at 28.7%, Rhode Island at 26.5%, Arizona at 25.8% and Maryland down 21.2%. Of the top 100 Core Based Statistical Areas (CBSAs) measured by population, some 93 showed year on year increases while seven showed year on year declines… Continue reading
Prime property prices in prime central London up for first time since Sept 2014
Prime property prices in central London increased slightly, up by 0.8% in the second quarter of 2015, the first rise since September 2014, according to the latest index. Pimlico has seen the strongest growth in the last year with values up 5% or £66,000 compared with the second quarter of 2014, the data from estate agent Marsh & Parsons. The second quarter has also seen a 17% rise in demand for property in this sector but at the same time supply increased by only 10% while overall 42% of sales are now made by investors, a rise of 8% year on year. At the same time, there has been an upswing in foreign buyers who accounted for 34% of all sales in the second quarter of the year, up from 30% in the second quarter of 2014 although then firm says this has much to do with European buyers of all nationalities coming to live and work in London. Overall property in this sector costs 27% more per square foot than across London as a whole with the average square foot of property in central locations such as Holland Park, Notting Hill or Kensington and Chelsea valued at £1,516, some 27% higher than the capital wide average. In contrast, overall in Prime London, the typical price per square foot stands at £1,192. ‘The excellent capital appreciation and secure nature of property in prestigious central addresses of Kensington, Chelsea and Holland Park have long made them appealing particularly to the investor and it’s encouraging that we’ve seen such a rise recently,’ said Peter Rollings, chief executive officer of Marsh & Parsons. ‘Investors are a good gauge of the overall health of the London market. If there was any cause for concern about the future property market, investors would be upping sticks and moving elsewhere,’ he explained. ‘But that fact they are still putting down roots in the capital shows how fertile current conditions are. While there may not be much action to see at the moment, prices are still growing, and the foundations for fruitful capital returns are strong,’ he added. He also pointed out that price growth turned a corner and started to improve again with a 0.8% quarterly rise compared to a 0.6% drop in the first quarter of the year. Outer Prime areas of the capital have seen the strongest resurgence in price growth, experiencing 1% growth. However, house price growth in this sector is still much slower than last year, and on an annual basis, values have dipped across the prime London property market. Rollings said that it is important to place this into a longer term context, and since June 2013 the value of the average prime London home has increased by 12.1%. In terms of property type, family sized homes have experienced the biggest rise in price with four bed properties across prime London appreciating by 1.3%… Continue reading
UK property prices down slightly between June and July, says latest index
Residential property prices in the UK fell slightly by 0.6% between June and July and annual house price growth has slowed to 7.9%, according to the latest monthly index from the Halifax. It shows the fragility of the housing market recovery as different lenders show prices rising and falling, but only by marginal amounts so there is some stability in the housing market. Just a few days the Nationwide reported in its monthly index data that prices increased by 0.4% in July and annual property price growth edged up to 3.5%. Meanwhile one set of data said that prime property prices in central London are still falling and another showed a slight rise. Both the Halifax and the Nationwide show that the average home price is now nudging £200,000. Today’s data from the Halifax put it at £198,883. The Halifax index also shows that sales increased by 5% between May and June. Confidence in the outlook for house price growth remains substantially higher than at the beginning of 2015, according to Stephen Noakes, managing director of retail customer products at the Halifax. He believes that the market is robust, pointing out that house prices in the three months to July were 2.4% higher than in the previous quarter. However, this measure of the underlying rate of house price growth has eased and annual house price growth also declined, to 7.9% from 9.6% in June and is at its lowest since December 2014. ‘The underlying pace of house price growth remains robust notwithstanding the easing in July. Continuing economic recovery, earnings growth in excess of consumer price inflation and very low mortgage rates all underpin housing demand,’ said Noakes. ‘Supply is highly restricted with the stock of homes available for sale falling further to new record lows. This combination of well supported demand and tight supply is likely to ensure that house price growth remains relatively strong in the near term,’ he added. He also pointed out that the Halifax housing market confidence tracker shows that confidence in the outlook for house price growth hit its highest level in four years following the general election in May, but dropped back in June. Price Optimism (HPO) hit +68 in May 2015, and although it slipped back slightly in June to +64, it remains substantially higher than at the beginning of 2015 when it was +52. Jonathan Samuels, chief executive of Dragonfly Property Finance, pointed out that despite the fall in prices during July, house prices overall are still rising. ‘The dominant narrative within the UK property market continues to be weak supply and strong demand,’ he said. He explained that demand is strong because of mortgage rates being at record lows, more people in work, low inflation and a generally positive economic outlook, however, the increasing likelihood of an interest rate rise in the not too distant future has the potential to recalibrate demand and the market as a whole. ‘After so many years of 0.5% rates, even a… Continue reading
