Tag Archives: real-estate
Oxford prime property market outperforms rest of UK
Rising demand from international buyers and others from London relocating to Oxford has contributed to price growth in the city’s prime property market, new research shows. Oxford is a key city outside of London and attracts people because of its internationally renowned university and research from real estate firm Knight Frank shows that last year it outperformed both the wider prime property market in the UK and in the South East. Prices increased by 1.8% between October and December 2014, taking the annual rise in values in the city to 6.1%. Demand for homes valued between £1 million and £2 million was especially strong. Knight Frank says that a key driver of Oxford’s property market performance has been demand for homes from buyers from outside of the city. Indeed, the proportion of property buyers from outside Oxford more than doubled in 2014 compared to the previous year, accounting for 52% of all Knight Frank sales in the city last year, compared to just 24% in 2013. Demand from Londoners relocating to Oxford rose significantly year on year, from 3% to 18%, with many such buyers looking to take advantage of the relative price difference that currently exists between house prices in the capital and in Oxford. The proportion of international buyers in the city also rose to 17% in 2014, up from 11% the previous year. Access to top performing schools, strong local employment, as well as improving transport links into London, including a new rail line between Oxford and London Marylebone which is due to open this summer , have helped boost high levels of demand in Oxford, according to the report. The number of potential new buyers registering their interest in purchasing a new home was 18% higher last year than 2013 and the number of property viewings in the city was 8% higher over the same time. ‘All of this helped contribute to an increase in the number of sales completed by Knight Frank in Oxford in 2014, with the total number of transactions last year 22% higher than in 2013 and 41% higher than in 2012,’ said Oliver Knight of the firm’s residential research team. ‘The market for properties valued between £1 million and £2 million is especially strong and accounted for nearly 50% of all sales in 2014, compared to 41% in 2013,’ he added. Continue reading
Solid home price growth in the US in last quarter of 2014
Home prices in the United States posted solid gains in the fourth quarter of 2014, with the majority of metro areas seeing a slightly stronger price growth. This growth was propelled by tight housing supplies, low interest rates, and a strengthening job market, according to the latest quarterly report from the National Association of Realtors. It means that the national median existing single family home price was $208,700 in the fourth quarter, up 6% year on year and the median existing single family home price rose in 150 out of the 175 metro markets tracked, some 86%. That marks a stronger price gain compared to the third quarter when 73% of the metro areas had posted increases. The data also shows that 24 areas, or 14%, saw double digit increases in the fourth quarter. ‘Home prices in metro areas throughout the country continue to show solid price growth, up 25 percent over the past three years on average,’ said Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist. ‘This is good news for current home owners, but remains a challenge for buyers who are seeing home prices continue to outpace their wages. Low interest rates helped preserve affordability last quarter, but it’ll take stronger income gains and more housing supply to help meet the pent-up demand for buying,’ he explained. Meanwhile, total existing home sales, including single family and condos, fell 1% in the fourth quarter to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.07 million. But existing home sales are still 2.6% higher year on year. By the end of the fourth quarter, 1.85 million existing homes were available for sale, which is slightly below the 2.01 million homes for sale during the fourth quarter of 2013. The average supply was 4.9 months in the fourth quarter. Most economists consider a supply of six to seven months a healthy balance of supply between buyers and sellers. ‘Despite affordable housing conditions in most of the country, an upward pressure on home prices still persists in some metro areas, particularly in the West, where the current supply of new and existing homes for sale is failing to keep pace with overall demand and growing populations,’ Yun pointed out. ‘Unless home builders significantly boost construction, housing supply shortages could develop and lead to further price acceleration this spring,’ he added. The most expensive housing markets in the fourth quarter were San Jose, California, where the median existing single family home price reached $855,000, followed by San Francisco at $742,900, Honolulu at $701,300, Anaheim-Santa Ana, California at $688,500 and San Diego at $493,100. A regional breakdown shows that in the Northeast total existing home sales increased 2.5% in the fourth quarter and are 4.1% below the fourth quarter of 2013. Median existing single family home price was $246,300, up 2.2% from a year ago. In the Midwest existing home sales fell 4.7% in the fourth quarter and are 0.6% below a year ago. Median existing single family home prices reached $162,000, a 6.2% jump… Continue reading
First time buyers in UK giving up on their dream of owning a home, poll suggests
A generation in the UK has given up on the dream of owning their own home as a result of the property boom, according to a survey by a legal firm. The hopes of thousands of first time buyers have been dashed by runaway property prices, the need to secure huge deposits and job insecurity, the poll of under 45s who have yet to buy has found. More than half, 51%, of 25 to 45s thought they had little or no prospect of ever owning their own house with 40% of those aged 35 to 44 who were still struggling to get on to the property ladder believing they will never be able to afford their own home. Overall one in five said they have been left totally disillusioned by the current state of the property market and nearly one in three said they were having to cut back on essentials, such as food and heating, at the end of each month in order to save for a home. A third had taken on extra shifts or another job to raise funds while a fifth have chosen to move back with their parents so they could get some savings behind them and nearly half questioned were going without holidays. But a large majority of those questioned revealed they were not aware of or had not looked into other ways of getting on to the property ladder. The survey by property law experts Slater and Gordon found that those who were actively saving for a place had managed to bank on average just £10,570 towards a deposit but needed at least three times that amount to feel they stood any chance of securing a home and affording stamp duty. ‘It can be incredibly dispiriting for people saving towards their first home to see an unrelenting rise of house prices. But there are a lot of schemes and incentives out there that people just don't know about. It is possible to do it with the right financial planning early on,’ said Stephen Lintott, head of property law at Slater and Gordon. ‘The recent changes to stamp duty land tax may have helped in the short term, but in the long term the supply of housing needs to be boosted, perhaps by a reform of planning and tax laws and the rental market needs to respond to changes in how people want to rent,’ he added. The survey also found that just 39% of those trying to get a deposit together have managed to leave their savings untouched and 61% said the simple cost of living, such as everyday essentials, unexpected bills and clothes, meant they have to dip into their funds. One in 10 said they felt trapped by the high cost of rent while one in five said ownership was less realistic for them than previous generations. But nearly four in five of under 45s had never heard of or explored the option of shared ownership schemes,… Continue reading
