Tag Archives: real-estate
UK property tax reform boosts middle market, agents data suggests
Stamp duty reforms in the UK announced at the start of December 2014 helped to boost the middle market and encourage prospective home buyers, according to the latest National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) Housing Market Report. NAEA member agents recorded the highest level of registered home buyers per branch in December for 10 years, while agents reported they saw a rise in the number of properties sold in the bands of up to £250,000, and £251,000 to £925,000. The data shows that the number of house buyers registered in December was on average 360 per branch, the highest level for this time of the year recorded in the last 10 years. The last time the number of house buyers registered per NAEA member branch was this high for December was in December 2004, in which 360 house hunters were similarly recorded. The NAEA says that the seasonally high figures suggest the changes made to stamp duty announced in December helped to encourage prospective buyers in a typically quieter month for the housing market. In addition, NAEA member agents reported some positive movement in the middle market, with 19% saying that they saw an increase of sales of properties in the £251,000 to £925,000 band, while 11% saw an increase in sales of properties up to £250,000. ‘Reforms to stamp duty was one change that NAEA members predicted would influence the market this year, and from our latest housing market survey it seems that we are starting to see the initial impact of these changes,’ said Mark Hayward, NAEA managing director. ‘December is typically a quieter month for the property market however it would seem prospective home buyers have been left feeling encouraged, while agents have also reported activity in the middle price mark picking up. The changes are obviously in the beginning stages of giving the market the boost it needs, making buying more affordable for many,’ he explained. The NAEA said that another promising sign was the slight increase in percentage of sales made by first time buyers in December. NAEA member agents reported the percentage of sales made by first time buyers increased from 24% of total sales in November 2014 to 26% in December. Out of those sales made by first time buyers in the month, almost half, 48%, were aged 18 to 30, suggesting a higher proportion of younger first time buyers had been encouraged onto the market than the previous month when just 38% of sales were made by first time buyers aged 18 to 30. However, the property market shouldn’t get too ahead of itself just yet, the association warns. While there was uplift in the percentage of sales made to first time buyers and a seasonally high number of eager house hunters on books, the number of houses available for sale on NAEA member agents’ books in December did not… Continue reading
Most UK home owners expect property prices to rise in 2015
The majority of home owners in the UK are confident about property prices rising in 2015, although the number is down slightly from a year ago. Overall some 88% of home owners believe prices will rise by the summer, down from 92% a year ago, according to the latest Zoopla housing market sentiment survey. Property owners expect values to climb a further 7% on average in the first six months of 2015 and in London they expect property values to climb 9%. The East of England has the highest proportion of optimistic home owners, with 91% anticipating property prices to carry on climbing in the first half of 2015. Confidence is least prevalent in the North East, but 82% still expect house price growth between now and June. Londoners expect the fastest rise in house prices, anticipating a further 9% boost in values by the summer. Home owners in the north are more cautious, with those in Yorkshire and the Humber and the North West predicting a more modest 5% uplift in property prices over the next six months. Recent indications of cooling house price growth have left an increasing proportion of homeowners worried about values dropping. Currently, 7% of property owners expect prices to falling during the first half of this year, an increase from just 3% at the start of 2014. ‘The UK property market appeared to have changed its spots towards the end of 2014 and the more sluggish pace of growth seen in the latter months was a very different beast to the lively price hikes of the spring,’ said Lawrence Hall of Zoopla. ‘But home owners don’t appear to have been seriously spooked, with consumer confidence standing firm. Encouraged by the vast gains they’ve already experienced this year, homeowners still expect to benefit from significant house price growth in the first half of 2015,’ he added. Continue reading
UK house price sentiment moderates
Almost 20% of households in the UK perceived that the value of their home rose in January, according to the latest House Price Sentiment Index which reveals a downward trend in 2014. Some 19.5% of the 1,500 households surveyed across the UK said that the value of their home had risen over the last month, while 3.1% reported a fall, the data from Knight Frank and Markit Economics shows. This gave the HPSI a reading of 58.2, the twenty second consecutive month that the reading has been above 50. The index report points out that the HPSI was on a general downward trend for most of the second half of 2014. January’s reading of 58.2, the lowest in 14 months, was a continuation of this trend and well below the average reading for last year of 61. In spite of the month on month fall, households in all 11 regions covered by the index reported that prices rose in January, led by Londoners at 65.3 and households in the South East at 63, while, households in the North West at 53 and Wales at 53.9 perceived the slowest rates of price growth over the course of the month. In London, perceptions of house price growth moderated compared to the previous month and stand well below the previous high of 74.9 in April last year, suggesting that households are less confident that the value of their property has risen than previously. The future HPSI, which measures what households think will happen to the value of their property over the next year, fell in January to 69.5, down from 70.5 the previous month. This was the second consecutive monthly fall in house price expectations across the UK. The future HPSI stands well below its record high of 75.1, which was seen in May 2014. Households in London at 75.3 are the most likely to expect price rises over the next 12 months, followed by those in the South West at 75.1 and the South East at 74.9, the index shows. Expectations of price growth are highest among mortgage borrowers and those who own their home outright with readings of 75.8 and 71.3 respectively, followed by those living rent free at 66.8. ‘House price sentiment has slowed across the country despite the cut in stamp duty introduced by the Chancellor in December. Households in London and the South East signal slower annual rises in house prices this month than last month, an important development as these areas have been the engines of high house price growth over the last year,’ said Grainne Gilmore, head of UK residential research at Knight Frank. ‘Even the prospect of record-low interest rates being in place for longer than anticipated has not been enough to lift expectations for house price growth on a monthly basis in January, however this, coupled with an expected rise in wage growth will likely result in modest price uplifts over 2015,’ she added. Tim Moore, senior economist at… Continue reading
