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Wales has lowest median house price while Kensington in London has the highest
Blaenau Gwent had the lowest median house price in England and Wales in 2014 at £75,000, a sharp contrast to the highest in the London borough of Kensington and Chelsea at £1.19 million, official figures show. The data from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) also reveals a sharp north/south divide when it comes to property prices in the country as house prices in London surged by 32% last year, leaving the rest of the country trailing. Every area of the country where property prices increased by over 20% were in the capital, while areas in the north saw homes fall by almost a quarter in value. The figures also look at home prices according to council areas. These show that the local authority that had the largest increase in median house price between 2013 and 2014 is South Bucks increasing by 23% from £390,000 to £480,000. The local authority that had the largest decrease in median house price between 2013 and 2014 is Isles of Scilly decreasing by 15% from £275,000 to £235,000. Figures were also released according to Parliamentary constituencies. Walthamstow in north east London saw the highest house price growth last year, up by 32%, taking the average price of a home from £250,000 in 2013 to £330,000 last year. While in Hammersmith prices increased by 25% from £456,000 to £570,000 on average. Dulwich, Westminster, Tottenham, Lewisham, Chelsea and Islington, representing Parliamentary constituencies across the capital make up the top 10 constituencies for house price growth. Nottingham East is the only area outside of the capital and its surrounding areas which made it into the top 25 constituencies for property price increases with 19% growth taking the typical price from £92,500 to £109,950. Bradford West suffered the worst property slump in the country with prices dropping 23% and in Blaydon in the north east the price of homes fell 5% with Rotherham in South Yorkshire also seeing a 5% drop. Data looking over the last decade shows that the biggest house price rises have been in Kensington in London with a 550% rise to £1.15 million, followed by the City of London and Westminster with a 535% rise to £980,000. Other popular commuting areas in London also saw a big rise such as Tooting with a jump of 515% taking the typical home price to £497,750 while Westminster North was up 50% to £700,000 and Vauxhall up 507% to £485,000. Continue reading
Home ownership in England and Wales falls for first time in 100 years
Home ownership in England and Wales has fallen for the first time in a century with the latest official figures from the Office of National Statistics showing substantial trend change. The decade from 2001 to 2011 saw the biggest changes in longstanding trends in home ownership and renting. In 2011, the proportion of owned homes decreased by 5%, the first fall in a century. As a consequence, home rentals have increased, especially among young people. In 2011, some 64% or 15 million of the 23.4 million households in England and Wales were owner occupied, however this was a decline from 69% in 2001, This led to an increase in the proportion of rented households from 31% to 36%, particularly within the private sector where rentals rose from 12% to 18% of the housing market, whilst social rented households remained stable, falling slightly from 19% to 18%. Renters were younger and less likely to be employed. Some 87% of those aged 16 to 24 were renting compared with 24% of those aged 65 to 74. Meanwhile, only 1% of those who owned their house were unemployed, compared with 7% of those who rented. Successive governments have not made housing a high enough policy priority, according to TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady. ‘As a result we now have the most expensive and dysfunctional housing system in Europe, with millions of people living in often sub-standard private rented accommodation,’ she said. ‘A generation of young people face the prospect of never owning their own home. There are no longer any areas in the South of England where average house prices are less than five times the average wage,’ she pointed out. She also said that selling off existing affordable homes through Right to Buy is not the way to deal with Britain’s housing crisis. ‘With the government able to borrow at rock bottom rates it needs to get out its cheque book and start building. Investing in house building will pay for itself and generate thousands of jobs and apprenticeships,’ she added. Continue reading
Canadian home sales expected to see gradual rise this year and into 2016
Home sales in Canada are set to see a continued gradual improvement and housing market but oil prices are likely to continue to weigh on the economy and thus real estate confidence. The latest forecast for home sales activity from the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) says that in the Prairie region in particular lower oil prices are dampening consumer confidence and side lining potential home buyers. Home sales elsewhere in Canada are continuing to evolve mostly as expected, with the exception of a slower than expected spring market in Nova Scotia due to extraordinarily inclement weather and stronger than expected sales activity across much of British Columbia. It says that low rise property markets remain tight in parts of British Columbia and Ontario. These are the only two provinces where a shortage of listings for low rise homes is expected to fuel average price gains above inflation this year. In other provinces, listings have begun to decline but remain elevated. Average prices across the Prairies, Quebec and the Atlantic region are unlikely to see much in the way of price growth over the forecast horizon as sales gradually deplete listings. The forecast for national sales in 2015 has been revised upward, reflecting stronger than anticipated activity in British Columbia. National sales are now projected to rise by 1.3% to 487,200 units in 2015, which is slightly above its 10 year annual average. British Columbia is projected to post the largest annual increase in activity in 2015 at 12.2% while Alberta and Saskatchewan are expected to post the largest annual sales declines with a fall of 18.2% and 12.9% respectively. Modest changes in annual home sales are forecast for all other provinces. The forecast for national average home price growth has been revised upward to $429,400 for an annual increase of 5.2% in 2015. This reflects forecast average price gains in British Columbia and Ontario together with a projected increase in their proportion of national sales. British Columbia is expected to be the only province where average price rises faster at 8.5% than the national average, while the rise in Ontario’s average price of 5.6% is predicted to be roughly in line with the national increase. Average prices are projected to remain largely stable in other provinces this year, with annual changes ranging between plus or minus 1%. The exception is Alberta, where average price is forecast to slip by 2.8% amid a pullback in higher priced property sales activity. In 2016, national sales activity is forecast to reach 491,200 units, a further annual gain of 0.8%. The increase reflects an anticipated rise in sales activity in Alberta and Saskatchewan, in line with a gradual improvement in their economic outlook. Although sales in British Columbia are expected to remain strong in 2016, it is the only province where they are forecast to moderate by 2.9% due to stretched affordability. ‘Strengthening economic prospects should translate into slow and steady gains in… Continue reading
