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New accreditation standard for London lettings hailed a success
More than 115,000 rented homes across London are now badged under the Mayor's Rental Standard accreditation system launched last year to improve the experience of landlords and tenants. Less than a year since its launch in May 2014, the London Rental Standard is going from strength to strength with 307 letting agent firms signed up and eight accrediting bodies licensed under the scheme. It has been adopted by 10 of the biggest names in the lettings industry, including Spicerhaart, Andrews, CBRE, Chestertons, Douglas and Gordon, Savills, Knight Frank, Leaders, Foxtons and Stirling Ackroyd. Londoners either letting or renting through every London branch of these firms are assured that they, and every landlord or agent displaying the London Rental Standard badge, have met the Mayor's set of core commitments and training levels to offer tenants a better, more professional service. These include transparent fees, better property conditions, better communications between landlords and tenants, improved response times and repairs, and protected deposits. Some 30% of London's households now live in rented homes, and by the middle of the 2020s the number of renters is predicted to overtake the number of home owners in the capital. In the last 10 years the number of families with children renting in London has risen 10% to almost a third yet 85% of landlords are not aware of core legislation that protects renters and 61% have no professional management training. The London Rental Standard is fast becoming an important feature of London's lettings industry, helping Londoners to pick between the huge array of landlords and agents on offer in the capital. It helps landlords and agents to understand their responsibilities to their tenants and to equip them with the knowledge they need to protect themselves from mistakes which can incur hefty costs and leave tenants disgruntled. The standard is one of a raft of measures the Mayor Boris Johnson has supported to improve the experience of London's two million private rented sector tenants. This includes successfully lobbying for legal changes to make it compulsory for letting agents to join an independent consumer complaints scheme to help protect tenants and landlords, and banning retaliatory evictions. He has also created a search engine where Londoners can compare average market rents, secured significant sums from the Government to help provide greater enforcement against criminal landlords including those who rent out beds in sheds, and pioneering thousands of new high quality, purpose built homes to rent with large scale schemes on public land in Elephant and Castle and the Stratford, supported by long term institutional investment. The Mayor is also helping renters who want to buy through his First Steps scheme, with more than 46,000 Londoners already supported to buy their home through shared ownership and other products. The Mayor is now calling on all remaining letting agents and landlords to sign up to the London Rental Standard, and help to stamp out rogue agents or landlords in every corner of… Continue reading
Irish property prices fall for second month in a row
Residential property prices in Ireland fell by 0.4% in February, the second monthly decline in a row, the latest index data shows. The fall last month comes on the back of a 1.4% decline in January amid concerns that the country’s real estate recovery could be stalling. In Dublin, the decline was more pronounced, with average prices falling by 0.7%, according to the data from the Central Statistics Office. However, despite this fall, residential property prices remained up 14.9% on an annual basis. In Dublin property prices were still 21.4% higher than in February 2014. A breakdown of the figures shows that Dublin house prices fell by 1% in February whilst Dublin apartment prices increased by 2%. However, a spokesman said that it should be noted that the sub-indices for apartments are based on low volumes of observed transactions and consequently suffer from greater volatility than other series. In the rest of Ireland residential property prices were unchanged in February. However, prices were still up 8.2% compared with February 2014. At national level residential property prices were 38.7% lower than their peak level in 2007. Dublin house prices were 37.6% lower than their peak, Dublin apartment prices were 43.3% lower than their peak and Dublin residential property prices overall were 39.3% lower than their highest level. Outside of Dublin residential property prices were 41.9% lower than their highest level in 2007. ‘With prices continuing to rise more quickly than earnings affordability constraints are beginning to have an impact. This has removed some of the heat that was evident in the market in the middle of last year,’ said John McCartney of Savills. ‘Agents are now reporting that buyers are no longer in a frenzy to buy for fear that prices will run beyond their means. This is a very positive development as expectations of rapid price growth can become self-fulfilling and can quickly lead to overheating,’ he added. It is a welcome slowdown in Irish house price inflation rather than a collapse in prices, according to Conall MacCoille, chief economist at Davy Stockbrokers, who said at over five times average incomes, house prices no longer look cheap. ‘This slowdown is not surprising or undesirable. Ideally, Irish house prices will now rise in line with nominal wages so affordability is not stretched further,’ he explained, adding that it was too early to say what kind of dampening effect new central bank restrictions on mortgage lending will have. The Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), an independent think-tank partly funded by the Irish government, said that while the measures may slow down house price growth, this could come at the expense of rising rents and fewer houses being supplied amid major shortages of supply in Dublin. Continue reading
US home prices growing at fastest rate for a year
Existing home sales increased modestly in the United States last month but prices are growing at their fastest pace for a year, the latest index data shows. Total existing home sales, which are completed transactions that include single family homes, town homes, condominiums and co-ops, rose 1.25% in February and are 4.7% higher than a year ago and above year on year totals for the fifth consecutive month. The data from the National Association of Realtors also shows that the median existing home price for all housing types in February was $202,600, some 7.5% above February 2014. This marks the 36th consecutive month of year on year price gains and the largest since last February when it was 8.8%. According to Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, although February sales showed modest improvement, there’s been some stagnation in the market in recent months. ‘Insufficient supply appears to be hampering prospective buyers in several areas of the country and is hiking prices to near unsuitable levels,’ he said. ‘Stronger price growth is a boon for home owners looking to build additional equity, but it continues to be an obstacle for current buyers looking to close before rates rise. Severe below freezing winter weather likely had an impact on sales as more moderate activity was observed in the Northeast and Midwest compared to other regions of the country,’ Yun explained. The data shows that total housing inventory at the end of February increased 1.6% but remains 0.5% below a year ago. For the second month in a row unsold inventory is at a 4.6 month supply at the current sales pace. The share of first time buyers was 29% in February, up slightly from 28% in January and the first increase since November 2014. First time buyers represented 28% of all buyers in February 2014. All cash sales were 26% of transactions in February, down from 27% in January and down considerably from a year ago when it was 35%. Individual investors, who account for many cash sales, purchased 14% of homes in February, down from 17% in January and 21% in February 2014. Some 67% of investors paid cash in February. Distressed sales, that is foreclosures and short sales, amounted to 11% of sales in February, unchanged for the third consecutive month and down from 16% a year ago. Some 8% of February sales were foreclosures and 3% were short sales. Foreclosures sold for an average discount of 17% below market value in February compared to 15% in January, while short sales were discounted 15% compared to 12% the previous month. ‘Investor sales are trending downward due to the continued rise in prices and fewer bargains available from distressed properties coming onto the market,’ said Chris Polychron, NAR president. He added that real estate agents in areas popular with foreign buyers, such as South Florida and the West Coast, are reporting tempered demand from international clients who typically pay in cash and this… Continue reading
