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Number of London homes worth over a million set to rise by 47% by 2018
The number of London house sales breaking the £1 million price barrier is expected to rise by 47% by 2018, according to new analysis from international property adviser, Savills. It means a further expansion of a market that has grown by 165% in the past five years. In 2003, just 1,825 £1 million plus sales were recorded by the Land Registry, a figure that rose to 7,529 last year. By 2018, the annual total is expected to exceed 11,000, in response to forecast price rises and means that more locations in the Greater London area will qualify as prime property area. According to calculations from Savills, annual turnover in London’s £1 million plus market has risen by 312% over the past decade and is forecast to record a 505% increase in the 15 years from 2003 to 2018. During the same period, prime London house prices are expected to have risen by 160%, evidence both of the rising prosperity in the capital and the geographical expansion of the prime market. A decade ago just over half of sales worth £1 million or more were concentrated in just two central boroughs, Kensington and Chelsea and Westminster, with 569 and 370 sales respectively. Last year, while these two central boroughs still accounted for a third of this high value market place, four other boroughs of Wandsworth, Hammersmith and Fulham, Camden and Richmond upon Thames, each saw more than 500 £1 million plus sales recorded by the Land Registry. Only two of London’s 33 boroughs, Barking and Dagenham and Newham, did not see any £1 million plus sales recorded by the Land Registry in 2013. Three other boroughs, Croydon, Waltham Forest and Bexley, recorded fewer than 10 such sales at nine, three and two respectively. But even in the highest value areas of these five boroughs average values were between £275,000 and £390,000. ‘In the past five years, we have seen £1 million sales increasingly extend into areas such as Acton, Dalston, Herne Hill, Tooting Bec and Blackheath. In the next five years such sales are expected to become significantly more concentrated in emerging locations such as Streatham, Kingston, Borough and Northwood,’ said Lucian Cook, head of UK residential research at Savills. ‘The majority of locations where we expect to see the emergence of £1 million-plus sales in the next five years neighbour existing prime areas. Areas such as Earlsfield, Brixton and Wanstead should see a greater proliferation of the £1 million price tag, which is also expected to begin to appear in such locations as Crystal Palace to the south, Southgate to the north and Isleworth and Osterley to the west,’ he added. The Savills research also identifies the emergence of a third ‘wealth corridor’, running south east via Dulwich and Bromley, as wealth flows out from more central locations, boosting house prices along its route. ‘Much of the growth in £1 million-plus sales will be organic, driven… Continue reading
Number of foreign buyers in Paris region rises as French look to Spain
Foreign buyers are increasingly snapping up properties in and around Paris with new figures showing they account for almost one in 10 sales. In the three districts that make up the Ile de France some 9.2% of buyers were from overseas, the first time such a number of sales has been seen for 15 years. The figures from real estate group Bien, said that there has been a big shift in where buyers are coming from. Italian, Chinese, Algerian and Portuguese buyers make up the bulk of sales to overseas buyers. But overall the number of foreign buyers has remained stable with fewer French people buying homes in the region, according to the firm. In Paris itself, some 8.3% of buyers this year have been foreign nationals, with the figure rising to 11.2% in the Inner Ring and dropping to 7.5% in the Outer Ring. Four years ago, foreigners made up just 6.3% of the sales total in the region. Italians accounted for the largest foreign group in Paris, with 17% of sales. Chinese buyers dominated the foreign market in the Inner Ring with 22.2% of sales while Portuguese buyers came out tops in the Outer Ring at 29%. It is not a case of foreign buyers moving to France. The data shows that some 90% of these buyers were already resident in the Paris region. Meanwhile, another report suggests that the French are buying more property in Spain. Some 18.2% of foreign buyers in Spain are French and 51% of enquiries are within an hour’s drive of Spain, according to the latest data from Spanish property portal Kyero. It means that the French are now the second largest group of foreign buyers of Spanish property. British buyer are still top at 54.5 and in third place is Germans at 7.5%. A multitude of economic factors over the past year have encouraged more and more French buyers into Spain, according to Martin Dell, Kyero director. ‘With the French property market looking pretty flat, many are casting their eyes further south in search of holiday home bargains that can satisfy both investment and lifestyle requirements,’ he explained. ‘Property in Spain is incredibly cheap right now and for French buyers, being part of the Euro, means that the headache of currency exchange is removed from the purchase process,’ he said, adding that the north of Spain is particularly popular due to it being easily accessible. Kyero figures show that Girona, just 55 minutes' drive from France accounted for 51% of enquiries, followed by Castellon at 46%, Tarragona at 29% and Cantabria at 25%. Continue reading
US foreclosure figures tailing off, latest data suggests
The foreclosure crisis is over in the United States but the distress caused by the housing bust is still lingering, according to the latest report from housing data firm RealtyTrac. Foreclosure filings were reported on 116,913 properties in August, an increase of 7% from the previous month but still down 9% from a year ago, the smallest decrease in the last 47 consecutive months of year on year declines in US foreclosure activity. A total of 51,192 properties were scheduled for foreclosure auction during the month, down 1% from the previous month but up 1% from a year ago, the first annual increase in scheduled foreclosure auctions following 44 consecutive months of annual decreases. Scheduled foreclosure auctions in judicial foreclosure states where foreclosures are processed through the court system increased 5% from a year ago. ‘The August foreclosure numbers demonstrate that although the foreclosure crisis is well behind us, the messy business of cleaning up the distress lingering from the housing bust continues in many markets,’ said Daren Blomquist, vice president at RealtyTrac. ‘The annual increase in foreclosure auctions, the first since the robo-signing controversy rocked the foreclosure industry back in late 2010, indicates mortgage servicers are finally adjusting to the new paradigms for proper foreclosure that have been implemented in many states, whether by legislation or litigation or both,’ he added. Scheduled foreclosure auctions increased from a year ago in 24 states, including Colorado with a rise of 160%, Oregon up 117%, Connecticut up 81%, New York also up 81%, Oklahoma up 72%, New Jersey up 71%, Illinois up 25%, South Carolina up 21% and Maryland up 17%. The report also shows that more than 55,000 properties started the foreclosure process in August, up 12% from previous month and flat from year ago. It was the second consecutive month where foreclosure starts have increased on a month on month basis. Foreclosure starts, which in some states are the scheduled foreclosure auctions, increased from a year ago in 19 states, including Oklahoma up 147%, Indiana up 136%, New Jersey up 115%, Massachusetts up 55%, Florida up 24% and Maryland up 20%. Lenders repossessed 26,343 properties via foreclosure (REO) in August, up 2% from the previous month but down 33% from a year ago. It was the 21st consecutive month where REO activity declined on a year on year basis nationally. REOs increased from a year ago in seven states, included Georgia up 146%, Hawaii up 42%, Oregon up 20%, Pennsylvania up 12% and Connecticut up 10%. Six of the nation’s 20 largest metro areas posted year on year increases in foreclosure activity. In Washington, D.C. there was a rise of 18%, New York up 18%, Baltimore up 12%, Atlanta up 11%, Philadelphia also up 11% and San Francisco up 2%. Among the nation’s 20 largest metros those with the five highest foreclosure rates were Miami with one in every 359 housing units with a foreclosure filing, Tampa one in every 407 housing units, Baltimore one in every 17 housing units,… Continue reading
