Taylor Scott International
Home loans fall in Australia month on month
Home loans to owner occupiers in Australia fell 7.3% in January but those approved to investors increased by 1.6%, according to the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The number of loans to owner occupiers for the construction and purchase of new homes declined by 5.3% and the number of loans to owner occupiers buying established homes, excluding refinancing, fell by 7.9%. ‘Lending figures indicate that the investor market performed a little stronger. Lending to investors building or constructing new homes, however, was slightly weaker during the month but remained markedly stronger than this time a year ago,’ said Housing Industry Association economist, Geordan Murray. He pointed out that these results follow the Australian Prudential Regulatory Authority’s December letter to lending institutions outlining their intention to increase the level of supervisory oversight of mortgage lending. The letter detailed some specific areas of concern noting high LVR loans, fast growth in lending to investors, and mortgage affordability in a (future) higher interest rate environment. ‘It is too early to determine whether APRA’s communication has had an impact in January. It will be interesting to observe the lending figures over the next few months to see how lenders respond,’ explained Murray. ‘It is important that the new home building sector is not pushed back into a credit squeeze whereby a lack of readily available finance becomes an industry wide problem,’ he added. A breakdown of the figures show that on an annual basis the total number of owner occupier loans for new housing in January 2015 increased only in Tasmania which saw a 67.3% year on year rise. In New South Wales the number of loans fell by 3%, in Queensland by 6.9T, in the Australian Capital Territory by 9.9%, in Western Australia by 12.3%, in Victoria by 12.4%, in the Northern Territory by 17.6% and in South Australia by 23.5%. Continue reading
TSI’s London Housing Market Overview
Over the past few years, the surge in house prices have been shocking Londoners from Shepherd’s Bush to Stratford. Many potential buyers have hoped that signs of a slowdown that emerged in the summer would continue, and so it has … Continue reading
Asking prices up across UK led by Scotland and East Anglia
Asking prices have risen across all regions in England, Scotland and Wales over the last month, reflecting widespread positive sentiment across the UK, the latest index suggests. However, higher prices are also tempting vendors to put their properties on the market and the supply of property for sale in London, for example, has overtaken demand, according to the latest index from Home.co.uk. This is shown by a steep rise in the typical time on market which is currently 71 days, some 24 days longer than in March 2014, the report points out, although supply rises in other regions are much more muted. Asking price rises are led by East Anglia and Scotland, both with a monthly rise of 1.4%, and annual rises of 6.2% and 8% respectively. The report also says that an optimism abounds as even in the least well performing areas of the North East and Wales, prices have risen 0.4% and 0.3% respectively since February. A breakdown of the figures show that asking prices in London prices increased a further 2.1% despite rising supply and are up 31% year on year. While asking prices have increased by 1.1% overall in England and Wales during the last month but the average annual appreciation has fallen to 6.8%. Overall, the current mix-adjusted average asking price for England and Wales shows that properties on the market are valued 6.8% higher than they were in March 2014. The typical time on market for England and Wales is now 119 days, which is eight days less than this time last year, and shows that the market continues to gain momentum overall. ‘House prices are surging again, over and above seasonal expectations. The key market drivers of low mortgage interest rates and low supply remain very much in place,’ said Doug Shephard, Home.co.uk director. He pointed out that so far, the market correction in prime central London has not affected sentiment elsewhere in the country, and the flow of mortgage credit to homebuyers and property investors alike continues unabated. ‘We maintain that the best prospects for stable growth this year and next probably lie in regions such as East Anglia, East Midlands, the South West, West Midlands and perhaps Yorkshire. It may be argued that these regions are still in the throes of the recovery phase, as supply remains low and prices have not yet risen out of reach,’ he explained. ‘There are also further indicators that the recovery will, at last, lift the northern regions out of the misery of price stagnation. Those markets are gaining momentum and above inflation price rises look highly likely over the coming months,’ he added. He also pointed out that while prospects for price growth are poor for prime central London this year as an abundance of unsold stock has been whittling away at property values, for the time being, prices do appear to be stabilising. ‘The investment outlook for Greater London remains mixed but will slowly turn… Continue reading
