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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
Massive London regeneration plan to include 24,000 new homes
One of the largest regeneration schemes in London for decades has taken a further step forward and received the seal of approval from the UK government, it has been announced. The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, intends to establish a Mayoral Development Corporation to lead the transformation of Old Oak Common in West London and create a brand new part of the city with up to 24,000 homes. Now the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Eric Pickles, has confirmed that he supports these plans and an Order has been laid before Parliament to create the new body, which will be known as the Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation (OPDC). Subject to parliamentary approval, the new corporation will come into existence on 01 April 2015 and the Order will be followed by a similar piece of legislation to give the OPDC planning powers. A vast High Speed 2 (HS2) and Crossrail Station is due to be constructed at Old Oak Common by 2026. The new station will be the size of Waterloo, handling 250,000 passengers a day and acting as a super hub between London and the rest of the UK, Europe and the world. Johnson said that this represents an opportunity to bring unprecedented regeneration to the area and he believes that the OPDC is the best way to unlock the enormous potential of the site and deliver a £15 billion boost to London's economy over 30 years. The Corporation will act as a single, transparent and robust body to spearhead the regeneration of the 950 hectare site that straddles the London boroughs of Hammersmith and Fulham, Brent and Ealing ‘The vast new station at Old Oak Common presents us with an almost unprecedented opportunity to transform an area the size of a small London borough into a thriving new part of the capital, with unrivalled transport links to central London, the rest of the country and beyond,’ Johnson said. ‘London will shortly become home to more people than ever before and there is no doubt that this scheme will provide a real shot in the arm as we look to provide the new homes and jobs that we desperately need,’ he added. Pickles said house building is a key part of the Government's long term economic plan. ‘This deal will create a whole new community in West London, delivering up to 24,000 new homes and over 50,000 new jobs, with excellent transport links both into the capital and across the country. This is on top of the efforts we've made to get the country building again, which has helped deliver over 141,000 homes in London since the end of 2009,’ he added. The OPDC will look to emulate the success of the London Legacy Development Corporation that continues to lead the post-Olympic regeneration of Stratford and East London. The Mayor's Office believes that the regeneration opportunity could provide almost 14% of Greater London's employment needs up to… Continue reading
Bottom end of US housing market rebounds
Many home owners in the US at the bottom third of their markets are finally in a position to sell, according to the latest index data. Owners of the country's lowest valued homes emerged from 2014 in a stronger position than previous years, with home values up 6.8% year on year, the latest quarterly report from Zillow shows. Properties in the lower third of home values bottomed out in January 2012 with a median value of $84,100 but by December 2014 they had bounced back to a median value of $101,400. While home owners in the bottom price tier are still 17% below their pre-recession peak values, this is a distinct improvement from the 31% value loss they suffered when home values hit rock bottom in January 2012. Returning value means many with lower valued homes who had been in negative equity are now able to sell or refinance, boosting low end inventory, which has been tight for the past few years. Going into the home buying season in 2015, buyers can expect to find more homes on the market and less competition from all cash bidders, the report also points out. Metros with the biggest jump over last year in low end inventory are Las Vegas, with 66.% more low end homes on the market in December 2014 than December 2013, Riverside, with 47.3% more and Washington D.C. with 45.7% more. Homeowners of lower valued homes are emerging from negative equity and are able to sell just as many in the millennial generation prepare to buy homes, pushed into the housing market by rising rents and abysmal rental affordability. ‘In many ways, for the housing market to fully normalize, it has to start at the bottom. More lower end home sellers will help meet demand from entry level buyers, and these sellers in turn will re-enter the market in search of a slightly pricier home, which will entice more middle and upper tier sellers to list their homes,’ said Zillow chief economist Stan Humphries. ‘As the economy gets stronger, we expect more young adults to strike out on their own, moving out of friends' and parents' homes. This will create strong demand in coming months, especially for less expensive homes,’ he added. Rents continued to rise, and at the end of December the Zillow Rent Index had increased 3.3% year on year, to $1,345. Continue reading
