Uk
Christchurch housing market well on way to recovery following earthquakes five years ago
Five years after earthquakes devastate the New Zealand city of Christchurch it has been announced that housing is now on track for a full recovery. Housing has been one of the most complex and challenging problems in the aftermath of the disasters that struck in 2010, according to housing officials and ministers but they added that the Government’s wide ranging support as ensured the city’s housing market is nearing recovery five years. ‘The Government has taken a step by step approach and officials project that by June 2017, the Christchurch housing market will be fully recovered with supply and demand back in balance,’ said Building and Housing Minister Nick Smith. The Government’s housing initiatives in Christchurch since the earthquakes include the Establishment of the Canterbury Earthquake Temporary Accommodation Service (CETAS), which has helped nearly 6500 households find temporary accommodation. Temporary accommodation financial assistance of over $55 million was provided to over 3,200 households and the Residential Advisory Service has helped over 3,288 residential property owners progress their repair, rebuild, and resettlement process. Over 1,000 were put in temporary accommodation, some 27,000 emergency repairs carried out on Housing New Zealand homes, and some $31 million in grants provided for social and affordable housing in Canterbury. ‘As some of the most vulnerable residents, social housing tenants were particularly hard hit by the earthquakes. Housing New Zealand’s effort fixing its houses was staggering, spending $350 million repairing over 5,100 properties,’ said Social Housing Minister Paula Bennett. Smith said that the strongest evidence of the successful recovery of Christchurch’s housing market is the latest data on rents and house prices. House prices rose by up to 13% per year following the earthquakes but grew last year by 2.7% and are now back below the national average. Rents were growing at up to 16% per year following the earthquakes but have been declining since October 2014 and in the past year, have dropped by 6%. ‘Housing was one of the biggest post-quake challenges facing Christchurch, but a concerted effort by the community, building sector, council and Government has enabled us to recover as quickly as practically possible,’ he explained. ‘With the completion of projects in the pipeline, Christchurch will have, by 2017, the safest and warmest stock of private, state and community housing in the country,’ he added. Continue reading
House purchase lending fell in London in 2015, latest CML data shows
London is often regarded as the powerhouse of the UK property market but new data shows that house purchase lending in the city fell in 2015 in comparison with the previous year. But remortgaging increased, according to the latest data from the Council of Mortgage Lenders covering the fourth quarter of 2015. There were 21,800 home owner house purchase loans, down 4% on the third quarter but up 5% compared to the fourth quarter 2014. These loans were worth £6.7 billion, down 7% quarter on quarter but up 16% year on year. First time buyers took out 12,000 loans in London, down 2% on the previous quarter but up 1% on the fourth quarter in 2014. These loans totalled £3.2 billion, down 4% on the third quarter but up 11% on the fourth quarter of 2014. Home movers in London took out 9,800 loans worth £3.6 billion, down 7% by volume and 9% by value on the previous quarter. Compared to the fourth quarter 2014, this was up 11% by volume and 22% by value. Remortgage lending increased 5% by volume and 8% by value compared to quarter three totalling £3.8 billion with 13,100 loans, up 34% in number of loans and 53% in amount borrowed for remortgage compared to the fourth quarter of 2014. The number of loans for home owner house purchase in London decreased year on year to 81,600 loans at £24.5 billion, down 5% by volume but up 1% by value on 2014. First time buyers took out 45,600, worth £11.6 billion, down 6% by number of loans and 1% by amount borrowed compared to 2014. Home movers took out 35,900 loans worth £12.9 billion, down 3% by volume but up 4% by value year on year. Remortgage lending totalled 48,600 loans worth £13.7 billion, up 14% by volume and 25% by value on 2014. ‘House purchase lending in London fell in 2015 due mainly to a slow start. Later months of the year saw activity pick up again. Persisting supply and affordability issues, alongside the introduction of the Help to Buy London scheme, means there will be some uncertainty around how the market will perform going into 2016,’ said Paul Smee, director general of the CML. ‘By contrast, remortgage activity, which has been consistently flat for the past few years, appears to be on an upward trend. Competitive mortgage rates appear to have sparked this activity and we have not seen quarterly volumes at this level since 2009,’ he added. Continue reading
UK residential sales down 2.8% month on month but up almost 10% year on year
Residential property sales in the UK fell by 2.8% between December 2015 and January 2016, according to the latest data published by HMRC, the UK’s taxman. However, the seasonally adjusted sales figure is 9.7% higher compared with the same month last year, with transactions reaching 105,940. Doug Crawford, chief executive officer of My Home Move, believes that it is significant than January sales are up considerably year on year. ‘This could be accredited to a spike in purchases by additional home buyers looking to escape the rise in stamp duty, set to be introduced in April. This may continue to provide a short term boost for a matter of weeks,’ he said. ‘However, we are now explaining to new clients that it is too late to guarantee completion before 01 April. Looking ahead, the question is whether the market will sustain this level of activity. Supply is likely to be the biggest constraint, so new house building will remain critical,’ he added. However, the figures are published as property experts are being asked what effect the newly announced referendum on the UK’s position in the European Union might have on housing markets. According to Peter Rollings, CEO of Marsh & Parsons, sales activity often cools in times of political uncertainty and the London housing market usually bears the brunt of it. ‘First and foremost, foreign investors may be more tentative given this latest turn in events, especially as it follows hot on the heels of higher Stamp Duty for million pound properties,’ he said. ‘But history shows us that the market recovered quickly from this short term ambiguity in 2015 and in fact, home sales have really been building momentum over the past year. The property market is chock a block with eager buyers, who are being propelled on by cheap mortgage finance and government support schemes,’ he explained. ‘Given the extent of buyer demand, it’s a great time for existing home owners to be thinking about their next step up the ladder, which should drive further purchase activity. For investors, the change in Stamp Duty for second homeowners in April will be an incentive to make purchases quickly over the next month,’ he added. ‘It remains to be seen how much of an impact the EU referendum will have on these current levels of confidence but go or stay, London remains an attractive safe haven in times of uncertainty,’ he concluded. According to real estate services firm Savills the fact that the referendum has been announced now means that the relatively long lead in should minimise the potential impact on property market. ‘We’ve already seen a number of short-term factors impact investors’ sentiment this year, however appetite for UK property remains healthy. Chinese investors remain active in the market and negative interest rates in Japan will also benefit global real estate,’ said Mark Ridley, Savills chief executive officer UK and Europe. ‘As we saw in the run up to the 2015 General Election, one of… Continue reading
