Uk
More properties come on the sales market in the UK, new research shows
More properties are coming onto the market in the UK with London seeing a 27.1% and Dundee in Scotland with a 171.1% rise in supply, the highest in the country. In London supply in Kensington and Chelsea more than doubled between August and September with a rise of 122.2% while Camden’s supply increased by 95.7%. The data from online estate agents HouseSimple also shows that overall new property listings increased 9.1% in September with rises of 46.7% in Sunderland and 35.5% in Cambridge but supply fell by 21.5% in Durham. The news comes after a very quiet summer during when housing supply in the UK hit critically low levels but now more than 60% of the 100 towns and cities covered by the index saw an increase in new listings. The Scottish market, in particular, has seen a surge in new property listings in September with supply almost tripling in Dundee while Aberdeen saw a 48.8% rise in new listings, and Edinburgh and Perth listings were up 28.3% and 24.7% respectively. The number of new properties listed across London in September hit almost 25,000 and only two of the 32 London boroughs, Croydon and Lambeth saw a fall in supply but the index report says that there is still a severe shortage of new properties being marketed in the capital. ‘The current housing shortage in the UK has been a major contributory factor in rising property prices. We are in the grip of a severe property shortage and if September hadn’t seen a spike in new property listings we really could have been looking at a full blown supply crisis,’ said Alex Gosling, the firm’s chief executive officer. ‘Fortunately the September figures are far more encouraging. Almost 60% of UK towns and cities have seen stock levels rise between August and September. But it’s too early to breath a huge sigh of relief that a property crisis has been averted,’ he pointed out. ‘Stock reservoirs still remain dangerously low. September needs to provide the catalyst for the rest of the year. The housing market still has a long road to travel to rebalance supply and demand, but these latest listings figures show that we are finally moving in the right direction,’ he added. Continue reading
Australian capital city rents see slowest annual growth ever
Weekly rental rates in Australian capital cities were unchanged in September but in the last three months have risen at their slowest annual pace ever. Indeed, the latest CoreLogic RP data report shows that the annual pace of rental growth across all capital cities is at a new record low of 0.5% in the year to September. Despite recording the strongest growth, Melbourne rents rose just 2.1% over the year and rents have fallen over the year in Perth and Darwin. They have increased by just 0.3% over the first three quarter of the year. Overall the combined capital city rental rates are recorded at $487 per week for houses and $462 per week for apartment units and the firm says that it is anticipated that the rate of rental growth will continue to slow over the coming months due to increased supply of housing and rental stock and slower migration rates. The report points to an ongoing softening of rental growth and explains that the construction boom across the capital cities coupled with slowing population growth, low mortgage rates and the heightened level of activity from investors are the major contributing factors to the slowing rental growth. Three of the cities which have seen the largest growth in new housing supply and investor activity over recent years; Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, have continued to record rental rises over the past year however, each city is seeing a slowing in the pace of rental growth. ‘It is clear that the increase in investment stock is providing landlords with little scope to lift rental rates while the low mortgage rate environment provides little incentive to push yields higher,’ the report says. Looking across the individual capital cities, over the past year, Sydney and Melbourne have recorded the greatest increases in weekly rents however, their rates of growth have slowed relative to a year ago. Over the past month, weekly rents have moved lower across every capital city except Sydney where they were unchanged and in Melbourne and Hobart where they rose. Continue reading
Farmland prices in England reach new record, but prices are stabilising
The average price of English farmland hit a new record price of £8,306 an acre in the third quarter of the year, but values rose by just 0.5%, the latest index shows. Year on year growth the sector has seen price growth of 8% but this has slowed after a period of exceptional growth, according to the data from real estate firm Knight Frank. The report shows that over five years growth has averaged 43% and 198% over the last decade so a slowdown was to be expected, particularly as availability has started to increase and agricultural commodity markets remain weak. The big question now is whether prices will actually start to fall. ‘Our view is that in terms of supply and demand the farmland market has now reached a state of equilibrium,’ said Andrew Shirley, head of rural research at Knight Frank. ‘This means that while prices may rise or fall slightly on a quarter by quarter basis over the next year or two, we are unlikely to see the price growth of the past 10 years significantly eroded, unless supply increases substantially or demand drops off drastically,’ he added. The report forecasts a period of potential price stability and points out that over the past five years farmland has outperformed many other asset classes, including gold which is down 10%, and it has even kept pace with London’s luxury residential market which has seen growth of 43% over the same period. ‘This strong performance brought new buyers into the market, including a wide range of investors from both the UK and abroad. However, potential purchasers, particularly farmers, have gradually become more considered in their approach to acquisitions since the beginning of 2015,’ the report says. ‘This is partly due to a prolonged period of low commodity prices, but also reflects the perception that the market was reaching a peak,’ it adds. The report explains that the availability of farmland has also increased. So far this year around 20% more land has been advertised publicly compared with 2014. ‘As a result, what we are experiencing now is a market that is much more in equilibrium in terms of the balance between supply and demand. Prices are unlikely to fall or rise to any great extent over the next few years because buyer demand remains strong, albeit cautious,’ said Shirley. ‘Supply, while up on the year, is also low in historic terms and the market is unlikely to be saturated,’ he commented, adding that a sudden upwards shift in interest rates could put some pressure on more farmers to sell up, but the indications from the Bank of England seem to point to a gradual rising of rates starting in the second half of 2016. Price variability on a local, as well as a regional level, is also likely to grow as a dominant theme of the market, he suggests. ‘Extremely high prices will continue to be paid for large blocks of top quality… Continue reading
