Uk
CML expected improved mortgage market activity ahead in UK
A benign economic backdrop should underpin a gentle improvement in housing and mortgage market activity in the coming months, according to the latest forecast from the Council of Mortgage Lenders. The CML market review report points out that this follows a softer patch over the past year, which has dragged down our expectations for gross mortgage lending to £209 billion this year, from the £220 billion the CML had expected previously. ‘Several of the government’s fresh housing initiatives will take time to take effect and so do not fundamentally reshape market prospects this year or next, as far as we can judge at this stage,’ said Bob Pannell, CML chief economist. The report explains that with house price levels already elevated and continuing to outpace earnings across much of the country, the upside potential for regulated lending is likely to be constrained by affordability pressures, reinforced by the recent MMR mortgage rules and macro-prudential rules. It also points out that perceptions of the buy to let sector can be distorted by the fact that remortgage activity accounts for a much larger share of overall buy to let lending, more than half, than is the case for home owner loans. ‘Although buy to let business volumes continue to expand, the underlying pace of growth in buy to let activity, both for house purchase and refinancing, has been slowing, following its strong recovery over the past few years. Policy interventions in the buy to let space may reinforce this downward trend,’ said Pannell. ‘We expect a further improvement in arrears and possessions this year and anticipate that the overwhelming majority of borrowers will cope with the modest interest rate increases that start in 2016,’ he added. Overall the CML is slightly more optimistic about housing market developments than it was at the turn of the year and Pannell explained that this is largely because of the continuing resilience of cash transactions, amounting to nearly 37% of all transactions over the past year. He added that regulated house purchase activity has continued to edge down relative to the market as a whole over the past year, and this has acted to drag down our overall mortgage lending total for 2015. ‘We now expect gross lending of £209 billion, compared with our earlier estimate of £222 billion,’ he concluded. Continue reading
It takes almost a year to settle into a home in the UK, survey finds
Most Britons take almost a year to fully settle into a new home with unfinished packing and decorating delaying the process, new research shows. Over half, some 51%, still have unpacking to 304 days after moving and three quarters of slow unpackers admit to being stressed about unfinished unpacking and half of those saying it has caused arguments. One in four have at least one mystery box that remained packed since their last move and non-essential kitchen equipment such as sandwich toasters and cocktail shakers are most likely remain boxed. Kettles, phone and tablet chargers and bathroom essentials are first to be unboxed, according to the research from London removals and storage firm Kiwi Movers. Waiting to decorate is the most common excuse for not unpacking fully and people aged between 30 and 35 most likely to take the task somewhat slowly. The research also found that 75% of those who hadn’t fully unpacked after 10 months of later said that they found having belongings still in boxes stressful, while half of those said the boxes had started to cause arguments. Some 18% of movers said it took them between 12 and 18 months to get things fully organised, while a small minority of seven percent said they still had things in boxes after two years of living somewhere. At the other end of the spectrum, a super organised and motivated 3% claimed to have fully unpacked within a day of moving in, while seven percent said they’d got the job done within a week. The biggest cause for failing to unpack was the need to decorate, with 44% of respondents saying they’d planned to unpack once they’d completed decorating tasks while 31% said the delay in unpacking was due to having insufficient storage, while 12% said they couldn’t agree with their significant other on where to put things. Some 13% blamed themselves, with 7% saying they were too busy to fully unpack and 6% admitting to being too lazy to finish the job and men living on their own are the most likely to have full boxes lying around, with 79% saying they still had unpacking to do by month ten in their new pad. Single women were far less likely to let their belongings gather dust, with just 21% with unpacking after 10 months. Single women were also most likely to get the job done inside week one, with 20% claiming to have successfully found a home for all of their belongings. Regan McMillan, director of Kiwi Movers believes a lot of movers are making their lives unnecessarily hard by packing items they don’t actually need. ‘If a quarter of people are saying they’ve got boxes they never unpacked since their last move, you’ve got to wonder if they really need what’s inside,’ he said. ‘We recommend having… Continue reading
Hong Kong residential property prices reached record high in May
Residential property prices in Hong Kong reached a record high in May, increasing more than 20% compared with the same month last year. The growth in values continues despite the government’s series of property market cooling measures. The transaction volume of new homes reached over 8,700 for the first half of 2015, the data from the Rating and Valuation Department shows. According to an analysis by international real estate firm Knight Frank it is a result of strong housing demand, ample liquidity partly attributable to the previous rally in the Mainland and Hong Kong stock markets and the continual return of wealthy Mainland investors to the city’s residential sector. Amid positive market sentiment, property developers have been actively acquiring residential sites this year, in line with the government’s target to boost housing supply. In early July, a large residential site in So Kwun Wat in Tuen Mun, estimated to require an investment of up to HK$8 billion, was sold for HK$3.82202 billion, representing the second highest ever accommodation value in the area. During the third quarter of this year the Hong Kong government will release three residential sites for sale. It has indicated that additional land may be launched by the end of September, depending on the market situation and progress of preparatory work. ‘The annual private housing supply target of 19,000 flats is considered achievable this year. Despite the rising supply, we expect home prices to continue rising this year, as it will take time for the new sites to be developed into flats,’ the Knight Frank report concludes. Meanwhile in Greater China the Grade-A office market remained active in June, driven by continual expansion demand from Chinese financial institutions, most notably fund and asset management companies. Knight Frank believes that Grade-A office rents in Central will continue rising steadily in the second half of 2015. Last month, with rents in prime retail districts softening, mid-range retailers gained opportunities to enter high profile streets at lower rents. Retail sales are not expected to recover in the near term. Knight Frank says that prime retail rents will continue to come under downward pressure for the remainder of the year. Continue reading
