Investment
House price gap between north and south widens in UK
UK annual house price growth increased to 5.7% in March, taking the average price to £200,251 but the latest index also shows that the gap between north and south continues to widen. Annual house price growth recorded its strongest pace since February 2015 up from 4.8% the previous month while month on month home prices increased by 0.8%, according to the data from leading UK lender the Nationwide. Average house prices in England increased by 1.8% in the first quarter of 2016, and were up 7.7% year on year. This means that in cash terms, the gap in average prices between the South and the North of England now stands at nearly £163,000. Prices in the North are now less than half those in the South, a record low. ‘There has been a pickup in housing market activity in recent months, with the number of housing transactions and mortgage approvals rising strongly. This is likely to have been driven, at least in part, by upcoming changes to stamp duty on second homes, where buyers have brought forward purchases in order to avoid the additional tax liabilities,’ said Robert Gardner, Nationwide's chief economist. ‘This temporary boost to demand against a backdrop of continued constrained supply is likely to have exerted upward pressure on prices and helped to lift the pace of annual price growth out of the fairly narrow range of 3% to 5% that has been prevailing since the summer,’ he explained. He pointed out that the pace of house price growth may moderate again once the stamp duty changes take effect in April. ‘However, it is possible that the recent pattern of strong employment growth, rising real earnings, low borrowing costs and constrained supply will keep the demand/supply balance tilted in favour of sellers and maintain pressure on price growth in the quarters ahead,’ he said. Gardner also pointed out that according to Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, the stock of houses on estate agents’ books remains close to all-time lows on data extending back 30 years. The quarterly index, published at the same time, shows that regional house prices maintained the same broad trends prevailing in recent years with southern regions continuing to record significantly stronger rates of annual price growth, further widening regional disparities. The Outer Metropolitan was the strongest performing region in the first quarter of 2016, with average prices up 12.2% year on year. London was close behind, though it did record a slight moderation in its annual rate of growth to 11.5% from 12.2% the previous quarter. The North was the weakest performing region in England and the UK overall, with prices down 1.1% year on year. House price growth slowed sharply in Northern Ireland, with annual growth moderating to 1.8%, even though the price of a typical property is still 45% below the pre-crisis peak. Wales saw a lacklustre 1.7% year on year increase in prices, a slight pick-up compared with the previous quarter while Scotland recorded… Continue reading
Survey reveals the UK is a nation of property watchers
It is official, the UK is a nation obsessed with property as new research shows that 63% peruse real estate websites even when they are not looking to buy. Some 2.6 million browse at least once a day and 38% admit they checked the price of someone else’s home online in the last year, according to the poll from Direct Line Home Insurance. People say that they look at online property portals to keep a check on prices, look at design trends and also daydream about a future home. The most enthusiastic property browsers were in Sheffield where 74% admitted to window shopping for homes followed by 72% in London and 70% in Newcastle. The nosey one check out local properties with 52% looking at the price of neighbour’s homes, 38% looking at properties belonging to family member, 31% ‘snooping’ on close friends and 21% on work colleagues. The motivations for keeping such a close eye on property websites range from nosiness to fantasy. Some 60% said that they did so to keep a check on local property prices, whilst 40% were researching for potential areas to move to. Some 34% said it was all about day dreaming about homes they can’t afford, 29% said it was to check out interior design ideas and 26% were checking the value of their own home. ‘We are a nation of property obsessives with very good reason. Our homes are our castles and becoming a home owner or even climbing the ladder in the UK is a huge challenge and aspiration for many,’ said Katie Lomas, head of Direct Line Home Insurance. ‘Property sites are a source of information and inspiration and browsing these sites has become something of a past-time for millions of people. The flip side of this trend is that those who list on these sites exhibit their homes and belongings to millions of strangers every day,’ she pointed out. As a result she suggests that people selling their home should make sure the pictures online to do not show expensive personal possessions or personal information and even suggests that the full address should not be given. ‘If you are selling your home on a property website, make sure it is protected with a fully comprehensive home insurance policy,’ she added. The survey also found that people aged 18 to 34 were more likely to use property sites to window shop and snoop than any other age ranges. In fact, some 8% of this age group admitted to checking the price of a potential new partner’s home in the past year and 6% said their same about their ex. Men that use property websites were also more prolific users, the average male that window shops online does so the equivalent of nine times each month compared to the female counterpart who browses six times a month. Continue reading
UK first time buyer home market resilient in first months of 2016
First time buyers in the UK are resilient despite a month on month dip in property sales to this group, according to the latest first time buyer tracker index. It shows that people buying their first home increased by 6.6% year on year but month on month fell by 1.4% between January and February 2016. The data from Your Move and Reeds Rains also shows that total monthly volume of first time buyer transactions was 21,100 in February but on a seasonally adjusted basis it is considerably higher at 25,900. According to Adrian Gill, director of estate agents Your Move and Reeds Rains, February is a traditionally quiet period for the first time buyer market but the figures demonstrate the strong, steady underlying growth that comes with growing first time buyer confidence. ‘This optimism may begin to reveal itself more clearly in March, when an Easter uplift may sweep away any residual doubts among some first timers. While the more general mismatch between buyers and sellers will continue to exert upwards pressure on prices, a combination of pluck and poise from first time buyers will ensure that this does little to impact the overall trend of growing demand at this end of the market,’ he explained. The figures also show that the costs of buying and owning a first home have remained broadly stable in February, with lower borrowing costs balancing larger prices and deposits. Average mortgage rates for first time buyers have improved, down 0.56% on a 12 month basis and by a much slighter 0.03% between January and February 2016. February’s average mortgage rate also represents the lowest mortgage rate for first time buyers in over five years. Similarly, the average LTV ratio remains high, meaning first time buyers have been able to borrow more against the value of the home they wish to purchase. February’s average loan to LTVs recorded in 2014/2015 and represents only a 0.1% fall on February 2015. While first time buyer property prices have risen significantly on an annual basis, mortgage lending levels have kept pace. In February, the average purchase price for a first time buyer home stood at £168,539, an increase of £21,320 or 14.5%, on February 2015’s average of £147,219. However, over the same 12 month period, the average size of a first time mortgage grew from £121,534 to £139,088, an increase of 14.4%. Larger deposit costs represent the other side to this balance of affordability, the report points out. In February the average deposit put down by a first time buyer stood at £29,451, an increase of 14.7% or £3,766, on an annual basis. The report suggests that this uptick has been a factor in the growing proportion of first time buyer income which is consumed by deposit costs. In November 2015, a deposit ate up 67.4% of an average first time buyer’s annual income, whereas in February of this year the average deposit consumed, on average 74.9% of their income. However,… Continue reading
