Tag Archives: css
HMRC figures shows UK property sales cooling
Sales of properties in the UK fell by 4.8% between August and September but are still 5% higher compared to the same period in 2013, the latest data shows. The figures from HMRC show that the provisional seasonally adjusted sales count reached 97,450 residential sales and 7,880 non-residential. The pattern since the beginning of the 2013/2014 financial year has been of a general month on -month increase in transactions for the seasonally adjusted data until February 2014, then a gradual decrease followed by a flattening out of transaction numbers. According to David Newnes, director of Your Move and Reeds Rains estate agents, the figures show that the property market is settling back into a period of steadier growth after toning down the temperature in the last few months. ‘Price growth has cooled, with September seeing the lowest monthly increase in property prices so far this year and transactions have also dipped on a monthly basis. Some of that energy loss is a consequence of lower lending levels, which dipped in July and August,’ he explained. ‘Some is down to a drop off in demand at the higher end of the market, as foreign investors rein back their purchases while sterling stays strong. Uncertainty over rate rises completes a trio of hesitation, although it has been made clear that eventual rate rises will be brought in gradually,’ he added. He also pointed out that while the market may appear to rebalancing, demand at the lower end remains positive, with sales of typical first-time buyer properties like flats stable. ‘Greater availability of higher LTV loans enables more new buyers to get onto the housing ladder,’ said Newnes. ‘Help to Buy has played a vital role in this regard, and has inspired much more confidence in the lower end of the market, confidence which is now being translated into a sustained demand for first time buyer property,’ he added. Continue reading
Overseas investors become largest investors in UK commercial property
Overseas investors have for the first time overtaken UK institutions to become the largest owners of UK commercial property, new data shows. The value of portfolios held by overseas owners has more than doubled, up by 129%, over the last decade to £94 billion, according to the Property Industry Alliance. The increase means that overseas investors now own almost a quarter, 24%, of all commercial property investment in the UK, the Property Data Report 2014 shows, with three quarters of this investment in London. By contrast the total owned by UK institutions fell by 16% over the decade to £75 billion, representing just under one fifth of the £385 billion invested in commercial buildings. ‘The annual Property Data Report is an invaluable resource which sets out clearly key facts about commercial property and shows the crucial role it plays in the UK’s economy,’ said Sir Robert Finch, chairman of the Property Industry Alliance. ‘Aside from its contribution to the economy, which the report shows to be sizeable, the commercial property industry is also a platform for virtually all the country’s other major industries and a significant contributor to the financing of retirement. Its attractiveness to investors from both the UK and overseas is therefore to be welcomed,’ he added. The research also reveals that average rental increases over the last 10 years in the office sector of 1.1% and 0.5% in the retail sector have increased at a much slower rate than other business costs, and well below the rate of retail price inflation of 3.3%. Drawing on recent work by the Investment Property Forum, the report highlighted that of the £683 billion total UK commercial stock, retail is the largest sector by value at £305 billion, followed by offices at £195 billion and then industrial property at £126 billion. Other commercial property, including hotels and leisure, was valued at £58 billion. Continue reading
Third of new homes in London in next five years set to be in the east
Almost a third of all new homes planned for London over the next five years will be concentrated east of the city’s financial district, a new analysis shows. A total of over 55,000 homes will be built in just four boroughs, according to the report from international property adviser, Savills, which identifies a shift in the capital’s centre of gravity towards the east. It says that the boroughs of Newham, Tower Hamlets, Greenwich and Barking and Dagenham will account for 29% of all new homes planned for London in the five years to the end of 2018. ‘The Olympics played a hugely important role in opening up the area to investment and transport improvements are now driving occupier, investor and developer demand in previously overlooked east London postcodes,’ said Susan Emmett, Savills residential research director. ‘This is changing the shape of London and its property market, with a discernible pattern of emerging development hugging the East London Line portion of the new London Overground. The network extension to Barking Riverside and the completion of Crossrail with give a further boost,’ she added. The analysis report points out that lower average capital values in the east of London have provided developers with the opportunity to build much needed homes that are affordable for those living and working in London. However, while central boroughs such as Westminster and Kensington and Chelsea remain the most expensive, the biggest increases in value have been seen away from London’s core over the past year, particularly in cheaper locations to the east. But, not only have prices increased ahead of the Greater London average, transaction volumes have also received a dramatic boost. In Tower Hamlets, the number of homes changing hands is now double the pre-peak norm, while deals in Newham are up almost 50% year on year. Key emerging residential areas include Stratford with 6,500 new homes, including 2,800 in East Village, Canning Town and Royal Docks with 8,000 homes, Canary Wharf with 4,500 homes at Wood Wharf and 850 at Asda Crossharbour and Greenwich Peninsula with 10,000 new homes. Average prices currently range from £500 to £700 per square foot in Canning Town and Royal Docks and £550 to £750 in Stratford, accessible to households with an average income of over £70,000. In Canary Wharf, popular with financial sector employees both as owners and tenants, values range from £700 to £1,200 per square foot. Greenwich Peninsula is expected to achieve values in the £550 to £850 range. ‘It is this dynamic of rapidly rising prices, albeit from a low base, and the strength of demand that will present developers with their biggest challenge. Market strength has pushed the value of new build in Canary Wharf, the most established East of City location, to £700 to £1,200 per square foot, out of the reach of the… Continue reading
