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Auckland sees unexpected property price surge
Average residential property prices in Auckland, New Zealand’s most populous city, increased by 4.2% in November month on month, the biggest rise since March 2014. This took the average price of a home to $876,075 and marks a substantial monthly rise compared to the more modest increases seen in the last seven months. The data from real estate agent Barfoot & Thompson also shows that the median home price increased by 1.9% in November compared to October to $795,000. ‘You have to go back 20 months to March 2014 to find a bigger monthly increase in the average price. For the past seven months, monthly increases have been modest, but last month buyers were as committed as ever to meeting vendor expectations,’ said Barfoot & Thompson director Kiri Barfoot. But she pointed out that while prices have ignored Government and Reserve Bank measures designed to cool prices, there has been a measurable decrease in market activity. In October market activity slowed, and that trend continued into November. The number of sales in November fell 7.7% month on month, the firm’s lowest in a month since February. New listings for the month at 1,683 were also down by 7.5% compared with October and the lowest number in the past seven months. ‘It remains to be seen if prices continue to ignore the tighter regulations, or whether November's prices are the last remnants of momentum that built in the lead up to the introduction of the tighter measures,’ said Barfoot. The data also shows that the price segment which experienced the largest decline in sales numbers in November compared to October was the $500,000 to $750,000 category. In November 286 homes were sold in this price category compared to 353 in October. It is a price category popular with investors with portfolios of less than three properties. The number of sales in November between $750,000 and $1 million, and those over $1 million were similar in number to those sold in October, as was the number of homes sold for under $500,000. Continue reading
New residential rents in UK flat or down slightly across the UK
Rents on new tenancies remained flat or fell slightly over the three months to November in 10 out of the 12 UK regions compared to the three months to October, the latest index data shows. Across the country as a whole, excluding London, the average rent on a tenancy signed during the three months to November was £743 a month, a slight 0.7% fall on the previous three month period. In Greater London the average rent was £1,544, down 1%. The HomeLet Rental Index also shows that just two regions saw rents on new tenancies rise over the period. In Yorkshire and Humberside rents on new tenancies were 0.8% up, averaging £626 a month, while in the East Midlands rents were 1.2% up at £635 a month. Year on year average rents on new tenancies outside of London were 3.8% higher at £743 a month while Greater London has seen even higher increases, up 7.5% compared to a year ago at an average of £1,436 per month. However, the annual growth in rental values in London has slowed from a peak of over 12% in January to 6% in September. In contrast, the rest of the UK saw a marked increase in average rents throughout the spring and summer months. The East Midlands has also seen higher rents year on year, up 6.2% over the last 12 months and rents in both Scotland and the South East of England were up by 6%. ‘We saw rents rise particularly quickly during the first half of the year, before the pace of acceleration slowed in most parts of the country over the autumn. There has been continuous growth in London on a month to month basis in 2015 with the exception of a slight drop in September and November, ending the year with rents in the capital now 108% higher than the rest of the UK,’ said Martin Totty, chief executive officer of HomeLet’s parent company the Barbon Insurance Group. HomeLet has also published new research into landlords’ views about the rental market and their expectations for the year ahead. It found that the vast majority, 91%, of landlords do not plan to increase the amount of rent they charge on their properties in the next six months. In the next year just 34% plant to do so. Totty said that the research suggests that most landlords have a strong relationship with their tenants and are keen to keep them. Indeed, just 4% said they were unhappy with their current tenants, while 18% said high tenant turnover was the most stressful part of being a landlord, more than cited on any other single issue. ‘Being a landlord is a long term investment and attrition of tenants is not something landlords desire; our own clients tell us they would rather retain a good tenant over the longer period than seek additional income,’ he added. Continue reading
Property stamp duty costs in Australia up almost 8% in six months
Stamp duty taxes on property in Australia have increased by 7.9% in the last six months and the bill is now equivalent to almost four months’ worth of earnings, the latest research shows. According to the report from the Housing Industry Association in November 2015 the typical stamp duty bill nationally rose to $19,045 from $17,653 in June. The report also points out that stamp duty is causing mortgage repayments to increase by $1,165 per year, or $34,955 over a 30vyear loan term. ‘The cost of stamp duty has a significant negative multiplier effect causing a downward financial spiral for households. Apart from the immediate effect of being over $19,000 worse off, stamp duty results in mortgage interest payments increasing by about $15,900,’ said HIA senior economist, Shane Garrett. ‘Damage from the tide of stamp duty doesn’t stop there. Home buyers have smaller deposits after stamp duty is paid and must bear larger mortgage debt. As a result, significantly higher LMI charges must then be paid,’ he explained. ‘On a standard home purchase of $527,000, stamp duty can push the LMI premium up by another $7,855. If that’s not bad enough, a further layer of mortgage interest is added on top of the LMI premium if it is capitalised,’ he pointed out. ‘The end result is that the typical stamp duty bill of $19,045 can snowball up to about $50,000 once LMI and mortgage interest are factored in. This is an unacceptable burden to place on ordinary home buyers,’ he added. ‘As state governments rely more and more on revenue from stamp duty, they have been blinded to the obvious consequences of these costs have on prospective first home buyers. Last week’s Productivity Commission report also noted the huge disincentive that stamp duty places on older households wishing to downsize,’ he concluded. A breakdown of the figures show that buyer in the Northern Territory Shane continued to suffer the highest stamp duty bills at $25,600, followed by Victoria at $24,700 and New South Wales at $23,600. Queensland continued to offer the lowest stamp duty bills by a comfortable margin at $6,300 followed by Tasmania at $9,300. Stamp duty bills are the fourth highest in the ACT at $18,400, followed by Western Australia at $16,300 and South Australia at $15,400. Continue reading
