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Property sales up 14.5% in Scotland in last quarter of 2015 and prices up 1.6%
Residential property sales in Scotland increased by 14.5% in the final three months of 2015 compared to the same period in 2014, the latest official data shows. Prices increased too, up 1.6% to £167,734, with the highest price rise recorded in Inverclyde at 13.1%, according to the figures from the Registers of Scotland (RoS). ‘As well as a significant increase in the volume of sales this quarter, prices have reached their highest since RoS began compiling quarterly statistics in 2003. Combined, this indicates a more robust and active property market,’ said RoS commercial services director, Kenny Crawford. The highest percentage rise in volume of sales was recorded in Midlothian, with an annual increase of 30.2% compared with the same quarter last year. The City of Edinburgh recorded the highest volume of sales, up 21.4% while the largest drop was in Aberdeen City with sales down 12%. The highest average price is in Edinburgh where values have increased by 3.2% year on year to £233,255, while the largest fall was in Dumfries and Galloway, a drop of 9.9% to an average of £130,275. The total value of sales across Scotland registered between October and December increased by 16.3% to just under £4.83 billion, the highest value of sale for any quarter since the second quarter of 2009. Edinburgh remained the largest market with sales of just under £824 million for the quarter, an increase of 25.3% on the previous year. East Ayrshire recorded the highest increase in value with sales of over £66 million, up 33.9% and Aberdeen had the largest decrease in overall market value, down 13.6 to over £273 million on last year. All property types showed an increase in sales volumes, with flats showing the biggest increase at 18.4%. In terms of prices, flats were the only property type to show an increase in average prices, up 0.6% to £130,679. Detached, semi-detached and terraced properties all saw decreases in average prices of 0.3%, 1.4% and 3.5% respectively. Simon Brown, partner and head of residential sales at CKD Galbraith, pointed out that the Scottish property market as a whole has endured many changes over the last year and more are to come. ‘The 3% levy on second homes being introduced in April will no doubt bring a flurry of property sales to the market to beat the deadline as well as impact house prices as buyers of buy to lets will seek to pass on the extra purchase costs by reducing the price they are prepared to pay,’ he explained. ‘Demand for prime property at the top end of the market looks set to continue, especially in Edinburgh and the surrounding areas. Generally, the Scottish property market is demonstrating healthy growth with good quality properties selling quickly and some very encouraging signs for the year ahead especially as we approach the prime Spring selling period,’ he added. Michelle Grant, investment director at Grant Property, believes that the figures are… Continue reading
Rural land prices in the UK set to fall in 2016, says RICS
Rural land prices in the UK are expected to fall throughout 2016 due to a global drop in crop prices, according to the latest report from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). Some with 34% more rural surveyors expect to see prices drop than rise which could make rural property more attractive to non-farmers. Across all farming sectors, demand for rural land is expected to fall over the next 12 months. While in the last half of 2015, the only areas where demand for land grew were the North East and South East of England. Land yields remained relatively stable over the second half of the year at 1.8%, from 1.7% previously, while arable and pasture land rents fell by 4.5% and 4% respectively over the course of the year. The RICS data shows that 25% of rural land sales are to non-farmers such as people starting up cottage industries. This is up from 18% in the first six months of 2015 and it is a trend that is strongest in the south east of England where sales to non-farmers stood at 32%. The data also shows that property developers accounted for just 1%, a decrease of 2% in the second half of 2015. While saes to individual farmers fell from 62% to 57%. The report explains that this comes at a time when commercial and residential property prices in towns and cities are continuing to rise and this is likely to make rural land increasingly attractive to those outside traditional farming communities. Already, a quarter of all countryside land is being purchased by non-farmers, so called lifestyle buyers or hobby farmers and RICS expects this trend to increase. ‘Start-up businesses do not have to be confined to the trendy streets of East London, Britain’s countryside has a great deal to offer young entrepreneurs. Market conditions appear to be encouraging a wave of new types of rural business, and help must be given to support this trend further if our countryside communities are to thrive,’ said RICS chief economist Simon Rubinsohn. ‘New entrants to farming businesses continue to face barriers, but at RICS we are currently working with the Fresh Start Land Enterprise Centre (FSLEC) who are developing a pilot matching service for potential land entrepreneurs, helping to bring together those looking for new opportunities in agriculture with those who have land and rural real estate to let,’ he pointed out. Continue reading
New home building not keeping up with demand in UK
Demand for rented homes in the UK is set to grow by 1.1 million over the next five years despite various government policies to boost home building, according to new research. The Government has a target of building 400,000 new affordable homes for sale over the course of this parliament, but an additional 220,000 homes for rent a year are still needed, according to new analysis from real estate adviser Savills. It’s report says that while policy will curb some of the demand for rented homes, demand is still going to be high as the economic recovery and ongoing low interest rate environment have done little to reverse the growing need for rented housing. Rather, house price inflation ahead of wage growth has served to push home ownership further out of reach for many, at a time when stock in the social rented sector has actually shrunk, by 2.8% in the past five years, pushing more households into private renting. According to the English Housing Survey, private renting has been growing by 17,500 households per month on average over the 10 years to 2014. Government housing policy, including Starter Homes, a greater number of Shared Ownership homes and access to larger equity loans through Help to Buy London, seeks to reverse this trend by helping people access the property ladder. ‘But demand for rented homes could still rise more sharply than we have forecast. We would question whether policies can accelerate house building enough to see the Government’s target of 400,000 affordable homes for sale reached in the timescale set,’ said Susan Emmett, director of Savills residential research. ‘And given the overlap between the different schemes, each focused at similar parts of the market, it is possible that one scheme could simply replace the other rather than providing additional homes,’ she explained. ‘This analysis demonstrates that we still need to provide a substantial number of homes for rent. Government policy should focus on supporting the development of new homes to rent as well as to buy,’ she added. Instead, as the need for rented homes grows, so recent policy announcements are set to constrain the supply of rental homes. The introduction of a stamp duty surcharge of 3% on buy to let properties and the restriction on tax relief on mortgage interest payments are likely to limit the ability of private investors to expand their portfolios, the report says. This presents a major opportunity for large scale institutional investors to step into the gap, with expectations that they will remain exempt from the tax changes and become increasingly attractive sources of bulk finance for developers. It also points out that investors are looking both in London and beyond to cities with high and growing concentrations of households in the private rented sector. The Savills investment matrix highlights Manchester, Reading, Edinburgh… Continue reading
