Tag Archives: shows
Average residential rents in Australian capital cities falling
Residential rental rates in Australian capital cities fell by 0.2% last month, down to $487 per week, but are up 1.1% over the past 12 months. It is the slowest annual rise in capital city rents recorded by the CoreLogic RP Data monthly rental report since date was first gathered in December 1995. The firm’s research analyst Cameron Kusher said that the sluggish pace of rental appreciation continues to be attributed to the ongoing boom in home construction across Australia’s capital cities accompanied by record high participation in the housing market from investors. A breakdown of the figures shows that Sydney and Hobart have recorded the greatest increases in weekly rents and over the past three months rents are lower in all cities except for Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra. The report says that Sydney and Melbourne are recording relatively stronger rental growth despite a large surge in new supply and high levels of investment purchasing. Sydney and Hobart also recorded the greatest annual increases in weekly rents while rents in Perth, Darwin and Canberra continue to decline. With home values growing faster than rents, gross rental yields are at a record low level and continue to edge lower, the report adds. Continue reading
New single UK wide property index set for early 2016 launch
A new official UK wide residential property index is set to be published for the first time in the first half of next year, it has been confirmed. Work on the index has been slower than anticipated due to access to property data delaying the finalisation of the methodology to be used, according to an update report from the Office of National Statistics. Since a consultation was launched last year work has been focussed on securing the necessary approval for implementation of the new house price index, taking forward the legal work to secure access to property attributes data and further investigating the commitments made in the consultation response. The ONS said that good progress has been made in a number of areas. Firstly, each of the departments involved has now had approval for implementation of the new index. Secondly, in response to feedback from the consultation, the use of GOV.UK has been investigated as a central publication point for the new index. Indeed, as a result of this investigation, it is proposed that the new UK house price index will be published via the Land Registry pages of GOV.UK providing a single and central access point for users. Further details will be made available in due course. However, a spokesman explained that securing the access to property attributes data has been slower than anticipated, which has meant the analysis required to finalise the methodology for the new index has been delayed. ‘It is expected that this access should be resolved shortly,’ the spokesman added. Over the next few months the focus of the development work will be to finalise access to the data required for the new index. This will allow the index methodology to be finalised and subsequently an article to be published fully explaining the new methodology and production process for users. Work will also be done to begin testing the production of the new index and start planning the implementation of the new index and the transition for users. Further details regarding the transition for users will be made available later in the year. ‘Whilst there is still a large amount of work to take forward, it is anticipated the new index will be ready for publication in the first half of 2016,’ the ONS spokesman added. Continue reading
Property equity release to older home owners in UK up 17%
Retired home owners in the UK cashed in more than £750 million of property wealth in the first six months of the year as the equity release market continued to expand, an new analysis shows. The average amount released nearly was almost £68,500, an increase of £3,500 on the same period last year, according to the half year equity release report from over 55s finance specialist Key Retirement. The total released £753 million, an increase of 17%. The firm said that the increase highlights pensioners’ confidence in using property wealth for retirement planning. A breakdown of the data shows there are, however, wide regional variances ranging from average releases in the North West of over £53,000 to over £142,000 in London. Across the country eight out of 12 regions saw growth in the value of property wealth released with the North East recording a 50% rise, the South East 35% and London a 30% increase. The value released dropped 13% in the North West. Eight out of 12 regions recorded rises in plan sales with three virtually unchanged. London saw a 28% rise and the North East a 31% increase The money is being used to boost standards of living in retirement with 58% of customers using some or all of their cash to improve their home or garden while 28% have used their property wealth to pay for holidays. Family and friends are also benefiting from retired homeowners’ property wealth with 25% of over 55s handing out cash to relatives, according to the report. However mortgage debt, including interest only loans, is emerging as a major issue with 23% of customers paying off home loans with some or all of the money, compared to 20% for the same period of 2014. Around 29% also used the cash to pay off credit cards or loans. The research also reveals that equity release customers are getting older. The average age rose to 71 in 2015, from 69 previously, but they are also wealthier thanks to house price rises with average property values rising 9% to £271,248 from £249,108. ‘Property wealth is making a massive contribution to retirement planning and the equity release market is growing rapidly in response with double digit growth. The average amounts released at £68,500 are more than 50% bigger than the average pension pot and are also tax-free highlighting the advantages of using property wealth in retirement,’ said Dean Mirfin, technical director at Key Retirement. ‘Cuts in pension allowances and contribution levels plus the review of pension tax treatment underlines that property investments are major assets which should be considered as part of anyone’s retirement planning,’ he added. Continue reading
