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Research reveals deposit gap between Greater London and rest of UK
The average deposit for a Greater London property is nearly three times or 170% more that of the rest of the UK, at £127,000, new research shows. Average deposit has increased by nearly £30,000 or 30% for London home movers in the last three years, the report from My Home Move also shows. However, overall, the average UK deposit size as a proportion of purchase prices has decreased by 1.8% since 2013, but home movers’ deposits remain high as house prices increase. The figures show that national the average property price in 2013 was £162,040 with a deposit of £44,690, rising to £173,202 and £45,534 in 2014 and £182,293 and 46,976 in 2015. In Greater London the average property price was £377,855 in 2013 requiring a deposit of £99,375, rising to 439,399 in 2014 with a deposit of £112,266 and £482,512 in 2015 with a deposit of £127,141. So in the UK as a whole the deposit needed in 2013 was 27.58 of the purchase price, falling to 26.29% in 2014 and then falling again to 25.77% in 2015. But in Greater London in 2013 a buyer needed an average deposit of £26.3% in 2013, falling to 25.55% in 2014 but rising again to 26.35% in 2015. ‘The London property market has always commanded greater prices than anywhere else in the UK but our research has shown just how extreme the situation is becoming,’ said Doug Crawford, chief executive officer of My Home Move. He pointed out that London property prices have risen by 27% in the last three years and while the rest of the UK has seen a small decrease in the average deposit size, those looking for a London home are depositing 170% more than their UK counterparts. ‘This situation is unsustainable and has been driven by rising house prices. For some, their deposit will come from the equity in the property they are selling. However, for many, they will still need to save tens of thousands of pounds to make the move onto and up the property ladder,’ he explained. ‘Ultimately, it still begs the question – who is going to help those looking to enter the capital’s housing market and those on the lower rungs of the ladder, first time buyers and second steppers?’ he pointed out. He also pointed out that earlier this year the firm predicted that 100,000 properties would be purchased in 2016 using gifted deposits courtesy of the Bank of Mum and Dad and based on these figures, it looks like a very large portion of these could be based in the Greater London area. Having analysed over 60,000 purchase records to determine the average deposit size paid by home buyers between 2013 and 2015, My Home Move compared these findings to the average property prices held by the Land Registry for the same period. Continue reading
The growth of London house prices has slowed down, new data suggests
London house price growth has slowed in the first quarter of 2016 and is now nearly three times lower than it was in the last quarter of 2015, new research shows. The London market recorded price growth of 1.2% in the first three months of the year while nearby regions have seen higher price growth, according to the latest UK House Market report from the Lancaster University Management School. For example, the Outer Metropolitan area has seen price growth of 3.1%, Outer South East 2.5% and East Anglia 4.1%, the data from the report shows. The report says that this is in line with the so-called ripple effect, suggesting that substantial house price increases in London over the last few years spread out to surrounding regions over time and have a leading effect on the UK housing market. It suggests that the slowing growth in the London property market has coincided with two factors, possibly working in opposite directions: an increase in the uncertainty of global economic conditions, especially in the East, and the run-up to the introduction on the 01 of April of extra 3% stamp duty on additional property purchases. The Observatory has been set up to monitor for signs of exuberance in prices in the UK regions, and releases its analysis each quarter alongside the house price data. Continue reading
Office space demand increased across major Australian markets in first quarter
Demand for office space across major Australian markets is on the rise in 2016, according to new data from Colliers International. According to the firm’s latest Office Demand Index, a total of 507,799 square meters of demand was recorded in the first quarter of 2016, a 33% increase from the fourth quarter of 2015. Large businesses looking for more than 3,000 square meters of office space accounted for over 50% of the total area enquired for in the first three months of 2016, while representing just 9% of the total number of enquiries, by volume. Small businesses looking for 1,000 square meters or less accounted for almost 80% of the total number of enquiries recorded in the first quarter this year. ‘We have found that compared to this time last year, on average, businesses are enquiring for more space,’ said Simon Hunt, Colliers International managing director of office leasing. ‘On a national level, the average area enquired for as of the first quarter of 2015 was about 888 square meters. In the first quarter of 2016 it increased to 1,050 square meters,’ he added. Notable increases were recorded in Brisbane, where average size required increased to 1,287square meters in the first quarter, up from 774 square meters in the first quarter of 2015, and Canberra, which recorded a significant jump in average size enquired for from 1,167square meters to 1,942 square meters. There was also an increase in average size requirement in the Sydney CBD, from under 1,000 square meters in the first quarter of 2015 to over 1,600 square meters in the first quarter of 2016. Locations that saw a small drop in average size included Sydney Metro and Melbourne CBD. ‘This quarter, we have seen the greatest number of large businesses enquire for office space in almost 10 years, which has contributed to the increase in the average area currently in demand,’ Hunt said. ‘This trend is also flowing through to transactions. In the first quarter of 2016, we have seen an increase of more than 15,000 square meters or 22% in the amount of office space leased. Larger businesses are doing the deals at the moment and this is showing up in both transactional and demand data. In the coming months, we expect smaller businesses will also increase their activity,’ he added. According to Simon Crouch, Colliers International head of tenant advisory, much of this smaller demand had been created by the compulsory acquisition of buildings associated with the Sydney Metro project. ‘Since February 2016 we have been appointed by 10 businesses averaging 300 square meters in size who require expert advice to help them through the relocation process,’ he pointed out. Continue reading
