Written By Em

Em

Em Morley

Increase in Homeowners Hoping to Sell

Published On: July 20, 2015 at 3:13 pm

Author:

Categories: Landlord News

Tags: ,,,

The amount of homeowners hoping to sell their property has risen by 7.1% in the past month compared to the previous month.

The number of properties being marketed over the same period has risen in over two thirds (67%) of major towns and cities, research reveals.

Increase in Homeowners Hoping to Sell

Increase in Homeowners Hoping to Sell

Online estate agent HouseSimple has compiled a report, the Property Supply Index, which details the amount of new properties listed every week on property portal Rightmove in over 100 towns and cities.

The data reveals a distinct North-South divide, as owners in the North of England and Scotland were more active in June and July in marketing property.

Nine out of 15 areas experiencing an increase in new property listings are in the North or Scotland, including Liverpool at 30.4%, Lancaster at 24.3% and Edinburgh at 17.2%.

Towns and cities in the Midlands that feature in the list include Coventry at 21.1%, Hereford at 19% and Lincoln at 17.6%.

Swindon in Wiltshire saw the biggest rise in new property listings in the past month, of 47.3%. Oxford is the only city in the South to feature in the list of largest growth, with an increase of 17.5%.

New listings in Winchester, Hampshire have dropped significantly in the past month, by 17.9%. In Hull, they have declined by 13.7%.

The London housing market has also slowed in recent months.

However, the HouseSimple study reveals that the capital has witnessed an 8.1% increase in new property listings in the last month compared to the previous month. This rise has been felt in over three quarters (78.1%) of London boroughs.

The greatest growth has been in Bexley at 30.6% and the City of Westminster at 29.5%.

The biggest drops have been in Bromley at 11.2% and Kingston upon Thames at 6.6%.

Chief Executive of HouseSimple, Alex Gosling, comments: “A stampede of sellers coming to market was expected after the general election result, but that stampede never materialised.

“In fact, for the first few weeks there appeared to be a fair amount of caution and reluctance among sellers to market.

“Now it appears sellers have waited long enough and we’re starting to see some movement.”1

1 http://www.express.co.uk/finance/city/592301/Britain-puts-houses-market-sellers-stir-property-ladder

Housing Supply Crisis is Worsening, says Rightmove

Published On: July 20, 2015 at 2:12 pm

Author:

Categories: Landlord News

Tags: ,,,

The shortage of supply on the housing market is worsening, says Rightmove.

The property portal has found that the number of new vendors has dropped 10.6% in the past year.

However, Rightmove reveals that demand is still high, with traffic and enquiries to agents both up 22% in June compared to June 2014.

The site also says that asking prices for properties new onto the market have reached another record high, rising 0.1% month-on-month to an average of £294,542.

Housing Supply Crisis is Worsening, says Rightmove

Housing Supply Crisis is Worsening, says Rightmove

Demand is strongest for small properties with up to two bedrooms.

The amount of inquiries for small homes is 24% higher than for larger houses with three or more bedrooms.

However, the greatest decrease in supply is in the standard first time buyer sector.

Miles Shipside, Director of Rightmove, explains: “The greatest mismatch between demand and supply is at the lower end of the property ladder, as no doubt many buyers in this category would like to afford to buy a larger home, but have had to accept that it is out of their reach and downsize their aspirations to increase their chances of a successful purchase.

“The forthcoming extra tax burdens on buy-to-let investors may help to tip the balance in favour of first time buyers, but the consequent drop in rental property supply could push up rents.

“More supply of affordable starter homes for the growing demand from both renters and buyers is required, which means more new builds for both sectors to meet the country’s current and future housing needs.

“The challenge for Government, planners and developers is how best to ensure the right properties are built in the right locations and at more affordable prices.”1

Two agents have reacted to Rightmove’s revelations, noting high property investor activity in the lower price range.

Trevor Binch, Managing Director of Merrick Binch in Coventry, comments: “We’re finding that any properties on the market with us at under £150,000 – so your typical two-beds or some three-bed terraced – are selling immediately.

“There are a lot of investors snapping up these types of properties and this, coupled with the fact that a lot of sellers aren’t coming to market, is making the supply shortage worse.

“While there are some new developments being built in Coventry, there just isn’t enough to satisfy the demand, especially at the lower end of the market.”1

Donald Collins, Director at Go View London in Ealing, adds: “The natural consequence of a growing London population, young professionals trying to get on the ladder and investors looking for long-term investments, is a big shortage of two-bed properties coming to market.

“For properties we have on between £400,000 to £700,000, half of the interest comes from residential buyers and half from investors.

“The fact that investors have a long-term focus of building their portfolio and in many cases handing it down to their kids, means that these kinds of properties in the right locations won’t come back round on the market for about 15-20 years.”1

1 http://www.propertyindustryeye.com/supply-crisis-worsening-says-rightmove-as-new-instructions-dive/

HouseSimple Defends New Fee Structure

Published On: July 20, 2015 at 1:15 pm

Author:

Categories: Landlord News

Tags: ,,,

After introducing a pay-as-you-go fee option, which includes a success fee, online agent HouseSimple explains what its customers want.

The firm also confirms details of Carphone Warehouse founder, Sir Charles Dunstone’s investment in the company and its plans for improving the online estate agency sector.

HouseSimple is due to begin advertising on television “imminently” and will fundraise soon as it hopes to quadruple in size over the next 12 months.

HouseSimple Defends New Fee Structure

HouseSimple Defends New Fee Structure

It will also start advertising on the London Underground in the future.

On the new fees, HouseSimple CEO, Alex Gosling, says: “Until last week, HouseSimple did offer customers a no sale, no fee option.

“We introduced the £995, plus VAT, option back in 2007 but it has consistently been our least popular choice amongst our customers.

“The no sale, no fee price plan has now been discontinued.

“We have listened to our customers and given them what they want.

“We have brought our fees down to a much more appealing and realistic level, while still focusing on offering a high quality service.”

Gosling also states that Dunstone and his business partner invested £5m in HouseSimple.

He explains: “The investment agreement was for £5m and the valuation was in double digits.

“HouseSimple.com is also likely to be raising significantly more in the coming months.

“The company has doubled in size in each of the last two years and is now looking set to quadruple in size over the next 12 months.”1

eMoov’s Russell Quirk places HouseSimple fourth in a ranking of online agents, based on current inventory and weekly run rates. The top ten is as follows:

  1. Purple Bricks
  2. eMoov
  3. House Network
  4. HouseSimple
  5. Tepilo
  6. Hatched
  7. Open Houses
  8. Urban Sales
  9. Estates Direct
  10. MyOnlineEstateAgent.com

1 http://www.propertyindustryeye.com/customers-did-not-want-no-sale-no-fee-says-online-agent/

 

Owning property a pipe-dream for many renters

Published On: July 20, 2015 at 12:53 pm

Author:

Categories: Landlord News

Tags: ,,

A discouraging report suggests that a high number of private renters in the UK believe that they will never be able to afford their own home.

Research from construction and regeneration company Keepmoat indicates that 44% of renters in Britain feel they will be unable to get onto the first rung on the property ladder.[1]

Priced out

Average house prices in England and Wales now stand at £178,000, according to official figures from the Land Registry. However, there remains a significant regional variation in property values. House prices in London for example currently total £462,799.[1]

In general, house prices in the North are generally more affordable. Despite this, 62% of non-homeowners in Liverpool feel that they will never own their own home. 60% of would-be homeowners in Glasgow and Newcastle echoed this sentiment.[1]

Being unable to raise funds for a deposit was the most common reason for not getting onto the property ladder, with 56% of respondents to the survey saying this was the case. Of current homeowners taking part in the survey, 38% said it took between two and five years to save for their deposit. 13% said that it took up to ten years for them to save the required amount.[1]

Owning property a pipe-dream for many renters

Owning property a pipe-dream for many renters

Help…with Help to Buy

More concerning data from the report suggests that there is low awareness of the Government’s Help to Buy scheme. Less than one-third of respondents said that they would be using the initiative to buy their homes, with a further 38% of people claiming that they do not know what the scheme is.[1]

‘It’s clear that the amount of money first time buyers need to raise for a deposit continues to stop many from getting on the property ladder,’ said Dave Sheridan, chief executive of Keepmoat. ‘However, we were surprised that the results show Londoners are more confident about owning a home than those in other cities, particularly in the North,’ he continued.[1]

‘There is plenty of assistance available for buyers in the form of the Help to Buy scheme and help is available when saving for a deposit with the Help to Buy ISA,’ Sheridan added.[1]

[1] http://www.propertywire.com/news/europe/uk-would-be-buyers-2015071710762.html

 

 

Generation Rent Urges Vendors to Sell for Less

Published On: July 20, 2015 at 12:17 pm

Author:

Categories: Landlord News

Tags: ,,,

Generation Rent Urges Vendors to Sell for Less

Generation Rent Urges Vendors to Sell for Less

Tenant group Generation Rent is urging vendors to sell their homes for less than they are worth, in a bid to solve the housing crisis.

Additionally, the organisation believes that landlords letting a flat should charge less than the market rate.

In a post on its website, Generation Rent says that ordinary people have a personal responsibility for the housing crisis.

Zeph Auerbach, who wrote the post, says that homeowners with a mortgage will make a huge profit from their asset, meaning that they are not as affected as the tenants who pay “extortionate rents.”

Auerbach writes: “Let’s put it plain: some of us are winners, some of us are losers.

“And if you are winning by selling or letting at a ludicrously high price, yes, you are continuing to the dire situation for your friends and strangers alike.”

The blog says that when it comes to housing, most people behave like “little caricature capitalists.”

It concludes: “If you are profiting obscenely from the rising housing market, you are contributing to it.”1

1 http://www.generationrent.org/the_uk_housing_crisis_are_you_profiting_from_it

New property listings rise by 7.1% in June

Published On: July 20, 2015 at 11:54 am

Author:

Categories: Landlord News

Tags: ,,

Research conducted by online estate agents HouseSimple.com has revealed that the number of UK homeowners putting their property on the market has increased during the past month.

Index

The agent’s Property Supply Index looks at the number of new properties that are listed on the market each week in over 100 major towns and cities across the UK. In particular, the pay-as-you-go agent studies properties that have been listed on property portal Rightmove.

This month’s report indicates that the number of homes on the market has increased by 7.1% in comparison to May. Stock levels remain low, but these figures serve as encouragement that more homeowners are beginning to regain confidence to attempt to sell their houses.

UK towns and cities that have seen the highest increases in new listings over the previous month were:

Town/City Region % rise in new listings in the past month vs previous month
Swindon South West 47.3
Liverpool North West 30.4
Leicester East Midlands 30.4
Lancaster North West 24.3
Sunderland North East 22
Halifax Yorkshire & the Humber 21.5
Coventry West Midlands 21.1
Hereford West Midlands 19
Lincoln East Midlands 17.6
Oxford South East 17.5
Dundee Scotland 17.5
Edinburgh Scotland 17.2
Blackpool North West 17.2
Hartlepool North East 17.1
Bolton North West 16.3

[1]

Divide

Swindon recorded the largest rise in new property listings, with a large increase of 47.3% during the last month. The figures indicate a substantial north-south divide, with homeowners in the north of the UK more pro-active in registering their properties over the period. Nine of fifteen new property-listing risers are in the north of England or Scotland.[1]

The largest drops in new listings on the market in major UK towns and cities over the last month were recorded in the following regions.

Town/City Region % fall in new listings in the past month vs previous month
Winchester South East 17.9
Hull Yorkshire & the Humber 13.7
Doncaster Yorkshire & the Humber 12.5
Cambridge East 8.7
Nottingham East Midlands 8.1
Torquay South West 7.6
Grimsby Yorkshire & the Humber 6.2
Norwich East 5.8
Glasgow Scotland 5.7

[1]

Winchester in the South East of England has seen new listings dip sharply by 17.9% during the past month. Hull and Doncaster have seen falls of 13.7% and 12.5%.[1]

New property listings rise by 7.1% in June

New property listings rise by 7.1% in June

Stampede

Alex Gosling, CEO of online estate agents HouseSimple.com stated that, ‘a stampede of sellers coming to market was expected after the General Election result, but that stampede never materialised.’ He believes that in fact, ‘for the first few weeks there appeared to be a fair amount of caution and reluctance amongst sellers to market.’[1]

Mr Gosling suggests now however, ‘it appears sellers have waited long enough and we’re starting to see some movement.’ He appreciates that, ‘new stock levels are still quite low but it will be reassuring for the market to see that two thirds of UK towns and cities have seen stock levels rise in the past month.’[1]

Concluding, Gosling said, ‘the market still needs more stock to temper house price growth. One of the reasons why prices haven’t cooled and are seemingly on a relentless, upwards trajectory has been a lack of new properties coming onto te market, especially in London. Hopefully, we’re going to start seeing a rebalancing of supply and demand.’[1]

[1] http://www.propertyreporter.co.uk/property/new-property-listings-up-71.html