Posts with tag: house price growth

UK property price increases slow in April

Published On: June 16, 2015 at 12:22 pm

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Official data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) released today shows that UK house price growth slowed in the year to April, with a reduction in rises recorded in the capital part of the reason.

The ONS figures indicate a rise of 5.5% in the twelve months to April, in comparison to a 9.6% increase in the year to March. This is the slowest annual property price growth since December of 2013. The ONS clearly stated that, ‘the pace of annual house price growth fell across the majority of the UK in April 2015.’[1]

Capital pains

Despite rising by 4.3%, this was the lowest recorded increase in London for over two-and-a-half years. Jonathan Samuels, chief executive of Dragonfly Property Finance, said that, ‘if, as this report suggests, the extent of the drop-off in annual prices between March and April is due to the price slowdown in London, this underlines quite powerfully the extent to which the capital can skew the UK average.’[1]

More encouragingly, Samuels went on to suggest, ‘while annual London prices fell below the UK average for the first time in nine years in April, I wouldn’t expect them to stay there for long.’[1]

UK property price increases slow in April

UK property price increases slow in April

UK increases

In the twelve months to April, property prices rose across the UK, with Northern Ireland recording the largest rise of 8.8%. Prices in England increased by 5.8%, with Scotland showing a rise of 2.2% and Wales 1.3%.[1]

Month-on-month, UK prices dipped by 1.3% from March, with the average property price now £271,000.[1]

 

[1] http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-33148004

 

House prices rise more in high-employment areas

Published On: May 21, 2015 at 9:15 am

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New research released today from Lloyds Bank has indicated that house prices seem to grow quicker in UK areas where employment is at its highest.

According to the research, the ten regions of the country with the most people in work have seen the average cost of a property rise by 23% since 2009. This is in comparison to 17% for the nation as a whole.[1]

Working Rewards

Removing London from the findings gives an even more definite look to the difference between areas. The average home value in the UK has risen by 11% when the capital is not considered within the results. None of the top places for unemployment were found to be in Greater London.

Two of the regions with the UK’s highest employment rate were Hart and Winchester in Hampshire, which saw property values grow by 33% and 37% respectively during the last five years. [1]

Within the three areas with the most unemployment-Hull, Middlesbrough and Wolverhampton-increases were much lower, at just 2%, 1% and 12% respectively. Other areas with high unemployment, such as Walsall in the West Midlands, have seen no change in the cost of house prices since 2009. Areas such as South Tyneside have actually recorded a drop during the same period.

House prices rise more in high-employment areas

House prices rise more in high-employment areas

Clear Relationship

Andy Hulme, Lloyds Bank mortgages director, noted that, ‘there has been a very clear relationship between conditions in the local jobs market and house price performance during the period since the housing market downturn between 2007 and 2009.’

‘The past few years have underlined the importance of local economic health in determining house price behaviour, he added.[1]

This certainly seems to be the case when the top twenty areas for both high and low employment are considered. For the twenty areas with the largest employment rate, average property prices have increased by 25% since 2009. In the twenty regions where employment is low, the average increase has been just 3%[1]

[1] http://www.rman.co.uk/latest-news/article/high-employment-areas-have-seen-house-prices-rise-most

House price growth rise prompts high forecast

Published On: May 20, 2015 at 12:40 pm

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Categories: Landlord News

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Latest statistics from the Office for National Statistics have led one particular analyst to change his forecast for the entire 2015 housing market.

Growth

The figures showed that UK house price growth rose to an annual rate of 9.6% in the twelve years to March. This was in comparison to the yearly rate of 7.4% recorded in February. [1]

Regionally, the biggest rise was recorded in Scotland, with an annual increase of 14.6%. According to the Office of National Statistics, the cost of an average home north of the border now stands at a record £207,000.[1]

Additionally, the report suggests that the number of mortgages for property in Scotland increased by almost 50% between February and March. A good proportion of these transactions were for houses costing in excess of £500,000. As way as explanation for the surge, the Office for National Statistics said that, ‘it should also be noted that the Land Buildings Transaction Tax replaced UK stamp duty land tax in Scotland from April 1 2015.’[1]

In England, annual growth in the year to March was recorded in most regions. The East recorded the highest annual growth with a rise of 11.4%, followed by London and the South East, which both saw rises of 11.2%. London still has the largest average house price within the United Kingdom at £498,000.[1]

House price growth rise prompts high forecast

House price growth rise prompts high forecast

Increased optimism

In line with the encouraging figures, IHS Global Insight has decided to increase their forecast for house price growth during this year. Howard Archer, economist at the firm, said that, ‘we are lifting our forecast house price increase in 2015 to six per cent from five per cent, partly due to the increased upward impact on prices coming from a lack of properties on the market.’[1]

Archer stated that, ‘London may have slipped behind other parts of the south east but that obscures an evolving property market within the capital. Our research shows house prices in Hackney rising at twice the rate of other, more traditionally expensive boroughs.’[1]

[1] http://www.estateagenttoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2015/5/latest-house-price-data-leads-to-higher-2015-forecast

 

London no longer top region for house price growth

Published On: May 15, 2015 at 11:29 am

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Categories: Property News

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Figures released today have indicated that house prices in East Anglia and the south-east are rising at a quicker rate than those in London.

Data from the LSL/Acadata house price index shows that London is not the front-runner in regional house price growth for the first time in the past four and a half years. However, it must be noted that the index for April could contain figures conduced from the pre-election slowdown.

Decline

Statistics from the report indicate that sales were down by 10% in the first-quarter of 2015, with election uncertainty the likely cause. House purchase mortgage approvals were also down by nearly 2% year-on-year to April.

London no longer top region for house price growth

London no longer top region for house price growth

Acadata suggests that the average house price in England and Wales is actually at a new high of £275,961.[1]

South-East rise

In the South East of England, the annual price inflation for property is now 7.1%. East Anglia recorded a figure of 6.9%, whereas London’s annual inflation is only 6.8%.[1]

Peter Williams, analyst at Acadata, said that, ‘we don’t know at this stage if the decline in London’s dominant position will be reversed now that the results of the general election are known.’ He feels that now the uncertainty of an impending mansion tax has been removed, the market should return to strength.

However, Williams noted that, ‘the Chancellor’s 12% SDLT rate on properties costing in excess of £1.5m remains in place.’ He believes that,’ ‘this may be one of the main causes of the current slowdown in property sales in prime central London.’ More positively, Mr Williams went on to say that, ‘all the evidence suggests that generally, confidence in the housing market will increase, so a more buoyant market across England and Wales is likely.’[1]

[1] http://linkis.com/com/H8Luy

 

400,000 Homes are Worth £1m or More Due to Spiralling Prices

Published On: February 2, 2015 at 11:14 am

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Categories: Property News

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Last year, 160 families saw their property’s value rise to £1m or more due to mounting house prices in the UK.

There are now 400,000 homeowners whose houses are worth £1m or more, as the combined value of homes is worth £836 billion.1

Experts predict that this rate will continue to rise to around 200 per day this year. However, lots of these families are still cash-poor due to their wealth being invested in their pricey property.

400,000 Homes are Worth £1m or More Due to Spiralling Prices

400,000 Homes are Worth £1m or More Due to Spiralling Prices

In 2014, three times the number of seven-figure costing homes sold than a decade ago, revealed Savills estate agents and the Sunday Times.1

In Britain, there are over 10,600 streets with an average property price of at least £1m. On 12 streets in London, you cannot buy even just a garage for less than that.1

In the most expensive area, Kensington Palace Gardens, the average house price is £42.7m.1 In London, there are more properties worth over £1m than the whole of the UK combined. However there are areas where there are many property millionaires, such as Cornwall, Cheshire, Edinburgh, and Suffolk.

The Sunday Times’ report of Land Registry and local authority figures found that seven-figure property sales has increased up to eight-fold in some parts since the 2007 property boom.1

Property sales worth at least £1m in Cambridge rose 200% since before the recession. In Hackney, and Lewisham, this figure increased by 814% and 275% correspondingly.1

There are around 275,000 properties worth £1m or more in London and 72,100 in the South East. Seven-year house sales in the East of England and the South West have risen 35% and 17% respectively since 2006-07. This is believed to have been caused by Londoners selling their £1m homes and buying mortgage-free in the countryside.1

Property experts think that most of those owning £1m or more homes do so by accident. These houses would have been reasonably priced ten or 20 years ago, and the value has spiralled in the last few years. Concerns are building that these homeowners will be unfairly affected by Labour’s planned mansion tax, which would see those with properties worth more than £2m paying £250 a month.

1 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2935393/The-rise-Britain-s-homillionaires-Property-price-boom-means-extra-400-000-properties-worth-1m-more.html

Property Price Growth Remains Slow

Published On: January 29, 2015 at 2:22 pm

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Property price progression is staying slow, revealed findings from two leading researchers.

House prices in England and Wales in the year to December increased by 7%, down from 7.2% in November, and the fourth consecutive month that the annual rate has dropped, according to the Land Registry.1

Building society Nationwide’s recent study corresponds to these discoveries.

Despite finding that property prices in the UK rose by 0.3% in January, the annual rate of growth reduced to 6.8%.1

The average UK house price was £188,446 in January, according to Nationwide. The Land Registry found the average property price in England and Wales was £177,766 in December.1

Both lots of data reveal that average prices have been steady since last summer. Nationwide believe the reasons for this slowdown “remain unclear”1, as the general economy has continued to recover.

Robert Gardner, Nationwide’s Chief Economist, says: “Annual house price growth continued to soften at the start of 2015.”

He adds that the amount of mortgage approvals for house purchases has been around 20% less than the level seen at the start of 2014, and surveyors continue to report lower levels of new buyer enquiries.

Property Price Growth Remains Slow

Property Price Growth Remains Slow

Drop in sales

Henry Pryor, property expert, says that he predicts this slowdown will last until at least after the general election.

He says: “The heat is clearly coming out of the market but it is too early to tell what effect the Stamp Duty changes announced in the Autumn Statement may have.”1

Both sets of research reflect recent data from HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC), in which monthly figures for the whole of the UK show that sales have dropped in the last months of last year.

One reason for the slowdown in the housing market is that the peak seen in late 2013 and early 2014 was motivated by Government systems such as the Funding for Lending Scheme (FLS) and Help to Buy.

Some of the suppressed demand from earlier years, when getting a mortgage was extremely hard due to the financial crisis, may have been exhausted.

The rise in prices in the last few years, which has continued to surpass earnings growth, has pushed homeownership further from aspiring buyers.

Gardner, however, remains confident that sales will pick up again soon: “If the economic backdrop continues to improve as we and most forecasters expect, activity in the housing market is likely to regain momentum in the months ahead.

“It is encouraging that the number of new homes built in England was up 8% in the year to the third quarter of 2014.”1

1 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-31034821