Posts with tag: housing supply

Supply of Properties For Sale has Almost Halved in Ten Years, Reports NAEA

Published On: January 28, 2016 at 12:55 pm

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The National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) has released figures that suggest the supply of properties for sale has almost halved in the last ten years.

It reports that the average estate agent branch had 37 homes on its books last month, compared with 72 per branch in December 2005. Last month’s figure is also

Supply of Properties For Sale has Almost Halved in Ten Years, Reports NAEA

Supply of Properties For Sale has Almost Halved in Ten Years, Reports NAEA

down from 45 properties in December 2014.

In December 2015, there were 360 applicants registered per branch, compared to 302 in December 2005.

The NAEA also found that 44% of its members are witnessing a rise in buy-to-let and second home purchases, as buyers try to beat the 1st April deadline for increased Stamp Duty.

From this date, landlords and second homebuyers will be charged an extra 3% in the tax on properties worth over £40,000. Read more: /16883-2/

Over 2015, there was a 6% increase in mortgage lending by the big high street banks, with a particularly strong end to the year.

In December, mortgage lending by both value and number was 24% higher than in December 2014.

In total, there were 75,745 mortgage approvals, of which 43,975 were for house purchases.

The average size of a mortgage for house purchase was £177,000, according to the British Bankers’ Association.

Nationwide reports that the average house price is currently £196,829 – only slightly down on December’s £196,999.

The building society has put annual house price growth at 4.4%.

The Chief Economist at Nationwide, Robert Gardner, says that looking forwards, “the risks are skewed towards a modest acceleration in house price growth”1.

He adds that with interest rate rises likely to stay on hold for longer than previously expected, demand for property is likely to grow in the coming months.

1 http://www.nationwide.co.uk/~/media/MainSite/documents/about/house-price-index/Dec-Q4-2015.pdf

 

 

Rental Property Supply to Decline

Published On: December 23, 2015 at 10:18 am

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Two in five letting agents expect rental property supply to decline over the next five years, according to the latest report from the Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA).

Rental Property Supply to Decline

Rental Property Supply to Decline

The organisation expects the changes to Stamp Duty for buy-to-let investors – as announced in the Autumn Statement – to hit landlords’ confidence in the sector.

Managing Director of ARLA, David Cox, comments: “This month’s findings are triggered by the Chancellor’s announcements around buy-to-let tax in his Autumn Statement.

“When the rabbit was first pulled out of the hat, we said these changes would be catastrophic for the rental sector and this has been echoed by letting agents across the country. The new Stamp Duty increases will make owning a buy-to-let unprofitable for a lot of landlords and certainly make new investors think twice about purchasing a buy-to-let property.”

Under the changes, buy-to-let investors and second home buyers will be charged an extra 3% in Stamp Duty on purchases over £40,000.

The ARLA study also found that tenants are experiencing fewer rent rises, with under one quarter (23%) of agents reporting rent increases for tenants in November, down on October’s figure of 25% and the lowest this year.

Demand for rental homes rose slightly last month, likely a result of renters preparing themselves for Christmas and New Year.

ARLA member agents registered an average of 34 new tenants per branch in November, up from 33 in October.

Supply of rental housing was also on the up last month, a 9% rise from October’s 173 properties per branch to 189. However, tenants in London are continuing to struggle finding properties, with just 121 homes managed per branch – 36% less than the UK average.

Cox continues: “It’s promising to see that the number of agents reporting rent increases is continuing to decline and this should spread some Christmas cheer amongst renewing tenancies or looking for a new property to rent.

“However, just under a quarter of tenants are still unfortunately seeing hikes in their monthly rent payments. But if we continue to follow trends we’ve seen in previous months, we should see fewer tenants experiencing increases as we welcome in 2016.”1

Do you agree with Cox? Or are the changes to Stamp Duty enough to stop you investing further in the sector, or make you put your rents up?

1 http://www.propertyreporter.co.uk/landlords/btl-stamp-duty-causing-gloominess-among-letting-agents.html

 

 

House Prices Soar as Supply Declines

Published On: November 24, 2015 at 1:18 pm

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House prices have increased by 10.5% in the past year, according to data from estate agent haart.

House Prices Soar as Supply Declines

House Prices Soar as Supply Declines

The average property sold through haart now costs £224,242, a record high for the firm.

The agent also reports that while housing demand has grown, supply has declined.

It found that the amount of new homes for sale is down 10.1% on 12 months ago.

Demand has risen by 6.4% over the year, despite a drop between September and October.

CEO of haart, Paul Smith, says: “UK house prices in October rose faster on a monthly and annual basis than they have since our records began, up 1.9% and 10.5% respectively.

“The surge has resulted in the average property price peaking at £224,242. This trend is the outcome of diminished stock levels, which are currently at their lowest since February, meaning there are now 12 buyers chasing every property to come to market.”

He urges: “The Government must take drastic action to encourage the release of homes suitable for families and prevent record high price rises in 2016 for the core of the UK property market.

“The new Help to Buy ISA should help first time buyers save for their deposit, but it is stimulating demand without addressing the underlying issue of lack of supply.”

Smith continues: “While house prices in the rest of the UK are likely to continue their current trajectory in 2016, the top end of the market, particularly in London, will see a price correction because of the impact of Stamp Duty – likely to consist of a 10% drop in value for homes currently priced over £1m.

“Our data is already beginning to show London falling behind the rest of the UK in terms of growth in house prices as a result of this.”1

1 http://www.propertyindustryeye.com/house-prices-shoot-up-while-supply-falls-over-10-says-haart/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

New listings increase during September

Published On: October 13, 2015 at 10:53 am

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Would-be homeowners and buy-to-let investors have been encouraged with the news that more homes came onto the market in the UK during the last month.

Data from the report by HouseSimple indicates that across the UK, new property listings increased by 9.1% in the last month.

Increases

Between August and September, London saw a 27.1% increase, with supply in Kensington and Chelsea up by 122.2%. Camden also saw a significant rise of 95.7%.

Further north, Sunderland saw new listings increase by 46.7%, while in Cambridge, new homes on the market hit 35.5%. However, in Durham, supply dipped by 21.5%.

North of the border, Dundee recorded the highest number of new homes on the market in Scotland with a 171.1% hike in supply.[1]

After a quiet summer, where Britain faced a critically low level of housing stock, 60% of the 100 towns and cities covered saw an increase in new listings.

New listings increase during September

New listings increase during September

Scottish supply

The Scottish market saw a particular surge in new listings during September, with supply nearly tripling in Dundee. Aberdeen saw a 48.8% increase, while In Edinburgh, listings rose by 28.3%. Perth too saw a good increase, of 24.7%.[1]

London too saw a very good month, with the number of new listings almost hitting 25,000. Just two London boroughs, Croydon and Lambeth, saw a dip in supply.

Alex Gosling, Chief Executive of HouseSimple, noted that, ‘the current housing shortage in the UK has been a major contributory factor in rising property prices.’ He feels, ‘we are in the grip of a severe property shortage and if September hadn’t seen a spike in new property listings we really could have been looking at a full blown supply crisis.’[1]

‘Fortunately the September figures are far more encouraging. Almost 60% of UK towns and cities have seen stock levels rise between August and September. But it’s too early to breath a huge sigh of relief that a property crisis has been averted,’ Gosling continued.[1]

Concluding, he noted that, ‘stock reservoirs still remain dangerously low. September needs to provide the catalyst for the rest of the year. The housing market still has a long road to travel to rebalance supply and demand but these latest listings figures show that we are finally moving in the right direction.’[1]

[1] http://www.propertywire.com/news/europe/uk-new-homes-supply-2015101211079.html

Housing supply falls to 11 year low

Published On: September 24, 2015 at 11:27 am

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A new report suggests that the number of properties available to purchase per estate agent branch dipped to an eleven-year low during August.

Data from the latest report by the National Association of Estate Agents shows that supply of available housing dropped by one-third in the last month, with 38 properties available, in comparison to 55 in July.

Drop

This was the lowest level of housing supply recorded since January 2004, when 38 properties were also available per branch.

August also saw a fall in the number of house hunters, with an average of 408 house-hunters registered per member-branch, in comparison to 462 in July. This was a drop of 12%.[1]

The number of completions in August rose by one to hit an average of ten properties per branch. However, sales made to first-time buyers dipped to their lowest level since July last year. 20% of sales were made to first-time buyers in August, down from 23% in July and 24% in June. This indicates that movement I the market is happening further up the property ladder, with second and third time movers cranking up sales.[1]

Housing supply falls to 11 year low

Housing supply falls to 11 year low

Crisis point

‘We’ve been banging the drum about the dwindling supply of housing for a while and this month’s report reiterates what we’ve been saying-there simply aren’t enough houses to match demand and we’re reaching crisis point,’ said Mark Hayward, managing director of the National Association of Estate Agents.[1]

‘There are now eleven house hunters fighting after every available house which isn’t sustainable. First time buyers are finding themselves being squeezed out of the competition, which of course means it’s taking young buyers longer to get their foot on the first step of the ladder, which will in turn increase pressure on the rental market,’ Mr Hayward concluded.[1]

[1] http://www.propertyreporter.co.uk/property/housing-supply-dr0ps-to-11-year-low.html

 

August sees further drop in new listings

Published On: September 15, 2015 at 3:26 pm

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The property crisis in the UK is showing no signs of abating, with supply falling further in August, according to a new report.

Research conducted by online estate agents HouseSimple.com indicates that new properties being listed in August were down by 6.6%. This was following a 13.2% decrease recorded in July.[1]

Regional falls

In London, the lack of supply is beginning to reach critical levels. The total number of Londoners putting their properties on the market has dipped sharply over the summer months, with new listings down by 24.8% since June.

When compiling its Property Supply Index, HouseSimple.com examines the number of new properties that are listed on Rightmove each month, in more than 100 towns and cities across Britain. The pay-as-yo-go agent also looks at the number fresh properties coming onto the market in all London boroughs. Their latest research indicates that less than a quarter of towns and cities involved in the investigation saw increases in listings during August.

The UK towns and cities that experienced the largest falls in new property listings in August, in comparison to July, were found to be:

Town/City Region % fall in new listings in August vs July
Taunton South West -31.1
Lichfield West Midlands -29.3
Loughborough East Midlands -28.5
Chelmsford East -24.1
Bedford East -22.4
Hemel Hempstead South East -18.7
Eastbourne South East -18.4
Salisbury South West -17.4
Halifax Yorkshire -16.8
Stockton-on-Tees North East -16.7
Derby East Midlands -16.4
Northampton East Midlands -15.8
Winchester South -15.6
Chichester South East -15.0
Sutton Coldfield West Midlands  

-14.7

[1]

Capital Pains

Areas in the Midlands and in the South of England were the most hit regions during the last month, with 12 of 15 cities in these places experiencing the largest drop in new property listings. Taunton saw property listings fall by 31.1% in August, with Lichfield seeing a drop of 29.3%.[1]

In London specifically, HouseSimple.com has indicated that there has been a substantial dip in the number of properties coming onto the market. Since the beginning of June, not one borough in the capital has seen a rise in new property listings, which are down by 24.8% from June to August.[1]

August sees further drop in new listings

August sees further drop in new listings

Kensington and Chelsea, home to the wealthiest in London, has seen the largest fall in listings. New properties coming onto the market were down by 43.6% in this region from the beginning of June. The borough of Haringey also faired poorly, with new stock levels falling by 36% since the start of the summer.[1]

New property listings in London boroughs during August in comparison to June were found to be:

London Borough % fall in new listings in August vs June
Kensington and Chelsea -43.6
Haringey -36.0
Bexley -35.7
Camden -35.5
Newham -32.0
Richmond upon Thames -31.9
Barnet -31.5
City of Westminster -28.7
Southwark -28.3
Waltham Forest -27.7

Frustration

‘Across the country there are thousands of frustrated buyers, with finance in place, ready to purchase, but the property supply reservoir has dried up,’ said Alex Gosling, CEO of online estate agents HouseSimple.com. ‘They must be scratching their heads as to why sellers aren’t marketing, as there’s no clear or single reason why sellers are sitting on their hands. The General Election was expected to be the catalyst for sellers returning to the market.’[1]

‘We would expect to see activity drop off over the summer holidays, so September will give us a better gauge as to how imbalanced supply and demand are right now. The hope is that after a summer when supply fell off a cliff, sellers will rediscover their appetite over the coming months,’ Gosling concluded.[1]

[1] http://www.propertyreporter.co.uk/property/august-sees-66-dr0p-in-new-property-listings.html