Posts with tag: investors

Demand from UK buyers falls in opening months of 2017

Published On: May 10, 2017 at 4:22 pm

Tags: investors,landlords,property demand,property market

Demand for property in the UK has slipped since the start of the year, with Wales seeing the largest fall, according to the most recent report from eMoov.

The report shows that demand from buyers is presently 33.8%- a fall of 17.56% since the end of 2016.

By UK country, demand stands at 39.4% in England, 36.18% in Scotland and by 27.35% in Wales.

Highest Demand

The eMoov index measures demand in 150 towns and cities and shows that the greatest levels of demand were in Rugby, Portsmouth and Bristol, standing at 68.29%, 66.7% and 64.43% respectively.

On the other hand, the lowest demand was found to be in Aberdeen (14.11%), Hartlepool (15.43%) and Middlesbrough (19.15%).

In 2017 to date, Stoke-on-Trent (82.25%), Stockton-on-Tees (77.5%) and Walsall (65.09%) have seen the greatest increases in buyer demand.

However, demand has been steadily falling in London commuter towns and cities. Guildford, Watford and Cambridge saw declines of 35.84%, 35.73% and 29.74%.

Demand from UK buyers falls in opening months of 2017

Affordability

Chief executive officer of eMoov Russell Quirk, said: ‘With many of the UK’s major cities becoming too expensive for homeowners in the region and travel infrastructure improvements allowing us to live further away from work, it is no surprise that places such as Rugby and Portsmouth have grown in prominence amongst UK buyers. It isn’t just those in London that are looking outside of the larger city boundaries and opting for more affordable towns in the surrounding area.’[1]

Mr Quirk also observed that buyer demand in London is down by 5%. Bexley has seen the most demand at 56.13%, followed by Newham at 51.82% and Havering at 50.51%.

The largest falls in the capital were in Greenwich (-60.83%), Lambeth (-57.62%) and Hounslow (52.69%).

Presently, Westminster has the lowest level of London buyer demand at 10.14%, which was followed by Kensington and Chelsea at 11.49%.

[1] http://www.propertywire.com/news/uk/demand-buyers-uk-falls-first-months-2017/

16% rise in Stamp Duty cash, despite transaction falls

Published On: May 2, 2017 at 9:33 am

Author: Em Morley

Categories: Property News

Tags: housing market,investors,landlords,Stamp Duty

Latest figures from HMRC indicate that there has been a 5% fall in the number of transactions commanding Stamp Duty during the opening quarter of 2017, in comparison to the same period in 2016.

That is unsurprising, given that the opening quarter of 2016 saw a surge of investors looking to purchase before the additional 3% of Stamp Duty was enforced in April.

This said, the estimated receipts from Stamp Duty in Q1 2017 is £1,995m from residential transaction-16% greater than the previous year, despite a fall in sales.

Falls

The number of transactions valued between £250,000 and £500,000 slipped by 10% during the period. However, the number of ‘high Stamp Duty’ transactions during the opening three months of the year (those for homes over £500,000) fell by 14%.

This amounted a total of 22,600-the lowest quarterly figures for two years.

16% rise in Stamp Duty cash, despite transaction falls

Shaun Church, director of the mortgage broker Private Finance, said: ‘The statistics make it clear that the upper-end of the market has unfairly borne the brunt of … tax reform. A healthy property market needs movement and fluidity at all levels and across all tenures, but it appears that the changes have unfairly targeted the upper-end of the market which does little to help the cause of first-time buyers.’[1]

Matt Robinson, chief executive at the Nested Agency, also noted: ‘The government’s strategy of raking in yet more money from SDLT is working well for them but the result is a near failure for the health of the market. The liquidity of homes in London has slowed to a worrying level and with a snap election just weeks away, the normally busy spring market is bound to suffer further uncertainty.’[1]

[1] https://www.estateagenttoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2017/4/government-trousers-16-more-stamp-duty-despite-transactions-dip

Property price inflation at 12-year high in some cities

Published On: April 28, 2017 at 9:46 am

Author: Em Morley

Categories: Property News

Tags: house price growth,investors,property prices,residential property

Residential property price growth at city level gathered pace during the first quarter of the year, according to the latest Hometrack UK cities house price Index.

Property price growth in major cities increased by 3.5% during Q1 2017, driven by rises in Manchester, Birmingham and Newcastle.

Rises

Manchester is still the largest growing city in the UK, with annual property price rises of 8.8%. This was followed by Birmingham, which posted growth of 8% over the same period.

House price affordability, coupled with record low mortgage rates, is driving demand for property in Britain.

Birmingham, Manchester and Newcastle are posting property price increases not seen since the middle of 2005. In addition, these regions are offsetting weaker growth in southern cities, such as London and Oxford, where pressures on affordability are having a detrimental impact.

The Index reveals that the annual rate of growth for UK cities analyzed was running at an average of 6.4%.

Property price inflation at 12-month high in some cities

Taking Advantage

Richard Donnell, insight director at Hometrack, said: ‘Buyers outside the south of England appear to be shrugging off concerns over Brexit and a squeeze on real incomes to take advantage of low mortgage rates.’[1]

‘This is shifting the dynamics of the housing market. Cities that have been driving house price growth over the last 2-3 years, such as London and Cambridge, are now seeing a significant slowdown while large regional cities continue to register robust and sustained levels of house price growth,’ he continued.[1]

In addition, Mr Donnell said the Prime Minister’s decision to call a snap general election for the 8^th June could create some short-term uncertainty in the market.

However, he noted: ‘Compared to the level of uncertainty over Brexit, it is debateable whether the election will really make a material difference to buyers’ decision in the next two months. In our view the current market trends appear well set for the rest of 2017 where above average growth in regional cities offsets weak, single digit increases in southern cities.’[1]

[1] https://www.propertyinvestortoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2017/4/city-level-residential-property-price-growth-gained-momentum-in-the-first-quarter-of-the-year-rising-by-3-5-led-by-large-regional-cities-such-as-manchester-birmingham-and-newcastle-according-to-the-latest-hometrack-uk-cities-house-price-index-w

Accord announces cuts on remortgage products

Published On: April 27, 2017 at 11:25 am

Author: Em Morley

Categories: Finance News

Tags: Accord,investors,landlords,LTV's,remortgage

Accord Buy-to-Let has today announced that it has made a reduction of 0.20% across a selection of its remortgage products.

These loans are available to standard investor landlords, alongside non-investor landlords and follows the announcement last week that it was re-entering the consumer buy-to-let market. This is in order to support borrowers who have let their only investment property where they or a family member previously lived.

Rates

Rates now begin at 1.76%, with a product fee of £1,995, for investors looking for a two-year fixed rate remortgage loan at 75% LTV.

For those borrowing lesser amounts, some options include a 2.25% two-year fixed rate with a £950 product fee, free legal assistance and free standard valuation.

Three different two-year fixed rate remortgage products at 75% LTV have also benefitted from a 0.20% reduction. These feature a range of options including free legal assistance, free valuation and cashback on completion.

Accord announces cuts on remortgage products

Connectivity

Chris Maggs, Accord Buy-to-Let’s Commercial Manager, noted: ‘These 0.20% reductions will give brokers the chance to proactively contact landlords who may be looking to refinance some or all of their mortgage portfolio. With the new taxation rules being phased in earlier this month this is an ideal time for landlords to reassess their financial commitments.’[1]

‘These new products sharpen our buy to let range even further and having re-entered the consumer buy to let market we expect a very active time ahead. We’re sure these reductions will prove very popular and the additional features will really appeal to landlords who want to reduce their outgoings when remortgaging,’ he added.[1]

[1] http://www.propertyreporter.co.uk/finance/accord-announce-cuts-on-remortgage-products.html

UK property auctions market sees decline

Published On: April 27, 2017 at 10:33 am

Author: Em Morley

Categories: Property News

Tags: auction,auctions market,investors,landlord,Stamp Duty

The property auctions market in the UK continued to slow during the last month, with both the number of lots offered and sold sliding.

Data from a report by the Essential Information Group (EIG) shows that overall lots offered fell by 6.5% in the last month, from 2,962 to 2,769.

Lots sold also fell, by 5.7%, from 2,188 to 2,064.

In addition, the total raised at auction slipped by £32m to £402m, a fall of 7.3% from the £434 raised in March 2016.

Activity

The annual decline can be largely attributed to the surge in market activity seen between February and March last year, as investors rushed to complete deals before the Stamp Duty changes in April.

David Sandeman, managing director at EIG, said: ‘We may also be witnessing a market which is just easing back the throttle a little,” he said. “It wouldn’t be unsurprsing either, considering that the government has recently introduced measures to try and cool the buy-to-let market whilst house price inflation has also seemingly slowed.’[1]

Despite the fall in numbers, Mr Sandeman observed that it was encouraging that auctioneers are experiencing an average sale rate of 75%

The table below shows how the auction market fared in March 2017:

Overall Statistics March 2017
Auctions Held in the UK	127
Total Lots Offered	2,769
Total Lots Sold	2,064
Percent Sold	74.5%
Total Realised	£402,196,601

UK property auctions market sees decline

Instructions

The residential sector saw instructions slip by 9.3% over the last month, while sales fell by nearly 8% to 1,646.

Mr Sandeman went on to observe that the figures: ‘should not be cause for alarm’ as the decline is almost entirely due to ‘record-breaking activity’ seen in Q1 last year.[2]

[1] https://www.propertyinvestortoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2017/4/uk-property-auctions-market-is-easing-back-the-throttle-a-little

Rise in the number of landlords leaving the market

Published On: April 25, 2017 at 11:04 am

Author: Em Morley

Categories: Landlord News

Tags: investors,landlords,letting agent fees,tax

The most recent report from ARLA Propertymark has revealed that there has been an increase in the number of landlords selling their properties and leaving the Private Rental Sector.

An average of four ARLA agents per branch made the decision to sell their buy-to-let property during March, in comparison to three in February. The last time the average number of investors choosing to sell their buy-to-let property was above three per branch was in November 2016-when the ban on letting agent fees was announced.

Reductions

In addition, ARLA Propertymark reported that the number of tenants negotiating rent reductions increase month-on-month in March. During February, 2.2% of agents saw successful rent reductions, in comparison to 3.6% in March.

25% of letting agents said that landlords increased their rents during the last month-unchanged since January. However, this is a fall from the 32% of agents experiencing rent rises in March 2016.

The number of properties being managed per member branch remained constant with the previous month at 183. Last March however, this figure stood at 169, which means that the supply of rental stock has actually increased by 8% in the last twelve months.

Rise in the number of landlords leaving the market

Concerning

David Cox, Chief Executive of ARLA Propertymark, said: ‘It’s concerning that, despite supply increasing over last year, stock failed to return to the market after dipping in February. When we also consider that this is coupled with a rise in the number of landlords selling their BTL properties, this is bad news for those searching for a rental property. The introduction of mortgage interest relief means the market is becoming less and less attractive to investors and it appears some landlords are, as we predicted, choosing to exit the market rather than pay the higher taxes.’[1]

‘What’s more, two thirds (66 per cent) of our members are concerned the Government will introduce even more landlord taxes in 2017, which will only further dampen supply. Following the announcement of the ban on letting agent fees, we expect the situation to only get worse for tenants when inevitably the costs are passed onto tenants through higher rents. However, it’s positive that more tenants are taking action and negotiating rent reductions before the consultation ends and they see their rents increase,’ Cox added.[1]

[1] http://www.propertyreporter.co.uk/landlords/surge-in-landlords-exiting-the-market.html