Posts with tag: property price rises

Buyers Not Confident in the Housing Market

Published On: June 3, 2015 at 11:54 am

Author:

Categories: Landlord News

Tags: ,,,

Confidence in the housing market dropped during April, however, activity is expected to increase in the coming months.

The Halifax Housing Market Confidence Tracker fell to +58 (Halifax rating) in April, down from +64 in March.

This came despite mortgage rates decreasing to record lows and house prices continuing to rise.

Buyers Not Confident in the Housing Market

Buyers Not Confident in the Housing Market

Furthermore, the amount of people who believe the next year will be a good time to buy a property has increased to +26, up from +21 in March.

Additionally, those who think the next 12 months will be a good time to sell a property fell to +30, from +33 in the previous month. This indicates that the current gap between supply and demand will continue.

Halifax’s research also found a disconnection between people’s property price expectations and the fundamental principles affecting the housing market.

Just 63% of people believe house prices will be higher in 12 months, down from 67% who forecast increases in March.

Halifax said this decline arrives despite many factors supporting the housing market recovery in the short-term. Record low mortgage rates, decreasing swap rates (which affect fixed-rate mortgages), rising employment levels and negative inflation of 0.1% in April all have a positive effect on property.

Meanwhile, the Bank of England’s (BoE) Monetary Policy Committee voted to keep interest rates at 0.5% and its Quarterly Inflation Report signalled that the first base rate increase would not come until 2016.

Mortgages Director at Halifax, Craig McKinlay, comments: “With inflation now at its lowest level since records began, unemployment falling and the economy still growing, the fundamentals for the housing market remain positive.

“Going forward, the key factor in how consumers adjust to any changes in rates will be the way in which they manage their disposable income.”1

Zoopla found that the average house price in the UK is currently £265,737.

There are signs that property price inflation is starting to pick up again, after a slowdown in the second half of 2014.

Halifax recently reported that house prices rose 1.6% in April, with the annual rate of growth increasing to 8.5%, up from 8.1% in March.

1 http://www.zoopla.co.uk/discover/property-news/is-the-next-year-a-good-time-to-buy-a-house/#Xl5aO4OHdmlLFcL2.97

Just 1.1% House Price Inflation in Wales

Published On: April 23, 2015 at 2:11 pm

Author:

Categories: Finance News

Tags: ,,,

Just 1.1% House Price Inflation in Wales

Just 1.1% House Price Inflation in Wales

Property price growth in Wales has been slowing down recently, with the country experiencing only 1.1% inflation in the last 12 months.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has found that for the whole of the UK, house prices rose 7.2% in the year to February 2015. However, this is still down from 8.4% in the year to January 2015.1

Annual property price increases were 7.4% in England, 6.4% in Scotland and 14.2% in Northern Ireland.1

Despite the Wales figures indicating a significant slowdown, the ONS says that annual price growth is showing signs of slowing around most of the UK.

1 http://www.ftadviser.com/2015/04/20/mortgages/houses-price-inflation-in-past-year-ADjp4xOgDgmq2AdXMH7tcP/article.html

 

Lack of Houses For Sale Could Push Prices Higher

Published On: April 17, 2015 at 1:22 pm

Author:

Categories: Finance News

Tags: ,,,

It is predicted that property prices in the UK could begin to increase again, after a second monthly drop in the amount of houses being put up for sale, according to surveyors and estate agents.

Lack of Houses For Sale Could Push Prices Higher

Lack of Houses For Sale Could Push Prices Higher

Despite the sales and inquiries from prospective buyers figure steadying in March, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) says that the amount of its members expecting prise rises in the next year is at the highest level since spring 2014.

This prediction is fuelled by a shortage of homes coming onto the market, it says, as March experienced the second consecutive drop in properties up for sale.

In most of the country, RICS says that the disproportion of supply and demand is forcing prices up. Around the UK, 21% more surveyors saw an increase in property prices in March, up from 15% in February. Additionally, 15% more surveyors predicted price rises in the next three months, compared with 10% in February.1

70% of surveyors expect price increases in the next year with average predictions of 2.5%, which is a ten-month high.1

Simon Rubinsohn, Chief Economist at RICS, says: “The boost that was given to the housing market by the Help to Buy scheme has begin to dissipate and activity levels have slipped back.

“Even more worrying are the tentative signs that price momentum could be set to pick up once again as the supply of stock to the market continues to fall.”

Rubinsohn also mentioned that election uncertainty could be having an affect on the housing market.

However, he concludes: “Underlying the trends visible in the latest survey is a very real housing crisis that will urgently need to be addressed by the next government.”1

1 http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/apr/16/fall-in-homes-for-sale-could-force-prices-up

Movies Cause Property Prices to Rise

Published On: February 6, 2015 at 1:40 pm

Author:

Categories: Property News

Tags: ,,

Homebuyers are looking to move to towns and villages in the UK that have featured in films. However, those wishing their lives to be like the movies have caused house prices to spiral in some parts.

Movies Cause Property Prices to Rise

Movies Cause Property Prices to Rise

Knowing that location scouts have chosen an area seems to have had the Cinderella-effect on some places.

However, these popular parts also boast expensive house prices, with some areas seeing rises of a quarter in only five years.

The Halifax has reviewed property price trends in locations featured in 20 popular British films. Cambridge, home to the Stephen Hawking biopic The Theory of Everything, experienced growth of 26% in the last five years.1

A lot of the film, starring Oscar-winner Eddie Redmayne, was filmed at the University of Cambridge’s St. John’s College. Anthony McCarten, screenwriter and producer of the film, says: “St. John’s is one of the most beautiful, if not the most beautiful, colleges at Cambridge. The main hall is known as the wedding cake because it has such grandeur about it.”1

Although Cambridge has been an appealing place to live for a while, the more unlikely star of Halifax’s findings is Milton Keynes in Buckinghamshire, where The Imitation Game was filmed in Bletchley Park.

Due to the film, starring Benedict Cumberbatch, house prices in this area have increased by 25% in the last five years.1

Many locations included in the research were already experiencing price rises before the films reached the cinema, although the success of these movies has added appeal.

In Cambridge and Milton Keynes, house values have grown at a faster rate than their whole regions, indicating that these films had quite the influence.

1 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2941999/From-Cambridge-Milton-Keynes-films-send-house-prices-soaring-Costs-areas-quarter-just-five-years.html

Rise in Rent for London in 2015

Published On: December 13, 2014 at 11:45 am

Author:

Categories: Property News

Tags: ,,

London property prices will rise by 3-5% in 2015, it is predicted.

High tenant demand is estimated to drive rental prices up by 10% in the next year.

Doubt surrounding the general election will also have an affect on the corporate letting market.

Estate agent Marsh & Parsons expect London house prices to relax and become slower in their growth throughout 2015.

The firm believe that prime London property prices will increase between 3-5% in 2015, compared to the 11.4% rise seen over the last year.1

Yearly growth is set to be the strongest, at 5% in outer prime London, where property prices are generally 25% lower than within prime London as a whole, which will boost demand. However, the priciest London areas will see rises of 3%.1

Marsh & Parsons also presume there will still be confidence in the market into 2015, as mortgage lenders provide the most competitive rates ever.

CEO of Marsh & Parsons, Peter Rollings, says: “The London housing market gave a stellar performance in the first half of 2014, but there won’t be quite the same encore next year. However, the curtain certainly isn’t going down on price growth. After touching the brakes in recent months, property values will continue to climb steadily again in 2015, albeit at a more modest and orderly pace.

Rise in Rent for London in 2015

Rise in Rent for London in 2015

“Demand for prime London property remains stable, and after adapting to the MMR changes and tighter affordability measures introduced this year, buyers are more motivated than ever; maintaining sales momentum and ensuring that property prices will not stand idle. The general election will act to stimulate the market, removing much uncertainty and drawing a line under any hesitation from buyers and sellers, but this isn’t too say that the first five months of the year will be a write-off as London won’t stop working.”

Marsh & Parsons are predicting much higher growth in the prime London rental market, estimating rises of 10% in 2015. After a period of steady rental prices, rents in prime London have increased gradually during 2014, and the pace should develop in the next 12 months.1

Corporate tenancies rose 14% in 2014, compared to 2013. High demand for corporate lettings and relocations will aid the progression of this sector in 2015.1

Rollings explains: “The rental market will be where much of the action takes place in 2015. Those relocating to the capital for work are now biding their time before purchasing their own portion of London property, until question marks surrounding additional property taxes are erased. This will push demand in the corporate lettings sector even further, and the biggest rental increases are predicted to be among one or two-bedroom flats.

“Supply of rental properties looks set to be sustained, but any regulatory changes to tenancy fees under a new Government could inflate rents artificially. The powers that be need to ensure that landlord are not spooked out of the market by unnecessary layers of legislation, and that aspiring property investors don’t take their money elsewhere.”

Any interest rate rises should not affect the housing market too much in 2015, as the increases are only predicted to be between 0.25% and 0.5%.1

Rollings concludes: “With an array of attractive mortgage products on the market, and many homeowners tied into existing deals, an interest rate rise towards the latter end of 2015 is unlikely to cause any seismic shifts in the property landscape. Even after a lift, interest rates will still remain remarkably low, and the primary preoccupation for buyers will not be interest rates, but accessing competitive mortgages, which Government initiatives have been making much easier.”1

1 http://www.marshandparsons.co.uk/latest/press/item/2359-press-release-london-rent-rises-to-outpace-house-price-growth-in-2015