Posts with tag: property prices

Top areas for academic and property balance

Published On: August 19, 2015 at 4:09 pm

Tags: Affordable housing,homeowners with children,property prices

New research has collated the top 50 schools within England that offer the best balance between affordable housing and top quality state education. The findings suggest that three of the top-ten are in Birmingham.

Academically pleasing

Data from the report by eMoov compared the average house prices in the surrounding area of a school, to the average GCSE score per pupil.

Coming in with top-marks was the King Edward VI Handsworth School in England’s second city, with an average GCSE score of 588.9 per pupil backed up with average house prices of £107,305. This results in a property value of £182 for each GCSE point achieved.[1]

Two other schools from Birmingham also made it into the top-ten: The King Edward VI Five Ways School (3^rd) and King Edward VI Camp Hill School for Girls (5^th).

The full top-ten list is:

1^st) King Edward VI Handsworth School, Birmingham

2^nd) Blue Coat School, Liverpool

3^rd) King Edward VI Five Ways School, Birmingham

4^th) Devenport High School for Girls, Plymouth

5^th) King Edward VI Camp Hill School for Girls, Birmingham

6^th) Lancaster Girls’ Grammar School, Lancaster

7^th) Lawrence Sheriff School, Rugby

8^th) Crossley Heath School, Halifax

9^th) Upton Hall School, Wirral

10^th) Southend High School for Girls, Southend[1]

Top areas for academic and property balance

Moves

In addition, eMoov conducted another survey of 1,000 homeowners with children. Results from the report show that 22% of British homeowners moved closer to the preferred school for their child in order to secure them a place. 14% purchased property years in advance of their child starting school, purely because it was in their catchment area.[1]

10% of homeowners said they think about moving home to give their children a better chance of gaining entry into their ideal school. Another 10% said they had downsized to move into their desired catchment area.[1]

However, just 27% of those surveyed revealed that they had studied the school league tables before choosing their child’s school. This suggests that reputation and world of mouth are hugely prevalent in making this decision.

Hand in hand

‘Property and schooling go hand in hand,’ said Russell Quirk, founder and CEO of eMoov.co.uk. ‘Our research shows securing a place at your desired school by moving to its catchment area, is a driving factor for many.’ Quirk believes that, ‘it is one of the major life stages where property is concerned, first we get a foot on the ladder, then we climb a rung or two to start a family, then we turn our attention to educating our children.’[1]

Mr Quirk went on to say, ‘Unfortunately we aren’t all in the desirable position whereby we can wave our children off to a prestigious private school. This latest eMoov study identifies the top performing schools in the country where property in the surrounding area is relatively affordable.’[1]

[1] http://www.propertyreporter.co.uk/property/birmingham-offers-the-best-balance-of-affordable-property-and-top-schools.html

August House Prices strongest for 8 years

Published On: August 17, 2015 at 4:05 pm

Author: Em Morley

Categories: Finance News

Tags: home values,househunters,property prices

The typical hunt for a bargain property in the summer months has been found to have been elusive for many, with asking prices for UK property at an eight-year high in August.

Property website Rightmove has indicated that prices dipped by just 0.8% this month, far less than the typical average and the lowest decrease since the recession.

Strong

Data from the report conducted by Rightmove shows that asking prices are currently 6.4% greater than they were one year ago, bringing the average value of a home in England and Wales to £292,284. The firm attributed the slight decline to a lack of new sellers, combined with stronger house hunting activity.[1]

‘The underlying shortage of property coming to market, compared to buyer demand has helped to deliver the strongest August price performance since before the credit crunch,’ observed Miles Shipside, director of Rightmove.[1]

‘Buyers can normally pick up some bargains in August as sellers who are marketing their homes when they should be holidaying often have a pressing need to sell and mark their prices down pretty aggressively,’ Shipside continued. ‘At 0.8% down on the previous month, this is the least generous that sellers have had to be for eight years and a clear sign of upwards price pressure in the pipeline,’ he added.[1]

Staying put

Further research shows that the main factors behind people’s hesitancy to sell their own homes were the lack of suitable properties in which to move into at a desired price. In fact, Rightmove’s data indicates that asking prices increased across a number of areas in England and Wales in August.

Asking prices were up by 1.2% in the North East of England, by 0.5% in the North West and by 0.1% in the West Midlands. In Wales, process grew by 0.2%, meaning that average home prices currently stand at £177,709.[1]

Falls in asking prices were recorded in the East of England (1.2%) and in the East Midlands and South West (1.4%).[1]

Mark Manning, director of Manning Stainton in Leeds, Harrogate, Wetherby and Wakefield commented, ‘in July, the number of appraisals that we carried out was 21% higher than usual, so there’s definitely a sense that there are a greater number of people who are considering selling, but not yet coming to market.’[1]

‘With regards to stock level in the market it’s not that there’s no stock, it’s just that when good property does come on the demand is so high that it’s selling much more quickly than usual,’ he added.[1]

August House Prices strongest for 8 years

Demand

Alastair Hilton, manager of Winkworth in Chiswick, said that his own company had, ‘seen strong demand and growth in prices in the past few months, especially for one and two bed flats. Quite a few sellers in Chiswick are looking to trade up and move out of London, and when they’re not able to find a suitable property this is having a knock-on effect on the flats they’re selling, increasing the demand for the smaller properties further.’[1]

In a separate data release, housebuilder Bovis has revealed that they experienced a 9% pre-tax profit of £53.8bn, completing a record number of house sales in the first half of the year. The group sold 1,525 properties at an average price of £264,200, 10% more than the average sale prices recorded in the first six months of 2014.[1]

Commenting on the figures, David Ritchie, managing director of Bovis, said, ‘We anticipate that the addition of around 40 sites per annum will support our medium term growth strategy to deliver volumes of between 5,000 and 6,000 new homes each year.’[1]

[1] http://news.sky.com/story/1536927/house-hunters-fail-to-bag-a-summer-bargain

Zoopla Forced to Defend its Valuation Method

Published On: August 12, 2015 at 4:46 pm

Author: Em Morley

Categories: Finance News

Tags: average house price,property asking price,property prices,Zoopla prices

Zoopla Forced to Defend its Valuation Method

Zoopla has been forced to defend its valuation method after it emerged that asking prices in many parts of the country were up to 20% higher than the portal’s estimated average figure.

Last week, the Coventry Telegraph stated that the average asking price in the city is currently £210,000, but Zoopla’s pricing tool found the average property price in the area to be £173,000.

A Zoopla spokesperson explains: “Zoopla valuation estimates are our assessment of the market value at any given time, calculated using a proprietary algorithm that continuously analyses millions of data points relating to property sales and home characteristics.

“It is misleading to compare average asking prices to our estimate of average property values in a given area since only a small fraction of homes in any area, typically less than 5%, are on the market at any given time.

“Therefore, average asking prices can easily be skewed, whereas our estimated average values takes into consideration all homes in the area.”¹

In Birmingham, asking prices were 19% higher than the average Zoopla value and in Smethwick, they were 18% higher.

This trend continues to London. In Kensington, the average asking price is £2.379m, but the Zoopla value is £2.158m.

In Glasgow, the average asking price is £148,000, but Zoopla’s average value is £164,000.

¹http://www.propertyindustryeye.com/zoopla-defends-pricing-tool/

Living on a Lane Drives Up House Price

Published On: August 12, 2015 at 3:44 pm

Author: Em Morley

Categories: Property News

Tags: average house prices,expensive addresses,property prices

Homes that have an address with the word lane in it are worth a fifth more than the average house price, according to new research.

Properties on lanes have an average price of £245,906. This is 22% (£44,660) more than the average UK house price.

Living on a Lane Drives Up House Price

Homes with an address containing the word way are the next most valuable, with an average price of £218,742. This is followed by properties with the word road in their address, which are generally worth £212,717.

Property market experts Hometrack conducted the study for Barclays.

The research also revealed that homes with drive or street in their address have the lowest prices, at £191,675 and £142,374 respectively.

Naturally, there are exceptions to the rule, depending on where in the country the property is. For example, in London, a house on a lane is worth £414,122 on average, whereas a property on a street is worth significantly more at £566,406.

In Scotland, homes on a close are the most valuable, at an average of £161,869.

In Wales, properties on a lane are worth the most, at £190,039 on average.

Addresses with the word road in command the highest prices in Northern Ireland, at an average of £148,519.

The average house price on a lane has doubled from around £123,000 in 2001, but property prices in all categories have risen substantially in the past 15 years, Barclays Mortgages states.

Director of Mortgages at Barclays, Craig Calder, says: “While this data paints a clear picture of victory for lanes in the competition between properties, it’s interesting to see the varying statistics from around the country and a huge growth in value overall.”¹

The following are the average prices of homes with these words in their address:

Lane – £245,906
Way – £218,742
Road – £212,717
Close – £204,964
Avenue – £192,344
Drive – £191,675
Street – £142,374

¹http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/11797736/It-pays-to-live-on-a-lane-but-a-street-drives-down-values.html

House Prices Fell in July

Published On: August 7, 2015 at 1:01 pm

Author: Em Morley

Categories: Finance News

Tags: average uk house price,house price growth,housing supply,property prices

House Prices Fell in July

House prices fell by 0.6% in July, according to the Halifax.

The average UK house price is now £198,883 on a seasonally adjusted basis, down from £200,280 in June.

This takes annual house price inflation down to 7.9%.

Managing Director of Retail Customer Products at the Halifax, Stephen Noakes, says: “The underlying pace of house price growth remains robust notwithstanding the easing in July.

“Continuing economic recovery, earnings growth in excess of consumer price inflation and very low mortgage rates all underpin housing demand.

“Supply is highly restricted, with the stock of homes available for sale falling further to new record lows.

“This combination of well-supported demand and tight supply is likely to ensure that house price growth remains relatively strong in the near term.”¹

¹http://www.propertyindustryeye.com/house-prices-topple-but-still-average-almost-200000/

North East house prices to double by 2030

Published On: July 29, 2015 at 4:32 pm

Author: Em Morley

Categories: Finance News

Tags: house price growth,North East homes,property prices

Forecasts released today by lettings firm KIS suggest property prices in the North East of England will rise by nearly double during the next fifteen years.

Predictions

According to the predictions, the average price of a home in the North East will rise to £277,558 by 2030-nearly double the cost of a property in the area today. Data suggests that the value of homes in the area will increase by an average of £76660 per year over the fifteen-year period, with year-on-year growth at 2.6%.[1]

If the forecasts are accurate, in five years, the cost of an average North East home will be £187,344, 14% more than today. In ten years, homes in the region will cost £229,655.[1]

Experts suggest that nationally, house values will rise at an increased rate of 19% to £341,455 by 2020 and 35% to £429,259 by 2025. National trends have seen prices accelerate further away from the North East over the past decade. In 2005, the average property price of a home in the North East was 30% cheaper than the national average. Now, that number has risen to 42%, with the gap expected to rise to 49% over the next fifteen years.[1]

Alarmingly, research from Oxford Economics earlier this year also predicted that the average cost of a home in the capital will exceed £1m by 2030.

North East house prices to double by 2030

Good news?

Ajay Jagota, founder and Managing Director of KIS, said, ‘if anything, these figures could be a little on the conservative side. Oxford Economics are predicting annual house price growth of roughly 2.6% a year over the next 15 years-but our research showed prices rising by 11% alone last year.’[1]

However, Jagota believes if the data is accurate, ‘this could be very good news for the North East. Wages are currently rising at 2.7% a year, so if house prices are rising at a slightly lower rate, that would see North East homes becoming progressively more affordable over the next 15 years.’

He went on to note, ‘what’s really striking is how national prices are accelerating away from us. In 1995, the typical North East home cost £19,000 less than the UK average. Today it costs £115,000 less. By 2030, the gulf will have widened to £260,000.’[1]

‘By 2030, the average London home will not only set you back over £1,000,000, it’ll cost you over £700,000 more than the average North East one.

If London wages can’t keep up with that surge, it is more than possible the North East could benefit from a ‘reverse brain drain’, where more and more people and businesses are unable to afford to base themselves in the capital and begin to look towards our region.’[1]

Concluding, Mr Jagota said, ‘this strengthens the case for increased devolution for the region, especially if it includes greater powers to develop our regional economy and infrastructure and to develop new housing to meet the growing need.’[1]

[1] http://www.propertyreporter.co.uk/property/north-east-house-prices-to-double-by-2030.html