Tag Archives: australian
UK housing demand reaches 11 year high
Housing demand in the UK continues to growth, reaching an eleven year high in August, according to the latest monthly report from the National Association of Estate Agents. The number of house hunters registered per branch continued to grow this month, up 5%, to an average of 462 per branch compared to 439 in July. This is the highest recorded since August 2004, when an average 582 house hunters were recorded per NAEA branch. Available housing also increased in July, jumping 25% from an average of 44 properties available per NAEA member branch in June, to 55 in July. These levels have not been seen in almost two years, when 57 houses on average per branch were recorded in September 2013. However, the number of sales made in July remained static from May and June, with just nine per branch, indicating that although housing stock is starting to increase, it remains a struggle to complete a purchase. The July Housing Market Report also reveals that the number of sales made to first time buyers continued to fall in July, with the group now accounting for just 23% sales. This has fallen from 24% in June and 29% in May. However, it is an increase on last year, when only 20% of sales were made to first time buyers in July 2014. ‘Typically, we’d expect to see sales taking longer to complete during the summer months, as buyers and sellers are on holiday. It is alarming however, that the number of sales being made to first time buyers is steadily falling,’ said Mark Hayward, NAEA managing director. ‘Having said that, the fact that there is more housing coming on to the market means that hopefully over the next few months we’ll see activity in the market increasing and more sales completing, to respond to the growing army of house hunters we’ve seen emerging over the last few months,’ he pointed out. ‘The truth of the matter is though, there simply aren’t enough houses to meet growing demand, and until we see more physical bricks and mortar, there may be no hope in solving the housing crisis,’ he explained. ‘It’s also alarming that the number of sales being made to first time buyers is steadily falling; with reports of house prices increasing and expectations of rising in the future, first time buyers will continue to be pushed out of the market,’ he added. Continue reading
Homes in Australia are less affordable, particularly in Sydney and Melbourne
Homes in Australia are less affordable but there are wide variations across the country with price growth having an effect in some locations. The latest affordability index from the Housing Industry Association (HIA) fell by 2.9% in the June quarter to 79.7 as an interest rate cut was negated by house prices rising and sluggish earnings growth. HIA chief economist Harley Dale said that during the second quarter of 2015 affordability deteriorated by 3.6% in capital city markets, driven by Sydney and Melbourne and described this as ‘a stark contrast’ to a 2.7% improvement for regional Australia. Compared to the second quarter last year, capital city affordability worsened by 0.6% while in regional Australia affordability saw a 5.2% improvement. ‘The large differences in the results for the capital city Affordability Index and its regional counterpart, together with the variation in outcomes between capital cities, exposes the folly of sweeping generalisations which refer to an Australian housing boom,’ said Dale. ‘That is simply not what is occurring. ‘In many parts of Australia the extremely low interest rate environment is delivering historically favourable affordability conditions. It is against this backdrop that authorities have escalated their requirements for the rationing of credit to residential investors. The risk is that this will obstruct new housing supply, aggravating affordability conditions in markets around Australia,’ he added. Meanwhile the latest HIA new home sales report, a survey of Australia’s largest volume builders, recorded its fifth rise in six months in June 2015. Total seasonally adjusted new home sales increased by 0.5%. Dale said that detached houses drove the modest increase in new home sales in June this year, with a 1.7% rise offsetting a 2.9% decline in the sale of multi-units and New South Wales and Victoria continue to display upward momentum in detached house sales, but the other three mainland states are heading in the opposite direction. A breakdown of the figures shows that detached house sales increased by 3.5% in New South Wales, by 1.5% in Victoria, and by 4.2% in Queensland. Detached house sales fell by 2% in South Australia while in Western Australia sales eased by 0.9%. Detached house sales increased by 7.9% in New South Wales and 0.6% in Victoria while quarterly sales fell by 7% in Queensland, 10.2% in South Australia and 3.1% in Western Australia. Continue reading
New home building in Australia reaches record high but stamp duty also up
New home building in Australia bounced back in the second quarter of 2015 but overall all home owners are paying more in property tax, new figures show. The number of detached houses beginning construction held steady at a relatively high level, while a rebound in multi-unit dwelling commencements provided the overall lift to reach the highest level for any quarter on record, according to the figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The figures show there was a 0.7% increase in detached home commencements while others, predominantly multi-unit dwellings, jumped by 19.2%, driven by a surge in the state of Victoria. The state recorded over 9,000 multi-unit commencements, which is a record high. In the 12 months to March, almost 205,000 new dwellings were commenced, the first time the 200,000 mark has been breached. According to the Housing Industry Association (HIA) leading indicators suggests that the number of commencements in the June quarter will be even higher. ‘When we get the final result for the 2014/2015 fiscal year it is likely to show more than 210,000 new dwellings were commenced during the year,’ said HIA economist Geordan Murray. A breakdown of the figures show that new home starts increased by 1.9% in New South Wales, by 18.8% in Victoria, 20.9% in Queensland and by 12% in the Northern Territory. But elsewhere, there were sizable declines, most notably in South Australia where the strong result in the December quarter was reversed by an 18% fall. They were down 4.8% in Western Australia, 14.7% in Tasmania and down 14.4% in ACT. However, the HIA is warning that for the whole of the housing market the burden of stamp duty payable on house sales is becoming more of a burden, especially for new builds. Its latest Stamp Duty Watch analysis shows that the property tax has increased across the country. In New South Wales, Victoria and the Northern Territory, the typical stamp duty bill now amounts to over $20,000. Stamp duty bills have increased particularly sharply in NSW and Victoria since late last year, according to Shane Garrett, HIA senior economist. ‘Clearly, stamp duty is a major impediment to housing affordability. It is a particularly onerous tax on new housing. In many instances stamp duty is paid multiple times as transactions occur during the new dwelling’s life cycle. This is one example of the inequitable tax treatment of new housing relative to existing property,’ he explained. ‘Independent research conducted for HIA last year provided compelling evidence of the benefits to Australian living standards and economic growth from the replacement of stamp duty with more efficient, broad based revenue raising measures,’ he added. The highest tax on a typical home is in the Northern Territory at $23,128, followed by New South Wales at $22,490, Victoria at $21,790, Western Australia at $17,053, ACT at $16,350, South Australia at $15,080, Tasmania at $8,735 and Queensland at $5,950. Continue reading
