Tag Archives: australian
UK house prices up almost 10% in year to December 2014
UK house prices increased by 9.8% in the year to December 2014, down from 9.9% in the year to November 2014, according to the latest official figures. House price annual inflation was 10.2% in England, 4% in Wales, 5.5% in Scotland and 4.9% in Northern Ireland, the figures from the Office of National Statistics show. The index report says that house prices continue to increase strongly across the majority of the UK, with prices in London again showing the highest growth. Annual house price increases in England were driven by an annual increase in London of 13.3% and to a lesser extent increases in the South East of 11.5% and the East at 11.4%. However, excluding London and the South East, UK house prices increased by 7.4% in the 12 months to December 2014. On a seasonally adjusted basis, average house prices increased by 0.7% between November and December 2014, the data also shows. In December 2014, prices paid by first time buyers were 9.5% higher on average than in December 2013. For existing owners, prices increased by 9.8% for the same period. According to Graham Davidson, managing director of Sequre Property Investment, the annual increase in 2014 in London is not sustainable and prices simply cannot continue to grow at this rate throughout 2015. But Adrian Gill, director of Your Move and Reeds Rains estate agents, pointed out that house price growth has wavered recently and quietened down from a thunderous charge earlier in 2014. ‘But property values ended the year on a stronger note, with a sturdy monthly upswing in December. Rankings of annual growth across the country still read in neat geographical order with price inflation flowing out from the London and the South East, and northern regions bringing up the rear,’ he explained. ‘Schemes like Help to Buy have jump started growth in these regions, where homes are cheaper and prices still to break free of the long shadow of the recession. While the London market is adjusting to more sustainable conditions and taking a breather, other parts of the UK now have their moment to shine,’ he added. He also said that it is encouraging to see new price records being set in Wales and the West Midlands in December. ‘Lower stamp duty and record low mortgage rates should act as further injections of support to make sure the housing recovery drives further forward across the country,’ he added. Continue reading
Australian office market sees record breaking end to 2014
A record breaking finish to 2014 has kick started momentum in the Australian office market in 2015 with demand and deals on the rise, according to a new report. Indeed, enquiries for the December 2014 quarter were up 75% compared to the December 2013 quarter and the greatest demand was for space 3,000 square meters and above, with this market up a record 173% on the December 2013 quarter. For the full calendar year, Australian business enquired about 2,256,814 square meters of office space in 2014 compared to 1,813,540 square meters in 2013, a national increase of 24%. Simon Hunt, Colliers International managing director of Office Leasing, said this points to improving business confidence and 2014 also proved to be a successful year for transacting deals, with the number of leases negotiated up by 28% on 2013 and the amount of space transacted also up from 2013 by 34%. ‘All markets, with the exception of the ACT, saw an increase in the number of deals and area transacted compared to 2013, with Victoria adding almost 100 extra deals to its 2013 tally,’ he explained. Throughout 2014, a standout performer for number of enquiries and amount of space enquired for was the information technology sector. This sector is expected to also be at the forefront of white collar employment growth in the year ahead, along with the business services and financial services sectors. ‘In 2015, white collar employment forecasts indicate that business services and financial services will show strong demand for office space over 1,000 square meters, pointing to strong short term demand for larger, open plan workplace environments and less decentralisation of employees occurring,’ added Hunt. Tenants returning to CBD markets was an emerging trend in 2014, and is anticipated to continue as corporates seek central locations, close to amenities to house their administration staff. According to Deloitte Access Economics’ respected White Collar Employment forecasts, the top five growing office sectors that will lead tenant demand nationally in 2015 will be Business Services, IT, Financial Services, Health and Accommodation services. ‘Based on the net growth in jobs for these sectors, of between 10,000 to 14,000 employees, over 150,000 square meters of space will be required to meet space demand,’ Hunt said. Simon Crouch, Colliers International national director of tenant representation, agreed that the IT would be a sector to watch in 2015 as while the majority of corporate tenants would remain cautiously optimistic, IT would be one sector which was in expansion mode. ‘This will continue in 2015 until there is some more certainty in global markets. In the year ahead, we are likely to see a continued restructuring or consolidation of space, in particular in the professional service sectors,’ he explained. ‘Some businesses will grow, but pressure on margins is going to ensure that the leaders of these firms will continue to look for opportunities to reduce their overheads and, as a result, cost of space,’ he added. Continue reading
Sydney and Melbourne continue to see strong home price growth at start of year
The Australian housing market has started the year on a strong footing with strong gains recorded across Sydney and Melbourne, pushing capital city dwelling values 1.3% higher. But the latest home value index from Core Logic RP Data shows that a two tier housing market persisted over the first month of 2015 as performance varied substantially between capital cities. The largest cities, which have more influence over the combined capital city index due to the high number of dwellings, continued to push the aggregate index higher. Melbourne values were up 2.7% compared with December and Sydney values increased by 1.4%. Hobart also recorded a strong monthly result with values up 1.6%. Three capital cities recorded a decline in values over the month, with Darwin down 1.3%, Adelaide down 1.2% and Perth values down 0.6%. The quarterly data shows a clearer picture for housing market conditions, with the combined capitals index recording a 1.9% over the three months ending January 2015. While Sydney continued to be the standout for capital gains, the most significant increase in values over the past three months was recorded in Hobart with a rise of 4.4%, eclipsing the 2.4% capital gain in Sydney, which was the second highest quarterly reading across the capitals. According to the firm’s head of research, Tim Lawless, having Hobart produce the strongest results over the past quarter is certainly a unique occurrence. ‘Generally, Hobart has recorded the lowest rate of capital gain since the onset of the global financial crisis, however housing market conditions have been improving,’ he said. ‘Local economic conditions have been improving and Hobart homes are the most affordable of any capital city. Additionally the market is benefitting from the return of lifestyle buyers. After Darwin, the southernmost capital is also showing the second highest gross rental yields of any other capital city,’ he added. Despite Hobart’s strong quarterly capital gain, Sydney still holds as the city with the highest rate of capital gain over the past 12 months where property values are currently 13% higher. The annual gain in property prices across the combined capitals index was 8% at the end of January, ranging from a 13% gain in Sydney to a 0.3% reduction in Canberra. Sydney has also shown the highest aggregated capital growth of any capital city in the years since the global downturn. Lawless pointed out that since the beginning of 2009, Sydney has been a stand out housing market. From January 2009 through to January 2015 Sydney home values have increased by 57%. The second highest rate of growth over the same period has been in Melbourne where values are 50% higher. There is a significant gap between the next best performers over the same six year period. Darwin has seen less than half the level of growth at 24%, followed by Canberra at 18% and Perth at 17%. At the other end of the spectrum is Hobart where homes values are unmoved over the… Continue reading
