Tag Archives: autumn
Portuguese residential property market recovery ongoing
The residential real estate market in Portugal is seeing an ongoing steady recovery in prices, supported by rising demand and increasingly strong growth in sales activity, according to the latest index. While the lettings market has seen rents stable for a fourth month in succession following years of persistent decline, the index survey from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and Confidencial Imobiliário shows. The data also shows that new buyer interest continued to rise at a firm pace across all regional markets, with growth particularly pronounced in Porto during June. But the market is still open to the weakness of the euro zone, particularly Greece. At the same time, newly agreed sales increased at the sharpest monthly pace since the survey was launched back in 2010, and have now risen continuously for around a year and a half. Going forward, sales expectations are pointing to further robust growth in the near term, even if the net balance eased slightly from the record high set in May. Given the sustained improvement in both enquiries and sales, prices continued to recover for a sixth month in succession, the index report explains. It also points out that the pace of house price growth accelerated a notch, driven primarily by the strong gains posted in Lisbon and looking ahead, near term price expectations continue to point to a stronger pick-up on the horizon. Over the next 12 months, respondents are now anticipating prices will rise by 2.7% at the national level. Again, the strongest recovery is anticipated to come in Lisbon and the Algarve at around 3%, while projections are for 2% growth in Porto. The national confidence indicator, an amalgamation of near term price and sales expectations, now stands at +36 equalling the third highest reading on record, despite easing compared to May’s exceptionally strong result. In the lettings market, solid growth in demand continues to be met with a decline in the number of new listings by landlords. As a result, rents remained more or less unchanged for a fourth consecutive month, while expectations suggest a further period of stability lies ahead. ‘It is important to see the Portuguese market’s resilience in the face of the uncertainty caused by the Greek crisis,’ said Ricardo Guimarães, Director of Ci. ‘Risks were highlighted by the agents but, nevertheless, activity indicators remained clearly positive, regarding both sales and prices. This was a critical test for the market, reinforcing its potential,’ he added. RICS chief economist, Simon Rubinsohn, believes that the recovery in sales market activity appears to be gathering momentum, driven by improving economic fundamentals and rising confidence. ‘However, significant risks remain within the euro area which could damage sentiment if a resolution is not found,’ he warned. Continue reading
New home permissions reach record in NZ but not enough to meet housing shortfall
Planning permission for new homes in New Zealand in the first half of 2015 was higher than any previous year, new data shows, but not enough to match current shortfall. Between January and June 2015 some12,057 new dwellings, worth almost $4 billion, were consented, according to the figures from Statistics New Zealand. The new building consent figures show the total floor area for the new homes was 221 hectares, enough to cover an area twice the size of Wellington Airport. In the month of June some 2,042 new dwellings were consented nationally, up 2% compared with June 2014. However, in seasonally adjusted terms, the number was down 4.1% from May 2015. Numbers in Auckland increased by 18% but in Canterbury consents decreased by 13%. ‘New dwelling consents growth this month was led by Auckland, which offset the fall in Canterbury,’ said business indicators manager Clara Eatherley. The data also shows that the total value of consents for all buildings in June 2015 was $1.3 billion, comprising $832 million for residential buildings and $454 million for non-residential buildings. However the number of new homes being built in Auckland continues to fall well short of what is required to meet the region's population growth. It is estimated that 13,000 new homes a year are needed in Auckland just to keep pace with current population growth, which is an average of 1,083 consents a month. That means that current consents were just under two thirds of what is required and the supply of new homes will need to increase by around 50% from current levels before demand and supply start to get back into any sort of equilibrium. A new report suggests that Auckland's housing shortage might not peak for another three years and could last for more than a decade. According to the Auckland Council's Housing Project Office (HPO) the shortfall could rise rapidly to 25,000 homes in 2018, compared to current levels of roughly 15,000. The HPO looked at the rate of population change, the number of dwellings required, and the likely rate of consenting to estimate how many homes would need to be built between over the next 15 years. Officials said consent numbers were continuing to increase and it was not unrealistic to assume Auckland could get to 12,000 dwelling consents a year by 2021 and if 90% of consented dwellings were built, Auckland's shortfall could be eliminated by 2027. Recently the Productivity Commission put the current shortfall at 32,000 homes and said 13,000 homes would be needed each year to accommodate new growth. Continue reading
New residential rent controls take effect in Paris
The rental market in Paris is now subject to new rent control regulations covering all new residential leases and those that are up for renewal. The law seeks to cap rent increases from one lease to the next in the country’s largest cities as part of sweeping housing reforms promised by French President Francois Hollande during his election campaign. The policy is likely to be popular among tenants in the city who have seen home rents rise by 42% in the last 10 years, although it has been criticised by estate agents and landlords. Paris is the first city to see the law being enforced and it is likely to be rolled out in Lyon, Bordeaux, Marseille, Lille, Grenoble and other big cities in the coming months. The law allows the prefecture of each city to establish a maximum rents measured in euros per square meter based on when the property was built and where it is located. The levels must be no more than 20% above or 30% below the median rental price for the area. There is likely to be winners and losers. It is estimated that rents on around 60,000 properties are likely to come down and those of 25,000 to go up. The biggest decreases are likely to be for studios and one bedroom apartments, according to agents. The National Federation of Estate Professionals (FNAIM) said the law will hold back the rental housing market and put off buy to let investors. It is considering legal action and already agents in Lille have blocked the law being implemented by withholding housing and rent data. Continue reading
