Tag Archives: autumn
Residential sales in UK up by almost 5% between May and June
The provisional seasonally adjusted UK property transaction count for June 2016 was 94,550 residential and 10,930 non-residential transactions. Residential property sales recorded in the UK increased by almost 5% between May and June 2016, according to the latest estimated figures to be published. The residential transaction count was 94,550 and while this is up 4.9% month on month, it is 10.2% lower compared with the same month last year. The large increase in transactions for March 2016 followed by the substantial reduction in April is likely to be associated with the introduction of the higher rates on additional properties in April 2016, according to HMRC which publishes the figures. However, whilst April and May 2016 are lower than the corresponding months in 2015, it should be noted that the total for March to May 2016 is still substantially higher than the corresponding period last year, it pointed out. The additional property rates were announced in the Autumn Statement 2015 for England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and in the Scottish Government's draft 2016/2017 budget for Scotland. Non-tax factors may have played a role as well, for example the Bank of England's plans to curb buy to let mortgages resulting in a rush to purchase before April 2016, and the European Union referendum affecting transactions in recent months. The residential count includes properties paying the main and additional rates. For June 2016 the number of non-adjusted residential transactions was about 21.2% higher compared with May 2016. The number of non-adjusted residential transactions was 11.1% lower than in June 2015. According to Doug Crawford, chief executive officer of My Home Move, June’s figures show a market returning to health after a very quiet April and May which was due to investors doing business earlier in the year to avoid the stamp duty changes. ‘While the number of property transactions remain below the levels seen a year earlier, a 4.9% increase between May and June is very encouraging. My Home Move’s own data suggests that the number of completions in June 2016 was actually 2.7% higher than in June 2015,’ he said. ‘The June increase shows that the property market mostly shook off the uncertainty from the Brexit referendum at the end of the month. This reflects our experience as most purchases went ahead without any issues. The big question now is what the impact will be for the rest of the year,’ he explained. ‘While this is less clear, our view is that the fundamentals of the property market are strong enough that there will not be a significant impact. There have been anecdotal reports of a slight slowdown in July from the estate agents we work with, but it is impossible to tell how much of this is actually Brexit related and how much is down to a normal summer slowdown. The picture will only start to be clearer in September after the holiday season,’ he said. Continue reading
Most UK borrowers reach mortgage freedom day
Home borrowers in the UK have reached the time of year when they will have earned enough to pay off the annual cost of their mortgage, research shows. Based on the average annual mortgage repayment cost of £7,584 and the average net annual income of £26,023, lender the Halifax has calculated that home owners with a mortgage will have today earned enough on average to cover their mortgage payments for the rest of 2016. Mortgage Freedom Day this year occurs just a day later than in 2015 and is the result of average annual mortgage repayment edging up by £17 during the year. Rental Freedom Day, on the other hand, comes 16 days later on the 05 May, again a day later than in 2015. However, there is a wide variation in Mortgage Freedom Day across the country, with home owners in Scotland and Northern Ireland achieving this on 12 March, followed by Yorkshire and the Humber on 25 March, the North West 26th and the North the 27th. Mortgage Freedom Day for Londoners doesn't arrive until 26 June, three months later than in northern England. Regionally, the North was the first to achieve Rental Freedom Day on 05 April this year, just ahead of Yorkshire and the Humber on 09 April and the East Midlands on the 13th April. Tenants in London have to wait until 13 July. ‘For most home owners mortgage payments are the biggest outgoing every month. Knowing they’ve earned enough to pay off their mortgage for another year should be a reassuring thought. On the other hand, those who rent will need to work a further couple of weeks to have earned enough to cover their annual rental cost,’ said Craig McKinlay, Halifax mortgage director. At local authority district level, new borrowers in West Dunbartonshire recorded the earliest Mortgage Freedom Day in 2016, on 21 February. Eight of the 10 earliest Mortgage Freedom Days this year take place in Scotland, including Inverclyde and East Ayrshire, both 23rd February, and North Lanarkshire on the 25th February. The remaining two local areas are Copeland in Cumbria on the 27th February and Blaenau Gwent on 02 March. Home owners in South Bucks have to wait until the autumn for Mortgage Freedom Day which will be the 12 September, followed by Hammersmith and Fulham on 21 August, Brent in North West London on 19 August and Ealing on 08 August. Continue reading
Prime London property market still adjusting to tax changes
Prices of prime London residential properties fell marginally in the first quarter of 2016, as uncertainty regarding the global and domestic economic outlook continued, says a new analysis. Overall values across the whole of the prime property market in London fell by an average of 0.3% in the three months to the end of March, according to the report from real estate firm Savills. But there continues to be a distinction between the higher value, discretionary prime central London markets and the more domestic, needs-based outer prime London locations. In the most expensive markets of prime central London prices fell by 0.8% in the first quarter. This leaves values at the very top end of the market some 6.7% below their 2014 peak, when an adjustment was triggered by the Chancellor’s announcement of new stamp duty rates for higher value properties in his autumn statement. By contrast, in the less expensive and more domestic outer prime London housing markets, which run from Richmond and Wimbledon, though Battersea and Wandsworth in the south and west, and Islington, Wapping and Canary Wharf in the north and east, prices remained flat in the first quarter of the year, having risen between 2.6% and 4.2% over the past 12 months. The report points out that it is notable that price growth across all prime London markets has been slower than the mainstream over the past three years. It says that this is because the lower value outer London markets were slower to recover post downturn, have benefited from stamp duty reform and remain more accessibly priced. ‘Unlike other parts of the London housing market, the prime markets remain fairly price sensitive and increasingly dominated by needs based buyers,’ said Lucian Cook, Savills head of UK residential research. “’he recent Budget statement confirmed that the stamp duty take form the top end of the market has risen following the reforms of December 2014, despite lower transactional activity, effectively signalling that this policy is here to stay and will continue to influence buying and selling decisions and assessment of value,’ he explained. ‘Given historic levels of price growth, the increased tax burden and political uncertainty stemming from the pending mayoral election and EU referendum, our view is that we are unlikely see any price growth over the course of 2016 as the market continues its adjustment,’ he added. Continue reading
