Tag Archives: city
Rents, sales and prices record moderate falls in Dubai in first quarter of 2016
The Dubai residential real estate market is experiencing moderate declines in rents and sales prices and transaction volumes are also down, according to the latest UAE property review. The analysis report from Asteco suggests that a focus on affordability is becoming more prominent in the emirate’s real estate market. Whilst no significant rent reductions were recorded during the first quarter of the year this may have been due to limited supply and the general trend continued to be towards increased competition amongst landlords. Leasing demand was stable in the first two months of 2016, however, a slowdown was recorded from March onwards, especially for more expensive properties where take-up was slower than usual. On average, rental rates stabilised in the affordable segment, and declined by 2% and 3% for mid and high end apartments, respectively. Asteco says that this minimal decrease was due to a combination of landlords trying to retain tenants rather than insisting on higher renewal rates, a decrease in the number of newcomers to the city, and in some sectors, housing allowance cuts and redundancies. Compared to the previous quarter, sales prices remained stable, with the exception of high end apartments and villas where 2% average declines for both markets were recorded. However, according to the Dubai Land Department (DLD), the first quarter of 2016 was considerably worse than the first quarter of 2015 as the overall residential transactions by total value were down by 25%, transaction numbers by 17% and the average sales price by 11%. Leasing activity at the beginning of the year started well, however, enquiry and transaction levels tapered off in March. The report suggests this was partially due to property owners keen to retain their existing tenants, and therefore willing to negotiate rental rates instead of having a property vacant. As a result, fewer tenants were seeking to move to a new unit. Asteco also noted a tendency for the more expensive units in buildings to remain vacant for longer, as tenants became more conscious of their spending habits. Whilst declines were limited over the quarter, year on year comparisons indicated an average of a 4% decline across the board. The most affected areas were those that had seen previous rapid rental increases for a relatively undifferentiated product. For instance, Jumeirah Lake Towers recorded a 12% decline year on year. ‘Indeed, whilst the community is attractive overall, the quality of most residential towers are below the tenant’s expectations considering the high rental levels. We have noted an increase in demand for affordable units. However, rental rates have not fallen far enough to warrant tenants to relocate from the Northern Emirates to Dubai yet,’ the report points out. ‘This is further compounded by the fact that for a similar priced product in the Northern Emirates would equate to a much smaller unit in Dubai. For instance, AED60,000 would mean a two bedroom unit in Sharjah as opposed to a studio or a small… Continue reading
Over 200,000 homes lie empty in England, new research shows
There are 203,596 long term empty homes in England valued at £38 billion, but the amount varies depending on location, new research has found. London has the most number of homes empty for six months or more at 21,000 worth almost £12.4 billion while Bradford has more empty homes than any other town or city outside London, with over 4,000 sitting empty, totalling nearly £400 million. One of the most deprived boroughs, Newham, has the worst problem in London with 1,318 unoccupied properties, according to the research from property crowd funding platform Property Partner . But there has been an 84% drop in long-term vacant homes in Manchester over a decade, according to the research which used figures from the Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG). The analysis looked at long-term vacant dwellings in England between 2005 and 2015, and then estimated the total value of this vacant real estate for towns and cities as well as London. Overall, in the past decade, the number of long-term vacant homes in England has been reducing. In 2005, there were 313,616 but by 2015 that had dropped by around a third to 203,596. Manchester has seen the number of empty homes plummet by more than 84%, from 10,059 long-term vacant dwellings in 2005 to 1,599 a decade later while in Bradford there has been a rise of 7% in the past decade to a total of 4,154 empty homes. On a regional basis West Yorkshire, which includes Bradford, Calderdale, Kirklees, Leeds and Wakefield, has the highest number of long term empty properties at 12,292, an estimated £1.4 billion worth of potential homes that could be occupied. Newham has the most empty properties at 1,318 in all 33 boroughs in London with the total value standing at almost £470 million. Meanwhile, Kensington and Chelsea’s long term vacant housing stock is valued at a £1.7 billion while Harrow in the north west of London has just 97 dwellings which have been unoccupied for over six months and unsurprisingly, the smallest borough the City of London has just 44. Only three boroughs, Kensington and Chelsea, Haringey and Lewisham, have seen increases in the number of vacant dwellings over the decade while Wandsworth has seen a fall of more than 90% from 3,044 in 2005 to just 263 in 2015. ‘These figures reveal a shocking waste of opportunity. Over a decade ago, the law changed giving councils the power to seize empty homes through Compulsory Purchase Orders and rent them back out to tenants, if they lay vacant for more than two years,’ said Dan Gandesha, Property Partner chief executive officer. ‘But we still find not enough being done in many parts of the country. This is nothing short of a scandal. To be fair, some towns and cities are getting to grips with the problem of long-term vacant properties,’ he pointed out. Yet if just half of the current empty homes could be brought to market, it would go a long… Continue reading
Demand leaves key Scottish city centres short of office space
A lack of suitable office space in Scotland’s key cities, combined with rising rents, is leading to companies looking to take offices in locations outside the city centre, new research shows. According to the latest Scottish Office Market report from real estate firm Savills, take-up of office space outside the central business districts of Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow was 4% higher in the first quarter of 2016 than the previous quarter. The firm believes this trend is set to increase as occupiers continue to be attracted by the low rents on offer in out of town locations, where in some cases there can be a 50% discount on the £30 per square foot prime rents being achieved in the city centre. ‘The out of town markets are on the cusp of experiencing a resurgence in popularity, particularly in Edinburgh and Glasgow. This is primarily due to occupiers being able to save money on rents compared to inner city locations,’ said Mat Oakley, head of commercial research at Savills. As a result Savills predicts Scotland’s strongest rental growth could be seen in the out of town markets of both Edinburgh and Glasgow, where rents in the early £20's could be achieved in the next three years. Savills research also shows that demand for office space across Scotland has increased significantly this year. Glasgow has seen approximately 300,000 square foot of space let in the first quarter of 2016 alone, more than half of the total amount of space taken in the city during the whole of 2015. Edinburgh, meanwhile, saw its second strongest quarter of leasing activity since 2013 at 324,000 square feet. According to the report, this spike in demand, combined with further employment growth and falling availability of Grade A space, has led to a squeeze in supply. Total supply in Glasgow has now fallen below two million square feet for the first time since 2011, with only approximately 500,000 square feet of Grade A space available. In Edinburgh availability has steadily fallen since its peak in 2008. Savills estimates that there is now only 2.1 million square feet of office space available across the city’s combined central business district and out of town markets, of which only 365,000 square feet is Grade A. The report also points out that Scottish office investment volumes have stayed healthy, with just over £811 million transacted in 2015, 33% above the long run average, and just over £300 million transacted in Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow in the year to date. Prime yields have fallen in Edinburgh and Glasgow, leaving both markets at 5%. However, Aberdeen's recent slowdown in leasing activity has seen yields there rise from 6% to 7% over the last two years. Of all Scottish office investments in 2015 some 44% were by non-domestic investors according to Savills research. Figures show this has continued into 2016 with 89% of all purchases made by non-domestic investors. Savills attributes this to a combination of UK… Continue reading
