Tag Archives: crisis
New analysis argues that the UK needs 300,000 new homes a year
The UK needs 300,000 new homes to be built every year rather than the target 200,000 proposed by the current government, it is claimed. Land brokers Aston Mead says that the 200,000 is evidently too low and its analysis of the situation comes as others have also pointed out that the number of new homes being built will not meet demand. For example, last week a new report from the cross-party House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee, also said that the current 200,000 target is not high enough. According to Charles Hesse, Aston Mead land and planning director, the figure is evidently too low but last year it was not met with only 160,000 new homes completed. ‘The last time the UK built more than 200,000 homes a year it was post-war, and there was a massive council housing programme under way. So we need radical changes in the way that we approach house-building, to enable construction to take place at a much faster rate,’ he said. He has drawn up a three point plan that would help to fund construction and free-up available land so that companies can start building with the minimum of delay. Firstly this involves the creation of a National Housebuilding Fund to finance public sector commissioning. ‘Borrowing costs are at rock-bottom, and something in the region of £20 billion would cover the cost of constructing 100,000 homes, which could be sold direct into owner occupation,’ he explained. Secondly, he suggests developers and planners should be braver about building on the less desirable areas of greenbelt. ‘Whilst some of it should be preserved at all costs, other areas would actually be improved by being built on. There are 514,000 hectares of green belt surrounding London. You only need a tiny fraction of that to more than satisfy housing supply,’ he pointed out. Finally, he suggests that local authorities should be encouraged to release land they themselves own as in London alone there is enough public sector land to build at least 130,000 homes. ‘A lot of authorities are not planning for enough houses, and they are not getting enough challenges from the planning inspectors about how to do it. And if that means an intervention from central Government, then so be it. Ultimately, we need to double the current rate of construction,’ he added. He believes that ‘tinkering at the edges’, providing a dozen homes here and there is no longer enough. ‘House building needs a radical overhaul, and without it we will never get close to the target of 300,000 new homes a year that this country so desperately needs,’ he concluded. Continue reading
More first time buyers boost existing home sales in the US
Boosted by a greater share of sales to first time buyers not seen in nearly four years, existing home sales in the United States maintained their upward trend in June and increased for the fourth month in a row. Only the Northeast of the nation saw a decline in sales in June and sales to investors fell to their lowest overall share since July 2009, according to the latest monthly index from the National Association of Realtors (NAR). Existing home sales were up 1.1% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.57 million in June from a downwardly revised 5.51 million in May. After last month's gain, sales are now up 3% from June 2015 and remain at their highest annual pace since February 2007. According to Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, the four month streak of sales gains through June caps off a solid first half of 2016 for the housing market. ‘Existing sales rose again last month as more traditional buyers and fewer investors were able to close on a home despite many competitive areas with unrelenting supply and demand imbalances,’ he said. ‘Sustained job growth as well as this year's descent in mortgage rates is undoubtedly driving the appetite for home purchases but looking ahead, it's unclear if this current sales pace can further accelerate as record high stock prices, near record low mortgage rates and solid job gains face off against a dearth of homes available for sale and lofty home prices that keep advancing,’ he pointed out. The index data also shows that median existing home prices for all housing types in June was $247,700, up 4.8% year on year and it means that prices have now increased for 52 months in a row and surpass May's peak median sales price of $238,900. Total housing inventory at the end of June dipped 0.9% to 2.12 million existing homes available for sale and is now 5.8% lower than a year ago while unsold inventory is at a 4.6 month supply at the current sales pace, which is down from 4.7 months in May. The share of first time buyers was 33% in June, up from 30% in May and a year ago and is the highest since July 2012 when it was 34%. Through the first six months of the year, first time buyers have represented an average of 31% of buyers compared to 30% in all of 2015. ‘The modest bump in June sales to first time buyers can be attributed to mortgage rates near all-time lows and perhaps a hopeful indication that more affordable, lower priced homes are beginning to make their way onto the market,’ said Yun. ‘The odds of closing on a home are definitely higher right now for first time buyers living in metro areas with tamer price growth and greater entry level supply, particularly areas in the Midwest and parts of the South,’ he added. The data also shows that all cash sales… Continue reading
Sales up almost 5% in Scotland but prices down
Property sales in Scotland increased by almost 5% year on year in the second quarter of 2016 but prices have fallen by 2.3% over the same period, according to the latest official data to be published. Sales were up 4.9% to 25,760, the data from the Registers of Scotland shows, the highest volume of sales for this quarter since 2008/2009 with the average property price down to £164,326. A breakdown of the figures show that the highest percentage rise in volume of sales was recorded in Argyll and Bute, with an annual increase of 24.5% compared with the same quarter the previous year. Edinburgh City recorded the highest volume of sales at 3,178, a rise of 8.6%. The largest percentage fall in volume of sales was in Aberdeen City, which showed a drop of 19.5% to 1,063 residential sales compared to the same quarter last year. The highest percentage fall was recorded in West Dunbartonshire, with an average price of £105,859, a fall of 12.7% compared with the same quarter the previous year while East Renfrewshire recorded the highest average at £241,364, an increase of 11.7% compared with the same quarter the previous year, which was also the largest percentage rise of all the local authorities over the year. The total value of sales across Scotland registered in the quarter increased by 2.5% compared to the previous year to just over £4.2 billion. The City of Edinburgh was the largest market with sales of £745.7 million for the quarter, an increase of 7.1% on the previous year. South Ayrshire recorded the highest increase in value with sales of £92.2 million, an increase of 27.8% compared with the same quarter last year. Aberdeen City showed the largest decrease in market value, a decrease of 24.4% to £223.8 million compared to the same quarter last year. All property types showed a decrease in average house price in this quarter. Terraced properties showed the biggest decrease down 5.6% to £132,700. Detached, semidetached and flats saw decreases in average house prices of 3.7%, 0.8% and 4.0% respectively. With the exception of detached properties, all property types showed an increase in sales volumes with flats showing the biggest increase at 11.2%. The volume of sales of detached properties decreased by 3.4%. The rise in property sales in Scotland over the last quarter indicates that there is still confidence in the market, according to Michelle Grant, investment director of Grant Property. ‘From a price perspective we are surprised to see a decline. On the ground we are still seeing prime city centre properties in Glasgow and Edinburgh selling for between 10% to 20% over home report valuation,’ she added. Simon Brown, partner and head of residential sales at CKD Galbraith, believes that the Scottish property market has remained resilient to political and economic changes despite the uncertainty of Brexit. ‘As a firm we have not experience any negative effects or hesitancy from… Continue reading
