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Monaco has the second most expensive ultra prime property in the world
Ahead of the Formula One annual Grand Prix in Monaco new research shows that the price of ultra prime property per square metre is the second most expensive in the world with only Hong Kong more costly. Last year was a strong one for Monaco with a total of €2.25 billion sales with new builds making up just 7% of total sales but 20% of total sales value. The data from Savills World Research also shows that prime two bedroom apartments on the Grand Prix track are nearly nine times the cost of comparable properties on the Singapore race track and if the track was measured as dwelling floor space, it would be worth €3 billion The report points out that Monaco is a small market and average prices are prone to fluctuation depending on the sample of properties sold in any one year. In 2015 the average resale price in Monaco stood at €3.5 milion, down 4.8% on the previous year, while the median price at €2.1 million was up 5%. The long term median price trend shows consistent growth, averaging 5.8% per annum since 2010. ‘Monaco continues to be an exceptionally attractive location for the global wealthy and has all the key ingredients for real estate price growth’ the report says. ‘A very strong local economy employs more people than can be physically accommodated within the Principality. High demand for both residential and commercial space meets with slow supply in an extremely land limited area,’ it explains. This means that Monaco remains one of the most expensive destinations for ultra prime property in the world only Hong Kong tops it at €109,800 per square meter compared to Monaco’s €90,900 per square meter. The report points out that while Monaco’s residential property market may be very valuable it is also very small. Transaction numbers topped only 547 in 2015, but even then this represented less than 4% of private housing stock numbers in Monaco. On average, since 2006, less than 3% of private stock has traded each year. This means the average Monegasque property changes hands only once every 37 years compared to prime London where properties trade nearer once every 20 years. In the re-sale market, which accounted for 93% of deals, 509 sales were recorded. This was 8% down on 2014 volumes but still 11% above 2007 levels. The very upper tiers of the market are the most liquid and total euro volumes stand 67% above their 2008 peak. Land constrains means that Monaco is taking innovative approaches to urban development. Project Portier, a reclamations project agreed in 2015 and scheduled to complete by 2025, will add a further six hectares of land. ‘Monaco is expanding and rebuilding to remain relevant to modern-day occupier demands. The Principality’s dual status as business destination and recreation centre, coupled with safe haven credentials, will continue to underpin its appeal,’ said Paul Tostevin, associate director, Savills World… Continue reading
Tracker report confirms UK property sales soared in first quarter of 2016
Property sales in the UK were 10% higher in the first quarter of 2016, boosted by a rush in demand for buy to let and second homes due to a stamp duty surcharge, new figures show. Some 275,002 transactions were registered between January and March, up 10% from the previous first quarter record from 2014, when 251,042 transactions were logged, according to the latest Conveyancing Market Tracker report from Search Acumen. The report points out that the 2014 rush was due to a surge of activity ahead of the Mortgage Market Review (MMR) rule changes in April 2014, as consumers moved to secure mortgage finance and complete deals before affordability checks were tightened. The latest tracker, which uses Land Registry data, also shows that sales volumes in the first three months of 2016 were also up 15% year on year, as conveyancers pushed second home buyers and landlords to completion before the introduction of the new 3% stamp duty surcharge which was introduced on 01 April 2016. The report points out that the potential for a time lag due to extended timelines for Land Registry applications being completed means the higher volume of conveyancing transactions may also continue into the second quarter of 2016. Year on year, those firms ranked 11 to 20 in terms of transactions completed experienced the biggest growth from the first quarter of 2015 to the first quarter of 2016, with their transaction volumes rising 24% from 801 to 994 on average. Firms ranked from 21 to 50 experienced the second best year on year growth rate, with average sales in the first quarter up from 551 to 665, a rise of 21%. Overall, the top 1,000 firms in the market experienced 16% annual growth, compared with 11% outside the top 1,000. It means that the aggregate market share for the top five firms has now been 6% or less for each of the last five quarters since the fourth quarter of 2014 as competition has heated up further down the ranks. ‘Conveyancers’ services have been in high demand so far this year as buyers of second homes and buy to let properties have created a stampede to beat the April 2016 stamp duty deadline,’ said Mark Riddick, chairman of Search Acumen. He pointed out that the artificial stimulus of government intervention has put major pressure on workloads, more than the firm has seen in the opening exchanges of any year since the recession and topping the pre-MMR rush of 2014. ‘Our analysis points to another interesting trend in the market, where challenger firms have enjoyed the biggest benefits of the year on year rise in transactions. As conveyancers pause for breath after the stamp duty frenzy, there may be some who are left licking their wounds or feeling their business performance could have been better,’ explained Riddick. ‘Periods like this, when services come under pressure from extra demand, can be testing all round, and it’s important for conveyancers to ensure their… Continue reading
Property slowdown a myth for majority of London, new research shows
Price growth at the top end of the London residential property market has slowed but the majority of the city is seeing real estate values grow. Across most of the city property prices are up 8.2% year on year but for the top quarter prices are down by 2.4% year on year and 0.6% quarter on quarter, according to the latest report from Stirling Ackroyd. A breakdown of the figures shows that the traditional top quarter accounts for two thirds of Greater London’s postcode districts experiencing price falls with Kensington High Street seeing prices fall by 11.8%. This is followed by Notting Hill with a decline of 10% and Hampstead but areas such as Soho’s W1, Sutton and Tottenham are now driving London property price growth instead. By contrast, if London’s old luxury postcodes are excluded, the remaining three quarters of the capital saw a 2% rise over the same period, or annualised house price growth of 8.2% for the overwhelming majority of London’s neighbourhoods. Across the board, house prices in the capital rose by 1.6% in the fourth quarter of 2015, with the average London property now worth £533,000. As a broad average this translates to a 6.6% annualised growth rate for the whole of Greater London. Out of a total 272 postcode districts in the capital, 47 saw local drops in average property values. However 32 of these districts fall within London’s traditional prime top quarter of the property market. Within the top quarter of London’s property market, a given postcode has a roughly 50:50 chance of hosting falling house prices whereas for the rest of the capital a given postal district has a 93% probability of price rises. ‘London’s hugely diverse property market is undergoing a serious readjustment, with the traditional old heart of prime London under pressure from many fronts; from a low global oil price and China’s economic slowdown, to stamp duty reform and international fears of Brexit,’ said Andrew Bridges, managing director of Stirling Ackroyd. ‘Yet for most of London’s communities, these factors affecting luxury buyers are less important. There are still too few new homes coming onto the majority of the market compared to demand from a growing population and the majority of the London market is still in tune with, and restrained, by those fundamentals. Anyone who thinks that London property is synonymous with international jet setters is only looking at a very small part of what London has to offer,’ he explained. He also pointed out that there is also an outwards wave of interest, away from the old peaks of property prices. ‘Within the wider spread of London home buyers, a growing band of increasingly affluent people can no longer afford the most overcrowded traditional areas of London,’ he said. ‘This demographic of professionals are redefining the map of the capital’s up and coming locations. New, dynamic parts of London are emerging further east, driven by a… Continue reading
