Tag Archives: dubai
Emerging prime market in London has a quiet 12 months
Property prices in South West London were down 0.5% in the third quarter of 2015, compared to last quarter and by 1.08% compared to the same period last year, new data shows. The Emerging Prime Index from Douglas & Gordon also shows that larger houses priced over £2 million experienced a plateau as the market continued to digest stamp duty rises from the end of last year. However, properties priced below £900,000, which benefitted from price rises due to stamp duty changes, showed signs of slowing following a firm first half of the year but remained robust overall. The index report says that buyer expectations around interest rate rises caused greater price sensitivity, which also impacted the market. However in some areas where houses were priced under £2million, for example between the commons in Battersea, a 10% price reduction in certain instances ended the stand-off between buyers and sellers and generated more offers. Meanwhile the emerging prime rental market in saw a mixed performance in the third quarter. Flats remained in demand, but there were pockets of extreme weakness in the market for houses. The report explains that as corporate budgets remain tight, some companies have stopped relocating employees and their families. This slowdown in house sales has had a knock on effect on rentals, which are in demand while the buying and selling process takes place. According to Ed Mead, the firm’s executive director, London’s emerging prime market has had a quiet 12 months driven by the ongoing impact of stamp duty changes on larger properties and expectations around interest rate rises. ‘However it is our view that the current slowdown will settle as emerging prime remains an attractive offer to foreign buyers. The current global economic instability reinforces our prediction that interest rates will remain at today’s levels for the foreseeable future,’ he said. ‘It’s interesting to see the rental market for houses seriously weaken as corporate budgets continue to be squeezed and French families in particular are noticeable by their absence. It gives rise to the question whether 30 something professional sharers could be the future given a changing demographic,’ he added. Continue reading
Prices continue to fall slightly in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, index data shows
Residential property prices in Dubai have fallen by 9.9% year on year and 0.75% month on month while rental prices are also down, according to the latest index data. A breakdown of the figures from the REIDIN index shows that apartment prices fell 10.4% year on year and are down 0.55% month on month while villa prices fell 8% year on year and 1.45% month on month in August. On the sales front apartment transactions were down for both apartments and villas. Month on month rents fell by 0.76% and 1.4% year on year, the data also shows. Apartment rental prices increased 1% compared with July but are 1.1% below August 2014 while villa rental priced fell 0.6% month on month and are down 2.9% year on year. In neighbouring Abu Dhabi property prices decreased 0.17% month on month and are down 3% year on year. Apartment prices registered a 0.46% decrease in August 2015 and are down 3.7% year on year while villa prices increased by 0.14% month on month but are down 2% compared to the previous year. Rents fell 0.23% month on month but are up 0.5% compared to August 2014. The data shows that for apartment rental prices fell 0.22% month on month and are down 0.8% year on year while villa rental prices fell 0.04% month on month and are up 2.2% year on year. Meanwhile, data from the Dubai Land Department suggests that the market is still attracting international buyers. Foreign investment into the property sector across Dubai increased to Dh53 billion in the first half of 2015. In Abu Dhabi a new decree has been issued to regulate and improve transparency in the emirate's real estate sector, requiring brokers and developers to be licensed and introducing rules to protect buyers of projects that are not yet completed. The rules, due to come into being soon, cover property advertising and marketing and introduce a means for complaints to be submitted and resolved more easily. All real estate developments must be registered with the government along with sales transactions listing the buyer. It means that new developments cannot be promoted or sold until they receive government approval and for unfinished projects, payments by buyers will be held in a separate, ring fenced account, while brokers will not be allowed to represent more than one party in a single transaction. Continue reading
House prices rise in Scotland as market shakes off effect of new property tax
House prices in Scotland increased by 1.1% in August, only the second month of growth since the new Land and Building Transaction Tax was introduced in April. It takes the average house price to £167,426, back above December 2014 levels and the annual rate of growth was also 1.1%, the data from the Your Move index shows. When it comes to transactions it was the strongest August for sales in eight years with activity up 7.5% on an annual basis and Scotland saw faster annual sales growth over the summer than anywhere else in the UK. The data also shows that it is semidetached homes that are driving price rises and sales growth followed by a 4% increase in flat purchases compared to a year earlier. In contrast, sales of more expensive detached properties are down 4% year on year. Christine Campbell, Your Move managing director in Scotland, said that the market is starting to shake off the side effects of April’s LBTT after the tax change caused a three month decline in house prices between April and June. ‘LBTT has slowed high value property sales considerably. The number of million pound property sales has fallen to an average of four per month over the last five months, down from 12 in 2014. But it’s not just at the very extremes that this has had a dampening effect and the brakes have been applied to all sales above £254,000,’ she explained. ‘As a result of the tougher top end tax rates, the most expensive parts of the country have recorded price falls year on year, and this is starting to close the price gap between Scotland’s preeminent cities,’ she added. The index also shows that on an annual basis, house prices in Glasgow have increased by 6.5% to reach £141,871, compared to a 3.4% decrease of property values in Edinburgh since last year. ‘As the area with the highest house price across Scotland, Edinburgh’s price fall encapsulates the current trend of declining house prices in high value areas qualifying for higher rates of transaction tax,’ said Campbell. But the middle and the lower tiers of the market have been boosted by the LBTT which has stimulated demand at the bottom and middle rungs of the property ladder. ‘Overall, the activity emanating from the bottom of the property market means that from June to August 2015, Scotland has experienced the strongest year on year increase in property sales of any other part of Britain, with sales climbing 6%,’ said Campbell, adding that sales volumes were down by 2% across England and Wales and seven regions saw sales fall over the same period. Continue reading
