Tag Archives: dublin
Over half of UK home owners think EU vote will affect property prices
The UK referendum on the country’s future in the European Union is still years away but already home owners think it will have an impact on property prices. Some 55% believe that leaving the EU will have an impact on house prices in the UK. Of these 34% think leaving the EU would actually strengthen the value of their home, with 21% believing it will lead to a decrease in their property price, according to the poll by eMoov. It is thought the economic impact of leaving the EU will be felt hardest in London, however some 52% of those surveyed in London think it will push up the price of their property, with just 23% thinking the opposite. When Britain first joined Europe in 1973, the average house prices was just £9,045. Despite a post legislative referendum in 1975, UK house prices continued to increase for another 16 years to 1989. During Britain’s tenure as a member of the EU the average UK house price has increased by more than 2,000%. Based on these figures, it would seem the EU has been good for the UK property market, but Britain’s future in Europe still remains uncertain. ‘The consequences of exiting the European Union stretch far beyond its effect to UK property prices, however homeowners across the nation are understandably apprehensive as to the impact it could have on their property price, as our research shows,’ said the firm’s chief executive officer Russell Quirk. Pro EU campaigners have forecast central London will be worst hit if Britain does choose to leave the EU. ‘We saw how pre-election uncertainty froze property demand in the prime central London market. The uncertainty of Britain’s future in the EU could result in a similar effect on a much larger scale, but 52% of home owners in London seem confident a Brexit will only strengthen the value of their home,’ he explained. ‘This said, post-election stability failed to revive the high end London market, so who’s to say the same won’t happen if we do come out of the EU,’ he concluded. Continue reading
Prime central London prices still falling
Prices in central London’s prime residential market fell 0.3% in October, the steepest monthly decline since the summer of 2010, and annual growth slowed to 1%, the lowest rate since October 2009. This latest data from real estate firm Knight Frank means that the firm has revised 2016 forecast for the sector down to 2% from 4.5%. According to Tom Bill, Knight Frank’s head of London research, even although it has been 11 months since the Chancellor raised stamp duty for properties worth more than £1.1 million, the consequences have only come into sharper focus in recent weeks. ‘The spring selling season was overshadowed by the general election and, after a seasonal lull in the summer, the autumn market has been the first reliable test of sentiment since the stamp duty increase. Autumn is typically a more active time of year but the final months of 2015 have been marked by a standoff between buyers and sellers,’ he explained. ‘There is a degree of nervousness around global economic events such as the China slowdown and the fact some markets have experienced strong price growth in recent years, but the stand-off primarily comes down to the arithmetic of higher stamp duty rates,’ he said. ‘Buyers calculate it will take them longer to recover the extra stamp duty expense in house price inflation and expect a lower asking price, something vendors are not always willing to concede,’ he added. The figures also shows that the number of exchanges in the three months to September was 17% lower than in 2014. Meanwhile, the number of new prospective buyers was 30% down on the same period in 2014. ‘However, despite the stand-off, there are signs some vendors have realised demand has cooled since the stamp duty increase and where asking prices have come down the market is operating in a normal manner and tapping into underlying demand that remains resilient,’ Bill concluded. Continue reading
Property prices in Ireland growing faster outside of Dublin, latest index shows
Property prices in Ireland increased 1.3% nationwide in September and are 8.9% higher year on year, the latest official figures shows. But a breakdown of the data from the Central Statistics Office reveals that prices are now growing faster outside of Dublin than in the capital city which is no longer leading the nation. In Dublin residential property prices rose by 0.9% in September and they are now 6.5% higher than in September 2014. This was the lowest annual increase since June 2013 and contrasts with the 20% rise recorded in April. Dublin house prices rose by 1.1% in September while apartment prices decreased by 0.4%. Experts said that the decline is due to the introduction of lending restrictions by the Central Bank’s lending restrictions and the ending of the Capital Gains Tax (CGT) waiver for property purchases. Outside of Dublin residential property prices rose by 1.6% in September and they are now up 11.4% compared with September 2014. This means that across Ireland prices were 34.6% lower than their peak level in 2007 while in Dublin they were 35.6% lower. Excluding Dublin prices were 47.7% lower. Peter Stafford of Property Industry Ireland, which represents property sector firms, pointed out that the last few months have been relatively stable for house prices, with fairly consistent low level growth. He believes that the slowdown in house price growth in Dublin is largely driven by reduced borrowing capacity because of the new Central Bank mortgage rules and he also pointed out that sales are doing well. Between January and August 2015, there were 29,916 housing sales nationwide compared to 23,626 in the same period of 2014 and 16,462 in January to August 2013. But he warned that there is a severe shortage of affordable homes to buy in many urban areas. ‘Population growth, demographic trends, as well as internal migration, will lead to increased transactions into the future. So it is vital that people looking to move house have a genuine choice of affordable accommodation,’ he added. Stafford also explained that the Irish government missed an opportunity in the recent Budget to boost home building and address the shortage. While the government has pledged 20,000 new homes by 2020 it could do more to encourage private builders by reducing the cost of new housing through a fall in VAT and development levies, the organisation has said. He added that while the delayed revaluation of housing for Local Property Tax to 2019 will help home owners over the short term, more needs to be done as part of a wider overhaul of property tax to create a sustainable, predictable and fair property tax system. Continue reading
