Tag Archives: election
Dubai sees property sales plummet compared to a year ago
The sales market in Dubai is slowing with the latest figures from the Land Department showing that they halved last month compared with a year earlier. Transactions fell 51.8% in April compared with the same month in 2014 and the total value was DH35.3 billion, down 37.1% year on year. According to the industry sales have been falling steadily since the end of last year after the Dubai government introduced tough new mortgage caps and higher transaction fees in an attempt to slow what had been one of the fastest rising housing markets in the world. Real estate consultants JLL and the ratings agency Standard & Poor’s are predicting that average house prices in the emirate could fall by between 10% and 20% this year while Deloitte has estimated that they will fall by 1% and 5% in the first half of this year. Indeed, according to CBRE average house prices fell 2% during the first three months of 2015. ‘These figures come as no surprise although from the face of it they look quite dramatic. A fall in volumes is a good leading indicator that prices will fall and we expect that to continue for the rest of this year. Last April the market was still booming, so any year on year figures will reflect that fact,’ said Craig Plumb, the head of research at JLL’s Dubai office. And the latest quarterly report from Phidar Advisory shows that residential prices in the first quarter of 2015 continue to decline, compared to the previous quarter. However, it is not all bad news according to Jesse Downs, managing director of Phidar Advisory as the market downturn is attracting selective opportunistic investment. The report also shows that overall prices fell by 3.9% in the first quarter of the year while apartment lease rates were down 0.3% and for villas they were down 2.4%. But apartment sales were up 0.6% year on year while villas fell 57%. Continue reading
Shortage of property for sale keeping UK prices high, latest index data suggests
House prices in UK in the three months to April were 2.2% higher than in the preceding three months, according to the latest data from the Halifax. This particular measure of the underlying rate of house price growth fell for the first time in 2015 following three successive rises. But house prices increased by 1.6% between March and April. In contrast, annual house price growth increased slightly, from 8.1% in March to 8.5% but, nonetheless, the annual rate remains in the narrow range of 8% to 9% where it has been since the start of 2015 and is below last July’s peak of 10.2%. ‘Housing demand is being supported by a number of factors including economic improvement, rising employment and low mortgage rates. At the same time, supply remains very tight with a general shortage of properties available for sale,’ said Halifax housing economist Martin Ellis. ‘This combination has kept house price inflation steady in recent months with prices increasing by 2.2% to 2.6% on a quarterly basis and at an annual rate of 8% to 9%,’ he added. He pointed out that house prices are continuing to increase more quickly than average earnings despite the return to real earnings growth over the past few months. ‘The resulting rise in the level of house prices in relation to earnings should constrain house price growth and activity over the remainder of the year,’ he said. Ellis is predicting that the annual rate of house price growth is forecast to end the year at somewhere between 3% and 5%. The Halifax report points out that home sales were unchanged in March at 101,000 and were also static between the final three months of 2014 and the first quarter of 2015, but were 6% lower than in the first three months of 2014. Mortgage approvals have risen on a quarterly basis. The volume of mortgage approvals for house purchases, a leading indicator of completed house sales, fell slightly in March following three consecutive rises. Nonetheless, approvals during the first quarter of 2015 were 2.8% higher than in the final quarter of 2014. Supply remains tight. New instructions fell in March continuing the recent downward trend with declines in seven of the past eight months. This fall in instructions has contributed to the supply of homes on the market remaining low. Continue reading
UK property market set for further growth due to stable election result
House prices in the UK, especially the prime property market in London, are set to rise on the back of the Conservative win at the general election, according to property experts. London is likely to see sales surge as people who put off buying, particularly overseas buyers, now go ahead and make a decision with the possibility of a mansion tax evaporated. Indeed, according to Edward Heaton, of Heaton and Partners property search agency prime country house prices could rise by as much as 10% within weeks. ‘There will be bun fights in the next few weeks for the best houses which come to the market as confidence in the top-end of the regional market returns,’ he said. ‘For many operating in the prime property market, there is a palpable sense of relief at the election outcome as there were some genuine concerns about the possible impact of mansion tax tied in with the attack on non-doms proposed by Labour,’ he added. The result will bring stability to the markets, according to Michelle van Vuuren, managing director of residential development at Sotheby’s International Realty UK. The firm is already getting calls from would be international buyers. ‘The removal of the uncertainty that has clouded the last year of the coalition will allow developers to plan confidently for the medium term with a consistent economic policy. Having said that, we do hope to see the Tories come good on their annual pledge of 200,000 new homes and freeing up brownfield sites for development,’ she said. ‘Increasing the supply of homes is the only way to truly overcome the hurdles that the housing market places for the majority of buyers. At the top end, for the next five years at least, a cessation of the clamour for a mansion tax will see a number of transactions that have stalled to come back on line as certitude creeps back into the market. It is going to be an exciting time to be in the London market,’ she added. ‘Andrew Ellinas, director of central and north west London agency Sandfords, believes that confidence will return quickly and it is likely that there will be a significant late spring bounce in activity as those who have held back start to act. ‘London has established itself around the world as a safe and thriving place to invest and increased confidence will once again be restored and with that see the return of overseas investors. It has felt like the market was becalmed and now will steam ahead once again, with London prices that have been subdued steadily rising throughout the second half of the year,’ he pointed out. ‘My advice to those who have been thinking about selling, but awaiting political certainty, is to make a move now and beat the rush. The market has been challenged most recently by a lack of stock, but this is likely to change quite swiftly now, creating more competition for vendors. Take… Continue reading
