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Kensington’s Victoria Road named as the most expensive for homes in the UK
Victoria Road in Kensington in London is the most expensive residential street in England and Wales with an average house price of over £8 million, new research shows. Indeed, 12 of the 20 most expensive roads are in the Royal Borough of Kensington and the top 50 are all in the south of England, the data from Lloyds Bank also shows. There is a £5.5 million gap between the most expensive streets in the South East and the rest of the UK, no million pound streets in Wales and a £7.2 million gap between the most expensive street in Wales compared to central London. The most expensive Welsh street is in Cardiff and with an average house price of £793,000, Druidstone Road is £7.2 million less than Victoria Road in London. Such is the pull of living in Kensington and Chelsea that 12 streets in the Royal Borough are in the list of the 20 most expensive in the country. These include Egerton Crescent with an average price of £7,550,000, followed by Manresa Road at £7,359,000, De Vere Gardens at £6,606,000, Drayton Gardens at £5,954,000 and Chelsea Manor Road at £5,523,000. Other central London locations featuring prominently in the list of most expensive streets are in Westminster, including Eaton Square with an average price of £6,727,000, Chester Street at £5,533,000 and Prince Consort Road at £5,281,000. Away from these two prime central locations, Parkside in Merton in south west London is amongst the 20 priciest streets with an average price of £6,355,000. Parkside is followed by West Heath Road in Barnet, north London at £5,199,000, and Anhalt Road in Wandsworth at £4,686,000. Outside of London Icklingham Road in Cobham in Surrey is the most expensive with an average property price of £3,094,000. The next most expensive in the region is Moles Hill in Leatherhead at £3,085,000, Harebell Hill in Cobham at £3,041,000, Abbots Drive in Virginia Water at £2,937,000, Fishery Road in Maidenhead at £2,821,000 and Wildernesse Avenue in Sevenoaks at £2,167,000. Poole in Dorset is the only area outside the South East that ranks near the top. Sandbanks Road is the most expensive with an average house price of £2,493,000 followed by Western Avenue at £2,433,000 and Haig Avenue at £2,200,000, all of which are in Poole. Newton Road close to the Cambridge Botanic Gardens is the most expensive street in East Anglia with an average house price of £1,853,000 but million pound residencies in northern England are not far behind. The most expensive streets outside southern England are concentrated in the area south of Manchester. Castle Hill in Macclesfield has an average property value of £1,662,000, followed by Macclesfield Road in Alderley Edge at £1,499,000, Torkington Road in Wilmslow at £1,330,000 and Goughs Lane in Knutsford at £1,299,000. The most expensive streets not in southern England are Lyndon Road in Oakham in Rutland at £1,363,000, Tiddington Road in Stratford-upon-Avon at £1,349,000, Rutland Drive in Harrogate at £1,191,000 and Graham Park Road in Newcastle at… Continue reading
Auckland sees unexpected property price surge
Average residential property prices in Auckland, New Zealand’s most populous city, increased by 4.2% in November month on month, the biggest rise since March 2014. This took the average price of a home to $876,075 and marks a substantial monthly rise compared to the more modest increases seen in the last seven months. The data from real estate agent Barfoot & Thompson also shows that the median home price increased by 1.9% in November compared to October to $795,000. ‘You have to go back 20 months to March 2014 to find a bigger monthly increase in the average price. For the past seven months, monthly increases have been modest, but last month buyers were as committed as ever to meeting vendor expectations,’ said Barfoot & Thompson director Kiri Barfoot. But she pointed out that while prices have ignored Government and Reserve Bank measures designed to cool prices, there has been a measurable decrease in market activity. In October market activity slowed, and that trend continued into November. The number of sales in November fell 7.7% month on month, the firm’s lowest in a month since February. New listings for the month at 1,683 were also down by 7.5% compared with October and the lowest number in the past seven months. ‘It remains to be seen if prices continue to ignore the tighter regulations, or whether November's prices are the last remnants of momentum that built in the lead up to the introduction of the tighter measures,’ said Barfoot. The data also shows that the price segment which experienced the largest decline in sales numbers in November compared to October was the $500,000 to $750,000 category. In November 286 homes were sold in this price category compared to 353 in October. It is a price category popular with investors with portfolios of less than three properties. The number of sales in November between $750,000 and $1 million, and those over $1 million were similar in number to those sold in October, as was the number of homes sold for under $500,000. Continue reading
UK commercial real estate performance set to be more polarised in 2016
After a strong 2015 experts expect the performance across different parts of the UK’s commercial real estate sectors to be more polarised over the next 12 months. According to the latest analysis from Schroders it has been another good year for UK commercial real estate and unleveraged total returns are likely to be close to 15%. One of the keys to success in 2015 was rental recovery. The report explains that whilst one of the drivers was a continued favourable fall in real estate yields, the key difference to 2014 was a broad based recovery in rental values. While central London offices have led the upswing, several other cities including Brighton, Bristol, Cambridge, Manchester, Leeds and Oxford have also seen a significant increase in office rents. Likewise, industrial rents rose in many locations, boosted by growing demand from on-line retailers and parcel couriers. In contrast however, the retail sector is still adjusting to a world of multi-channel sales, the report adds. While there are pockets of rental growth in London and some tourist destinations, most centres have a significant amount of vacancy and rents were either flat, or fell slightly in 2015. The outlook for 2016 is already categorised by some commentators asking whether we are now at the top of the cycle. Schroders' head of real estate, Duncan Owen, explained that the income from commercial real estate has historically been very stable, but capital values have been cyclical. However, capital values have risen by 25% in less than three years and there is sentiment that cannot continue. ‘This sentiment is understandable, but not necessarily rational. The immediate trigger for previous downturns has been a recession, which has depressed rents and pushed up real estate yields as investors have withdrawn from the market and liquidity has dropped,’ said Owen. ‘In addition, commercial real estate has had a habit of contributing to its own downfall, either through excessive borrowing which inflated prices such as from 2005 to 2007, or because of a boom in development which left an oversupply of space, for example from 1988 to 1990, and falls in rents,’ he added. He believes that none of the usual suspects appear to yet be evident currently. ‘Looking at the economy, the outlook is positive and the consensus is that UK GDP will grow by 2.25 to 2.5% through 2016 to 2017. The main reason for being optimistic is that the UK is finally seeing a recovery in productivity, which should support a steady increase in real disposable incomes and consumer spending. Furthermore, exporters stand to gain from faster growth in the rest of the European Union, which accounts for 45% of total exports,’ Owen pointed out. His analysis also points out that there are few signs of excess borrowing. ‘In general, banks and other lenders have continued to take a disciplined approach to commercial real estate and although total loan originations in 2015 are likely to be around £50 billion, they are still… Continue reading
