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Property listings fall across the UK, more than usual seasonal drop off
New property listings in the UK fell by 21.5% across the country in November following three months of small rises, the latest research shows, with London particularly affected. The data from the Property Supply Index compiled by online estate agents House Simple recorded the biggest drop in property supply in any one month since the index launched in May 2015. The worst fall was in Bath with a wall of 42.6% in November and the data also shows that five of the 15 towns that saw the biggest drop in supply were in the north west of England. Property supply in London fell by 21% and not a single London borough saw a rise in property listings in November while Salford and Chichester were the only locations to see a rise. Indeed Bath has seen a steady decline in supply each month since June, according to the index which tracks the number of new properties listed on Rightmove every month in more than 100 major towns and cities across the UK and all London boroughs. Only 135 new properties in Bath were listed in November, compared to a high of 284 in June. The West Midland cities of Worcester and Solihull saw new property listings drop 41% and 39% respectively in November. While Chichester and Salford saw rises of 14.8% and 11.6% respectively. According to Rightmove figures, Bootle and Swansea have seen the biggest swing in property supply in the past two months, with October seeing a 47.4% and 36.6% rise respectively in property supply compared to September, followed by a 35.1% and 23.9% fall respectively in supply in November compared to October. In London Richmond upon Thames saw new property listings drop almost a third at 31% in November. While, the boroughs of Bromley and Hillingdon, each experienced a 30% drop off in new property listings last month. The figures reveal that there wasn’t a single London borough that saw an increase in new listings in November. Greenwich and Barking and Dagenham experienced the smallest falls in supply, with new listings down just 5% and 9% last month compared to October. More than half the capital’s boroughs, some18 of the 32, saw new stock levels fall by more than a fifth in November compared to October. ‘Everyone knows by now that we have a property supply issue in this country, but these latest figures reveal just how severe that problem is as we head into the New Year. The total number of new property listings in November across the UK was just over 65,000, that is nearly 20,000 less than in October, and the lowest level since we launched the index in May,’ said House Simple chief executive officer Alex Gosling. ‘Historically, as we get closer to Christmas, the property market does start to slow down, so a fall in property supply levels is not unexpected. However, the drop off is too dramatic to be simply attributed to seasonality factors alone,’ he pointed out. He… Continue reading
New residential rents in UK flat or down slightly across the UK
Rents on new tenancies remained flat or fell slightly over the three months to November in 10 out of the 12 UK regions compared to the three months to October, the latest index data shows. Across the country as a whole, excluding London, the average rent on a tenancy signed during the three months to November was £743 a month, a slight 0.7% fall on the previous three month period. In Greater London the average rent was £1,544, down 1%. The HomeLet Rental Index also shows that just two regions saw rents on new tenancies rise over the period. In Yorkshire and Humberside rents on new tenancies were 0.8% up, averaging £626 a month, while in the East Midlands rents were 1.2% up at £635 a month. Year on year average rents on new tenancies outside of London were 3.8% higher at £743 a month while Greater London has seen even higher increases, up 7.5% compared to a year ago at an average of £1,436 per month. However, the annual growth in rental values in London has slowed from a peak of over 12% in January to 6% in September. In contrast, the rest of the UK saw a marked increase in average rents throughout the spring and summer months. The East Midlands has also seen higher rents year on year, up 6.2% over the last 12 months and rents in both Scotland and the South East of England were up by 6%. ‘We saw rents rise particularly quickly during the first half of the year, before the pace of acceleration slowed in most parts of the country over the autumn. There has been continuous growth in London on a month to month basis in 2015 with the exception of a slight drop in September and November, ending the year with rents in the capital now 108% higher than the rest of the UK,’ said Martin Totty, chief executive officer of HomeLet’s parent company the Barbon Insurance Group. HomeLet has also published new research into landlords’ views about the rental market and their expectations for the year ahead. It found that the vast majority, 91%, of landlords do not plan to increase the amount of rent they charge on their properties in the next six months. In the next year just 34% plant to do so. Totty said that the research suggests that most landlords have a strong relationship with their tenants and are keen to keep them. Indeed, just 4% said they were unhappy with their current tenants, while 18% said high tenant turnover was the most stressful part of being a landlord, more than cited on any other single issue. ‘Being a landlord is a long term investment and attrition of tenants is not something landlords desire; our own clients tell us they would rather retain a good tenant over the longer period than seek additional income,’ he added. Continue reading
Property stamp duty costs in Australia up almost 8% in six months
Stamp duty taxes on property in Australia have increased by 7.9% in the last six months and the bill is now equivalent to almost four months’ worth of earnings, the latest research shows. According to the report from the Housing Industry Association in November 2015 the typical stamp duty bill nationally rose to $19,045 from $17,653 in June. The report also points out that stamp duty is causing mortgage repayments to increase by $1,165 per year, or $34,955 over a 30vyear loan term. ‘The cost of stamp duty has a significant negative multiplier effect causing a downward financial spiral for households. Apart from the immediate effect of being over $19,000 worse off, stamp duty results in mortgage interest payments increasing by about $15,900,’ said HIA senior economist, Shane Garrett. ‘Damage from the tide of stamp duty doesn’t stop there. Home buyers have smaller deposits after stamp duty is paid and must bear larger mortgage debt. As a result, significantly higher LMI charges must then be paid,’ he explained. ‘On a standard home purchase of $527,000, stamp duty can push the LMI premium up by another $7,855. If that’s not bad enough, a further layer of mortgage interest is added on top of the LMI premium if it is capitalised,’ he pointed out. ‘The end result is that the typical stamp duty bill of $19,045 can snowball up to about $50,000 once LMI and mortgage interest are factored in. This is an unacceptable burden to place on ordinary home buyers,’ he added. ‘As state governments rely more and more on revenue from stamp duty, they have been blinded to the obvious consequences of these costs have on prospective first home buyers. Last week’s Productivity Commission report also noted the huge disincentive that stamp duty places on older households wishing to downsize,’ he concluded. A breakdown of the figures show that buyer in the Northern Territory Shane continued to suffer the highest stamp duty bills at $25,600, followed by Victoria at $24,700 and New South Wales at $23,600. Queensland continued to offer the lowest stamp duty bills by a comfortable margin at $6,300 followed by Tasmania at $9,300. Stamp duty bills are the fourth highest in the ACT at $18,400, followed by Western Australia at $16,300 and South Australia at $15,400. Continue reading
