Tag Archives: finance
New UK residential listings bounce back after downturn in June due to EU vote
New properties listed for sale in the UK increased by 3.4% in July with 62% of towns and cities seeing an increase in supply July compared to the previous month, the latest research shows. The biggest rise was recorded in Durham with a rise of 51%, followed by Hartlepool with an increase of 32.5% and Hemel Hempstead up by 31.7%, according to the figures from online estate agents HouseSimple. London’s property supply was up 13.7% in July, with Bexley, Greenwich and Lambeth seeing new property listings rise 44.1%, 41.3% and 40.5% respectively. The index report suggests that home owners don’t appear to be too worried about the possibility of falling property prices, as July saw new property listings bounce back from June when they fell by 7.3% across the country and by 12.8% in London. However, despite the majority of towns and cities experiencing a boost in supply in July, more than a third experienced significant falls in new properties listed, including Bootle, where listings fell by 30.8% in July and Chichester with a fall of 27.7%. ‘It has been business as usual after Brexit in terms of activity, with many sellers who were waiting on the result of the Referendum, now actively marketing their properties. The reality is that people need to sell for a whole host of reasons, and delaying post-Brexit is simply not an option if people are relocating for work or family reasons,’ said Alex Gosling, the firm’s chief executive officer. ‘On the ground, what was probably a sellers’ market before the vote is now going to be a more level playing field. That doesn’t mean that quality properties in desirable areas won’t still sell for close to or at asking price, but buyers are holding a few more cards now, and motivated sellers may need to more flexible on price negotiations,’ he added. Continue reading
Housing and Finance Institute praises UK housing policies
Former British Prime Minister David Cameron and his then Chancellor George Osborne introduced strong housing policies that can achieve their target of a million new homes by 2020, it is claimed. Their housing legacy is the strongest for a generation and more than 750,000 homes were built during their term of office with final figures to be released in the coming months. According to Natalie Elphicke, chief executive of The Housing and Finance Institute, it is wrong to assume that Theresa May has inherited a full blown housing crisis and that not enough homes being built. ‘It is true we have some serious housing challenges, but it is also a fact we have made some extraordinary steps forward since David Cameron and George Osborne took control of the tiller in 2010. For two politicians perceived to be masters of spin and presentation, they failed to sell their ground breaking housing achievements while in government,’ she said. ‘But they really did preside over record breaking house building, a reformed planning policy and a package of reforms that leave our housing industry in a much stronger position than when they took office six years ago. Cameron and Osborne’s is the strongest housing legacy of any government for over 35 years,’ she added. She believes that Osborne put housing at the heart of Britain’s recovery and growth strategy, committing over £38 billion of public money into the sector and says this is a scale of public finance housing support that has not seen since the post war era. ‘Financial commitment has been matched by root and branch reform across all parts of government which impact on housing, planning, public finances, local government finance, local government powers and the government’s entire public land estate,’ she explained. A key part of their programme was giving back control to councils and Elphicke explained that a recovery which worked for everyone needed to devolve power to find local solutions. This included money, direct access to billions of pounds which could be borrowed directly by councils for housing, growth and community building through the Housing Revenue Account settlements and Prudential Borrowing. ‘There has been wholesale reform of planning through the introduction of the National Planning Policy Framework. This is helping councils and housing businesses alike understand what housing is needed and where. Action has been taken on empty homes, on better utilisation of existing social housing stock and on keeping Britain building,’ she pointed out. The HFI has identified the flagship Help to Buy scheme as a key driver to their success. Often misanalysed as a demand side boost, the original Help to Buy scheme was a supply side boost to address the immediate challenge that volume house builders faced, which was that new buyers did not have the higher deposits necessary to secure a mortgage after the credit crunch. The Help to Buy programme… Continue reading
Italian commercial real estate investment going from strength to strength
Investment in Italy’s commercial real estate markets is going from strength to strength with the first half of 2016 seeing over €3.4 billion of sales, up 35% on the same period last year. The latest investment analysis report from international real estate advsor Savills says that favourable market conditions are fuelling supply in the Italian market through fund liquidations or equity fund investors who are taking advantage of the point in the market’s cycle to dispose of some of the most liquid assets in their portfolios. It says that it is significant that cross border investment into Italy accounted for more than half of the total investment volume in the first six months of 2016, and close to 65% of all deals. Savills has recorded that international funds are increasingly dominating the market, with 80% of foreign capital coming from Europe. ‘Our analysis suggests Italy is at an earlier stage in the cycle compared to Europe’s primary markets in France, Germany and the UK, therefore international investors are still identifying the potential for capital growth and better returns from core Italian product,’ said Eri Mitsosterigiou, director of research, Savills Europe.. ‘We believe that investment demand for the remainder of the year will continue to be driven by European investors, however we also envisage domestic investors to up their buying activity,’ Mitsosterigiou added. According to Savills, investment into the office sector in Italy this year accounted for circa 46% of all activity, over 40% ahead of the first half of 2015. The retail sector represented 26% of the total investment volume, also a yoy 40% hike. The report points out that the high streets of Milan, Rome and Florence are dominating the retail investment market and the first six months of this year saw around €505 million invested, an increase of circa 80% compared to the previous year. ‘Italy is a country with above average household disposable income and strong tourist flows in some of its biggest cities. The resilient characteristics of high street retail, with stable or rising rents, low vacancy and high demand is attracting investors,’ said Marco Montosi, head of Investment, Savills Italy. Savills also recorded that the first half of 2016 saw a notable increase in investment into alternative commercial real estate sectors including hospitality. Almost 22%, some €761 million, of the total volume can be attributed to investment into the alternatives sector, markedly within healthcare. Also of note is that the vast majority of the transactions so far in 2016 were on a single asset basis, whilst portfolio transactions accounted for 21% of the total, down from 35% in the first half of 2015. Looking at the next 12 months, Savills believes that the supply of commercial real estate is set to increase as funds will take advantage of the improving market conditions, particularly the ones that purchased in the low point of the cycle in 2011/2012. ‘Prime locations of major Italian cities… Continue reading
