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Cost of land to build prime homes in Asia still rising
Prices of residential sites in Asia increased by 1.9% in the first half of 2016, down from 2.8% in the preceding six months, put office land increased from 1.9% to 2.2%. Overall development land investment volumes in Asia matched the level registered in the corresponding period last year, according to the Prime Asia Development Land Index from international real estate firm Knight Frank. As compared to the preceding six months, however, they were 40.4% lower and the index report explains that land markets tend to be more active in the second half of the year, which accounts for 60% of the transactions historically. With state owned enterprises purchasing land aggressively, China, which accounts for more than 90% of the deals in Asia, saw a 6% year on year increase in volumes while in Thailand some major deals boosted volumes by 190.4%. However, cross border land investment volumes fell by 11.5% year on year. ‘Part of the reason is that while Chinese developers have previously snatched up land in Hong Kong and Singapore, they now appeared to have joined their local counterparts to become more cautious amid the ongoing correction in housing prices in these markets,’ the report explains. As a result, China bought 88.8% less land year on year in the rest of Asia. In China, among the cities tracked, Shanghai experienced the strongest growth in prime residential land prices. ‘While the government raised the down payment requirement on second and subsequent properties as well as tightened non-locals’ purchase eligibility, shadow banking and peer to peer financing helped home buyers circumvent these rules, although authorities are closing the loopholes,’ it adds. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, residential prices in Beijing, Guangzhou and Shanghai surged by 15.3%, 12.8% and 19.5% respectively in the first half of 2016 and the report says this emboldened developers to bid for land aggressively. In particular, Shanghai saw the average premium over reserve price in residential land auctions soar to 154% in the first six months of the year from 60% in the corresponding period last year. As a result of an overhang of unsold prime housing inventory in Mumbai and New Delhi that requires an estimated four and seven years to clear respectively, the Knight Frank indices registered a decline in prime residential land prices. It adds that strong office leasing demand boosted the prices of prime office development sites in Bengaluru, which grew the fastest in the region. Similarly, prices of commercial land in Mumbai and New Delhi outperformed those of residential sites. Tokyo registered the largest increase and the report says that the negative interest rate introduced by the Bank of Japan has brought mortgage rates down, supporting housing demand. Indeed, recent condominium launches with hefty price tags were met with much enthusiasm from home buyers, with one development in Minato ward even fetching a record high average price of US$33,800 per square meter. Sites for office development in Asia also… Continue reading
Annual price growth slowing in key cities in UK, index data shows
The annual rate of house growth in key cities in the UK has started to slow after 12 successive months of rising prices, according to the latest index figures to be published. But there is some regional variation and house prices in large regional cities outside southern England continue to grow while those in London have seen a market slowdown, the Hometrack cities index shows. Outside the south house price growth continues to hold steady at 7% to 8% per annum with no sign of an imminent slowdown. Aberdeen is also registering a slower rate of price falls compared to recent months with a decline of 8% compared to 10% the previous month. Overall city house prices increased by 9.5% year on year in July, down from 9.9% in June with Bristol in the south west seeing the strongest growth at 14% followed by London at 11.7%. While quarter on quarter the highest growth was in lower value, higher yielding cities where prices are rising off a lower base such as Glasgow, up 5.2%, Liverpool up 4.4% and Manchester and Nottingham both up 3.4%. Even although it has the second largest annual price growth, London has registered a marked slowdown in house price growth over the last three months. Average growth in the last quarter was 2.1%, the lowest rate for 17 months. The index report suggests this is due to weaker investor demand, affordability pressures and Brexit uncertainty impact demand at the same time as supply has risen. It points out that prices are still well up year on year but the signs are growth will slow further over the coming months. Cambridge saw prices fall by 1% over the last quarter and the report says that prices in the city are more sensitive to weaker demand although the annual rate of growth is still running at 7.1%. The report says that in the absence of adverse economic trends impacting employment and mortgage rates, the near term outlook is for a continued slowdown in London and stable growth rates in regional cities as households’ price record low mortgage rates into city house price where affordability remains attractive. ‘We continue to believe that turnover will register the brunt of the slowdown in London. In the face of lower sales volumes agents will look to re-price stock in line with what buyers are prepared, and can afford, to pay,’ the report explains. ‘Past experience shows that this process can run for as long as six months and relies, in part, in how quickly sellers are willing to adjust to what buyers are prepared to pay,’ it concludes. Continue reading
Research reveals extent of incorrect property listings in UK
When buying a home prospective sellers expect the details to be listed correctly but new research has found that 48% of houses in sale across the UK contain rooms that are listed incorrectly. The analysis of estate agent data also found that 36% of single bedrooms rooms are technically too small to be classed as such for anyone aged over 10 and 17% of double rooms are not big enough to be inhabited by two people. Liverpool has the most errors for single rooms with 69% listed not meeting size requirements as set out by the Housing Act 1985 which says that a child under the age of 10 can occupy a room which is less than 50 square feet because they are classed as ‘half a person’, however a single bedroom should have a floor space of between 50 and 70 square feet. Leeds has the most errors for double bedrooms with 14% listed as such not meeting the requirements that double bedrooms for two people should be at least 110 square feet. One property in the city even listed a 69 square foot room as a double bedroom. The city with the least errors is Edinburgh where just 3% if single rooms did not meet the requirement and 4% of double rooms. Estate agents in Manchester and Glasgow were also pretty accurate. The research also found that a further 6% of rooms across the UK are technically uninhabitable, containing rooms smaller than the 50 square feet legally required to be classified as a single bedroom. Estate agents in Sheffield are guiltiest of this, with 15% of single bedrooms rooms advertised being too small to be habitable. When looking at properties overall, estate agents in Bristol are the most inaccurate, as 66% of properties for sale in the city had at least one incorrectly listed bedroom. This is followed by Sheffield at 60%, Liverpool at 57% and Birmingham also at 57%. Estate agents in Edinburgh are by far the most honest overall with only 17% of properties in the Scottish capital containing incorrect room listings. ‘Anyone who has purchased a property knows the marketing literature can often be misleading, but it is concerning to see so many properties across the UK being marketed by estate agents as having single and double bedrooms which technically aren’t fit for purpose,’ said Nick Brabham, head of SELECT Premier Insurance which carried out the research. ‘We urge buyers to check the measurements of bedrooms before putting in an offer on a house; otherwise they may find their double bedroom barely has enough space for a bed. It’s easy to think a room looks big enough when there is no furniture in it so if in doubt, check against the official standards and let estate agents know that they are marketing it incorrectly,’ he added. Continue reading
