Tag Archives: homes
Asking prices down across many parts of the UK, latest index data shows
Asking prices in London continue to fall, down 1.2% month on month, with values also down across other parts of the UK, the latest index shows. Prices fell in four English regions and Scotland, taking the overall mix-adjusted average asking price drop to 0.1% since last month and the number of properties reduced in price hit a 45 month high, according to the latest index from Home.co.uk. This means that the average annualised rate of home price appreciation for England and Wales slipped further to 5.3% and the total stock of property on the market edged up again and is just 0.5% less than in August last year. Indeed, supply of property increased sharply in key regions with supply up 27% in London, up 19% in the East of England and also up 19% in the South East. The report says that these increases will only serve to worsen the market conditions, especially in Greater London. It suggest that low confidence among sellers has triggered a spate of price cutting, the magnitude of which we have not seen since October 2012. This meant that asking prices slipped in the South East by a further 0.2% during the last month. Scottish asking prices also slipped for a second consecutive month, by 0.5%. A breakdown of the figures show that asking prices increased the most in the North East with a rise of 1%, followed by the West Midlands up 0.8%, the East of England up 0.6%, the South West up 0.5%, Wales up 0.3% and the North West up 0.1%. There is a significant risk that falling prices and uncertainly over Brexit in London and the South East will trigger a stampede to market, causing a major market slump, the report also says. ‘Overall, the current mix-adjusted average asking price for England and Wales is now 5.3% higher than it was in August 2015, and we anticipate that this figure will trend towards 0% over the coming months,’ said Doug Shephard, director at Home.co.uk. ‘Last month was simply too early to fully appreciate the Brexit fallout for UK property. This month we are seeing significant market changes but not all to the downside. Whilst the London market is looking rather panicky with falls being accentuated by Brexit worries, there are several strongly performing regions that remain unaffected so far,’ he explained. ‘While it is clear that the referendum result certainly unnerved many investors, it is also clear that they are not all running for the exit at once. We will be keeping a particularly close eye on the London market over the next month, watching whether or not the surge in new listings becomes a stampede. Such a panic would inevitably lead to a home price crash in the region and stress mortgage lenders to the limit or beyond,’ he pointed out. He believes that the decision by the Bank of England to take interest rates even lower to a record low of… Continue reading
Metro area home prices soar in US with first plus $1 million median value recorded
Home prices are continuing to rise in the United States with the median value for a single family home reaching more than $1 million in a metro location for the first time. The record prices was reached in San Jose, California, while the vast majority of metro areas seeing prices rise in the second quarter of 2016, the data from the National Association of Realtors shows. Overall the median existing single family home price increased in 83% of measured markets, with 148 out of 178 metropolitan statistical areas showing gains based on closed sales in the second quarter compared with the second quarter of 2015. Just 29 metros recorded lower median prices from a year earlier and 25 saw double digit increases. According to Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, a faster pace of home sales amidst languishing inventory levels has pushed home prices higher in most metro areas during the second quarter. ‘Steadily improving local job markets and mortgage rates teetering close to all-time lows brought buyers out in force in many large and middle tier cities,’ he said. ‘However, with homebuilding activity still failing to keep up with demand and not enough current homeowners putting their home up for sale, prices continued their strong ascent and in many markets at a rate well above income growth,’ he added. The national median existing single family home price in the second quarter was $240,700, up 4.9% from the second quarter of 2015, which was previously the peak quarterly median sales price. The median price during the first quarter of this year increased 6.1% from the first quarter of 2015. Total existing home sales, including single family and condos, rose 3.8% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.5 million in the second quarter from 5.3 million in the first quarter of this year and are 4.2% higher than the 5.28 million pace during the second quarter of 2015. ‘Primarily from repeat buyers moving up or trading down, existing sales increased each month last quarter and could’ve been even higher if not for a few speedbumps. Closings were slowed a bit by meagre supply levels and home prices in many areas that are still rising too fast,’ Yun explained. At the end of the second quarter, there were 2.12 million existing homes available for sale, which was below the 2.25 million homes for sale at the end of the second quarter in 2015. The average supply during the second quarter was 4.7 months, down from 5.1 months a year ago. According to Yun, without enough new construction being built, existing inventory seriously failed to keep up with the growing demand for buying. As a result, homes typically stayed on the market for around a month throughout the second quarter and over 40% of listings sold at or above list price, with June being the highest share since NAR began tracking in December 2012. Yun pointed out that many listings in… Continue reading
New home approvals in Australia down in June, latest data shows
The number of new home approvals in Australia fell by 0.9% in June, the second monthly fall in a row, according to the latest data to be published. In seasonally adjusted terms, total approvals decreased 2.9% with both total other residential dwelling approvals and total houses down by 3.4% and 2.4% respectively. The figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) also show that the value of total building approved rose 1.2% in June, in trend terms, and has risen for six months. The value of residential building rose 0.1% while non-residential building rose 3.7%. A breakdown of the figures show that home approvals decreased by 5.2% in Western Australia, by 3.7% in Tasmania, by 3.2% in Queensland, by 2.8% in the Australian Capital Territory and by 0.1% in Victoria. They increased by 3.6% in the Northern Territory, by 1.6% in South Australia and by 0.8% in New South Wales. Private sector house approvals fell by 3.5% in Western Australia, by 0.6% in Victoria, by 0.5% in Queensland and by 0.3% in South Australia but increased by 0.9% in New South Wales. Overall approvals are continuing to ease back from the record highs hit last year, according to Shane Garrett, senior economist for the Housing Industry Association (HIA). He explained that approvals for both the detached house and multi-unit side peaked in the middle of 2015. ‘Since then, detached house approvals have glided lower in an orderly manner. Multi-unit approvals have continued to be resilient, although sit at levels slightly lower than a year ago,’ Garrett pointed out. ‘The immediate pipeline of new home building work is set to remain very solid, based on this latest approvals update. Recent approvals releases have also highlighted the considerable variation in new home building activity across the different states and territories. We expect the trajectory of new dwelling approvals to continue retreating at a modest pace over coming months,’ he added. Continue reading
