Tag Archives: investment
Demand for prime property in central London slows after stamp duty change
Demand for property in London's most prestigious locations has fallen a few weeks after a new stamp duty charge of 3% was introduced on buy to let and second homes, new research shows. Property demand in the prime central London sector is at just 10% on average, having fallen 23% since the new surcharge was introduced, according to the PCL index from fixed fee estate agent eMoov. It is now at its lowest since the firm began recording its data over a year ago in the index which records the change in supply and demand for property above £1 million across London's most prestigious areas, by monitoring the total number of properties sold in comparison to those on sale. On the run up to the stamp duty deadline eMoov found that the rush to complete had revived the capital's top end market, with demand bucking the prime central London’s downward spiral and increasing for the first time since May last year. However, it seems that this resurrection was short lived as just one month since stamp duty deadline day, demand has plummeted to its lowest level on record. In fact, just one area across the prime central London market has maintained March's upward trend of demand growth. Fitzrovia is the only locations where demand hasn't dropped or remained static since March. Year on year the area is joined by Belsize Park, Maida Vale, Primrose Hill, Holland Park and Marylebone as the only other areas to have seen a positive movement in property demand since May last year. Where current demand levels are concerned, Islington is the most in demand area at present, with demand at 21% followed by Belsize Park at 19%, Chiswick at 18%, Maida Vale at 16% and Notting Hill at 12%. At the other end, at 4%, St Johns Wood and Mayfair are not only the coldest spots in prime central London but are suffering from some of the lowest demand levels recorded. ‘It's now abundantly clear that the brief resurrection of London's prime central London market witnessed in March, was an artificial skew as many scrambled to complete a sale before April's stamp duty deadline,’ said eMoov chief executive officer Russell Quirk. ‘It seems the extra 3% levy has slowed London's top end market and this will inevitably lead to further, sizable reductions in property values,’ he added, and pointed out that other potential threats include the UK voting to leave the European Union, economic slowing in countries like Russia and China and low oil prices. Continue reading
UK launches first register in the world for foreign property owners
Foreign companies already owning or buying property in the UK will have to reveal who the real owner is under new transparency rules being introduced by the government. The details will have to be disclosed in a public register, the first of its kind anywhere in the world, as part of Prime Minister David Cameron’s plan to clamp down on foreign money being ‘hidden’ in the UK. It means that for the first time, foreign companies that already hold or want to buy property in the UK will be forced to reveal the details of who really owns them and no longer be able to hide behind a company vehicle. It will include companies who already own property in the UK, not just those wishing to buy. Foreign companies own around 100,000 properties in England and Wales and over 44,000 of these are in London. ‘The new register for foreign companies will mean corrupt individuals and countries will no longer be able to move, launder and hide illicit funds through London’s property market, and will not benefit from our public funds,’ said Cameron. He added that he would like to reverse the burden of proof so that someone suspected of using stolen money to buy property can be forced to prove they accumulated their wealth legitimately or they would face having the property taken away from them by a court. France, the Netherlands, Nigeria and Afghanistan are set to follow the UK’s lead and commit introduce public registers of true company ownership, while Australia, New Zealand, Jordan, Indonesia, Ireland and Georgia have agreed to take the initial steps towards making similar arrangements. The UK’s public register will be launched next month. However, details of how the measure will be implemented or whether there would be penalties for non-compliance have not yet been published. Transparency International, the global group that fights against corruption in all walks of life, said the register was a bold step towards making it much harder for corrupt individuals to hide their money in UK real estate. ‘We strongly welcome the UK initiative to require full transparency of the companies who currently own or will purchase property in the UK, helping to close the door to corrupt cash,’ said Jose Ugaz, chair of Transparency International. ‘We welcome the fact that other countries also intend to shore up their own property markets so they don’t open the door to corrupt cash from overseas,’ Ugaz added. According to international real estate firm Knight Frank less than 2% of residential property in London is owned by offshore companies. The firm’s head of London research, Tom Bill, believes that the move means that offshore trusts and companies will reassess their property holdings following the announcement of the ownership register, and some may decide to sell. ‘However, there is unlikely to be a wave of properties coming to the market. Offshore structures typically own other assets beyond property and evaluating how to manage a portfolio will… Continue reading
US property market set to continue steadily upwards in 2016
Steady job growth, affordable home prices, attractive mortgage interest rates and pent-up demand will help the US housing market continue on a gradual upward trajectory in the year ahead, it is claimed. However, supply side headwinds led by a shortage of construction lots and labour, along with tight access to acquisition, construction and development loans, continue to hamper a more robust recovery, according to economists who participated the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) Spring Construction Forecast event. ‘Builders remain cautiously optimistic about market conditions. This should be the first year since the recession in which the growth rate for single family production exceeds that of multifamily. And we see single-family growth accelerating in 2017 as the supply chain mends and we can expand production,’ said NAHB chief economist Robert Dietz. The event heard that steady job growth has bolstered consumer confidence and rekindled housing demand. Nationally, payroll employment has surpassed its pre-recession peak by a modest margin; only a small number of states still lag behind those levels. Looking ahead, single family production is expected to post a 14% gain in 2016 to 812,000 units and rise an additional 19% to 964,000 units in 2017. Using the 2000/2003 period as a healthy benchmark, when single family starts averaged 1.3 million units on an annual basis, single family production currently stands at 58% of normal activity. The NAHB projects that single family production will rise to 64% of normal by the fourth quarter of this year and climb to 77% of normal by the end of 2017. On the multifamily side, production ran at 395,000 units last year, above the 331,000 rate that is considered a normal level of production. Multifamily starts are expected to decline 4% to 379,000 units this year, and rise 6% to 402,000 units in 2017. Residential remodelling activity is expected to increase 3.3% in 2016 over last year, and rise an additional 1.3% in 2017. Len Kiefer, deputy chief economist at Freddie Mac, cited several factors that should make this year’s home sales the best in a decade including fewer household formations than normal and data showing that more owners are current on their mortgages, with fewer defaults and less foreclosures along with solid job gains include rising salaries and wages. He pointed out that house prices are rising about 6% annually and appear to be in line with incomes and rents while demographic tailwinds are helping to propel the housing market forward. Freddie Mac is projecting 5.9 million total home sales this year, the highest level since 2006, and 6.2 million in 2017 and regionally, Kiefer said that house price growth is the strongest in the South and West, with Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Colorado and Florida all posting double digit state-wide house price appreciation between December 2014 and December 2015. NAHB senior economist Robert Denk said that housing market conditions are improving across the nation, but the pace of the recovery continues to vary by state and region. ‘A common… Continue reading
