Tag Archives: investment
New combined index for the whole of UK shows prices up 0.6% in April
Property prices in the UK increased by 0.6% in April month on month and by 8.2% year on year, according to the first single index for the whole of the country. It merges previous indices that were published separately for England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland taking data from the Land Registry, Registers of Scotland, Land & Property Services Northern Ireland and the Valuation Office Agency. It shows that the average price of a property in Scotland in April was £138,445, up 3.3% year on year and 1.5% month on month while in Wales prices increased by 1.7% year on year and 1.9% month on month to an average of £139,385. In England, the April data shows an annual price increase of 9.1% and a monthly rise of 0.7%, taking the average property value to £224,731 while in London prices increased by 14.5% year on year and 0.6% month on month to an average of £470,025. A breakdown of the figures show that the North West of England saw the greatest monthly growth with an increase of 2.3% and the North East saw the lowest annual price growth with an increase of 0.1% while the South West saw the most significant monthly price fall with a fall of 2.8%. The number of UK home sales continued to grow in the three months to April 2016, rising by 8.3% relative to the preceding three months although sales fell by 45.2% in April 2016 compared with March 2016. The number of completed house sales in England increased by 1.1%to 56,884 compared with 56,261 in February 2015, the number of completed house sales in Wales increased by 4.1% to 2,796 compared with 2,686 in February 2015 and the number of completed house sales in London fell by 10.5% to 6,926 compared with 7,740 in February 2015. Due to a period of two to eight weeks between completion and registration of sales in Scotland, volume figures for the most recent two months are not yet complete, so they are not included in the index report. The creation of a single index for the UK has been widely welcomed but there is still concerns that the time lag amounts to six weeks. According to Rob Weaver, director of investments at property crowdfunding platform Property Partner, on first viewing, the new single index looks like a fair representation of the market and consistent with current sentiment. But he pointed out that with transaction volumes at historic lows, the sample size for April will be smaller than normal and added that the next one will give a better indication as to whether or not this month’s referendum on the future of the UK in the European Union has affected sales and prices. But with historically low interest rates, strong employment and the continuing chronic undersupply of housing, he believes that the upward trend in prices looks set to continue later in the year. He also pointed out that one official… Continue reading
Edinburgh is top city outside of London in UK for commercial property investment
Edinburgh has topped a list of the most attractive British locations for commercial property investment outside of London, according to new research. Research amongst British property investors by the law firm Morton Fraser’s commercial real estate division ranks a list of 10 British cities according to their attractiveness as investment options. Edinburgh is ranked best with 52% naming it as an attractive option, followed by Bristol with 48%, Manchester with 40% and Leeds and Cardiff, both with 31% and then Glasgow with 30%. Birmingham is ranked next with 26%, Newcastle with 21%, Dundee with 17% and Aberdeen 16%. More investors found the top three attractive propositions than those who did not. However, the remaining seven cities did not appeal to the majority of investors, with more rating them an unattractive investment proposition rather than an appealing one. Aberdeen is rated the least attractive location for property investors and this is perhaps not surprising due to its energy dependent economy being hit by falling oil prices, leading to thousands of job losses and the contraction of the oil and gas industry. ‘The three ‘net positive’ cities in our league table have demonstrated real economic resilience since the recession. Their success in protecting inward investment, attracting business and talent, and developing infrastructure means property investors can more easily envisage long-term gains,’ said David Stewart, commercial real estate partner at Morton Fraser,. ‘Regional commercial property investment has a lower upfront capital cost but can often return higher yields and longer tenant leases, improving income security. However, those benefits are outweighed by perceived economic risks in most regional cities by potential investors,’ he added. According to Morton Fraser, Leeds, Cardiff and Glasgow will all expect to move into a net positive investment score in the coming year after at least 30% of investors felt they were attractive locations. They have also negotiated city region deals with the UK Government collectively worth at least £3 billion. ‘Demand for equity stakes in commercial property vehicles has increased in recent years as investors seek value and flexibility in the asset class. City region devolution will play a key role in ensuring investors see regional locations as positive income generating opportunities,’ Stewart explained. ‘That said, experience shows that a good property investment can withstand economic fluctuations and the right opportunities can be found in all these locations,’ he concluded. Continue reading
Research reveals the housing market winners to mark first games of Euro football cup
With the European Championship football tournament underway new research shows which countries have done best in terms of house prices since the last cup four years ago. The price of mainstream homes have increases in more than 74% of the countries competing in the tournament, according to the study from international real estate agent Knight Frank. Turkey topped the rankings with an increase of 65.6%, followed by the Republic of Ireland with price growth of 34.3% and Sweden up 32%. In fourth place is Iceland with house prices up by 30.6%, followed closely by England where prices are up 29.7%, Germany up 19.7%, Austria up 16.5%, Northern Ireland up by 15.6% and Russia up 15.2%. Next is Wales with price growth of 14.1% in the last four years, Switzerland up 10.3%, the Czech Republic up 8.2%, Hungary up 8.1%, Belgium up 4%, Poland up by 1.8%, Portugal up by 1.4% and Slovakia up by 0.9%. The country with the worst ranking is Ukraine where house prices have fallen by 22.6% but this is not surprising considering the unrest in recent years. Second from bottom is Italy where prices are down 13.1% and then Croatia where prices have fallen by 9% since the last tournament in 2012. In Romania prices are down 0.5%, France down 5.7%, Spain down 7.2%. Kate Everett-Allen, head of international residential research at Knight Frank, pointed out that the divergent performance of northern and southern Europe is evident. ‘The Nordic countries along with Ireland, England and Germany have seen prices accelerate while prices in most of the southern European economies still sit below their level in 2012,’ she said. Continue reading
