Tag Archives: middle-east
UK house prices fall ahead of EU referendum, latest index shows
More evidence is emerging that the run up to the referendum on the UK’s future in the European Union is affecting residential property prices. Property values in England and Wales fell by 0.4% in May, the steepest fall since November 2011, according to the data from the lastest index from Your Move and Reeds Rains. This takes the average house price to %293,599 and year on year values are still up 6.8% but 5.4% if London and the South East are excluded from the calculation. However, London’s house prices fell by 0.3% or £1,769 month on month and it was the weakest May for home sales in five years, after stamp duty surcharge caused a rush of buy to let sales in March. But house prices in Slough defied the trend, jumping 23.3% year on year, with values lifted by Crossrail and new tech jobs, according to the index report. According to Adrian Gill, director of Your Move and Reeds Rains estate agents, May’s correction in property values also follows on from a surge in activity earlier in the year, when second home buyers and landlords brought forward their purchases to avoid the stamp duty surcharge. ‘That tax hike and the Government’s anti-landlord policies are weighing down the market, but the main factor is short term confidence ahead of the 23rd June referendum,’ he said. The year on year growth in house prices has also slowed, down to 6.8% in May, from 7.7% in April. ‘With the Chancellor predicting that a Brexit from the EU would reduce property values by at least 10%, many buyers are holding off until after the uncertainly surrounding the referendum has been resolved,’ Gill explained. The fall in prices in London has pushed average property values in the capital city back under the £600,000 mark, with the value of a typical home in the city falling to £598,421. However, this decline in property values has not spread across the entire capital. While house prices in the most expensive eleven boroughs have declined by an average of £4,000 or 0.5% from the previous month, values in the cheapest eleven boroughs continue to rise, jumping £3,000 or 0.8% month on month. But despite maintaining property values well above the rest of the UK, the demand for homes in London continues to grow. In the three months between February and April, sales of homes in London increased by 15%, compared to the same period last year. ‘The majority of this upswing in sales came from flats. As landlords often prefer to provide flats to rent, these properties were a popular choice before the stamp duty surcharge came into force in April,’ said Gill. He also pointed out that with so much uncertainty in the UK economy, home sales have been subdued. While the total number of property sales did increase from the previous month, this month has seen the fewest May property sales since 2011,… Continue reading
Marbella proving popular with overseas buyers
More than 80% of properties bought in Marbella in Spain are bought by foreigners, much higher than the country’s average, new research shows. Overall data from Spanish registrars show that 13.8% of properties are sold to overseas buyers as of the end of 2015 and of those more than 60% were from within the European Union. But the Marbella Property Market Report 2016 from Panorama Properties Marbella, a well-established estate agency, shows the area is very popular as it is regarded as a safe and high quality destination for investment. According to Christopher Clover, the firm’s managing director, there has also been a change in where the foreign investors come from and he is predicting an influx of Iranian buyers thanks to the newly opened Iranian market. ‘Marbella has been a popular tourist destination with Iranians for decades and the property market looks set to benefit strongly from that affection over the coming years,’ he explained. At the same time there are fewer British buyers right now and this may be due to the forthcoming referendum on the future of the UK in the EU. ‘British buyers in the lower price ranges, who for years have accounted for the largest market share of foreign buyers in Spain, are sometimes pausing when it comes to purchasing their dream home in Marbella. The distraction of Britain's potential exit from the EU has caused a few to hold fire on purchasing property in other EU countries,’ said Clover. Assuming the UK remains within the EU, a surge of property purchases by British buyers in and around Marbella can reasonably be expected during the late summer months and from a medium to long term viewpoint, Clover believes that the trend of British purchasers for property in the Marbella area will not be greatly affected whether Britain stays in the EU or exits. While British buyers stop and think, Spanish buyers are using the pause to gradually return to the Marbella property market, the report also suggests. The number of Spanish residents visiting Marbella plummeted from well over 350,000 in 2006 to just over 100,000 in 2013, but numbers have since been rising, returning almost to 250,000 visitors in 2015. ‘As Spanish visitor numbers pick up and the national economy continues to improve, so too will Spanish interest in the Marbella property market. Those buying in Marbella right now are after a wide range of property types, which is precisely what the area provides,’ Clover explained. Many buyers are looking for new build properties in Marbella, but developer stopped when the economic downturn hit eight years ago. ‘However, investment groups have been quietly buying up the best building sites over the past two years, so the coming five to 10 years should see an influx of prime new build properties onto the market,’ said Clover. The report also points out that the number of sales in Marbella reached 4,390 in 2015, less than1% short of the number… Continue reading
Almost all towns and cities in UK see new rental supply drop dramatically
New rental properties listed by landlords in the UK in May fell by 15.4% compared to the previous month with 91% of towns and cities recording a fall in supply, new research shows. The biggest fall in rental supply was in Worcester with a decline of 42.6% month on month, followed by Bedford with a fall of 41.7% and in Derby it was down by 41%, according to the figures from property crowdfunding platform Property Partner. Much of the decline is probably due to a rush of landlords putting rental properties on the market in April ahead of stamp duty changes, according to the firm’s report. It also shows that new listings fell so far in many areas of the country in May, that they actually dropped substantially below March levels, before the 3% stamp duty surcharge for additional homes came into force. ‘As anticipated, the rush of investors buying before April’s stamp duty hike caused a temporary spike in rental supply, which now seems to have been swiftly reversed,’ said Dan Gandesha, chief executive officer of Property Partner. ‘New rental listings in May were down almost 6% on March, before the surcharge spike. With high and rising demand, any prolonged fall in rental supply would only have negative consequences for tenants,’ he explained. He predicts that it’s likely that rents would increase as landlords, facing less competition, pass on their additional purchase costs to tenants and a lack of available properties would also force more tenants into accepting poorer quality accommodation, particularly in areas with an acute shortage of stock. ‘June’s figures will show whether this is just a market adjustment, or something more fundamental. It’s unfortunate timing with the European Union referendum just two weeks away,’ Gandesha pointed out. ‘But April’s stamp duty changes are just the first in a series of additional costs being piled on traditional buy to let. In the longer term, the private rented sector must be professionalised, to provide Generation Rent with enough good quality homes at rents they can afford,’ he added. Continue reading
