Tag Archives: real estate
UK asking prices reach new high of £307,033
Average UK asking prices increased by 1.3% or £3,843 in April compared to the previous month and are up 7.3% year on year, according to the latest index figures. This takes the price of an average home to a record high of £307,033 with market activity having been pushed up due to a rush by buy to let investors to beat the April stamp duty change, says the index report from Rightmove. Indeed, the stamp duty deadline gave an early impetus to the bottom of the market and this had the knock-on effect of energising the higher sectors of the market as growth was driven by second-stepper and top of the ladder sectors. The report also says that smaller properties in the first time buyer and buy to let sector actually saw a month on month price drop of 1.4%. But overall while buy to let demand will not have gone it remains high overall with record visits on Rightmove in March. ‘The further demand boost from those looking to complete before 01 April has now dissipated, resulting in a 1.4% drop this month in the average price of a property coming to market in the first time buyer and investor sector,’ said Miles Shipside, Rightmove director and housing market analyst. ‘However, the momentum it created looks to have enabled owner occupiers of these properties to trade up. This has built an onward chain reaction of higher demand in higher price brackets as more people can move,’ he explained. He also pointed out that upwards price pressure has moved into the typical second stepper sector of three or four bedrooms excluding four bedroom detached properties. Prices are up by 0.6% or £1,512 this month, and this sector compared to the others has seen the largest year on year rise of 8.6% or £20,519. Meanwhile top of the ladder sector of four bedroom detached and five bedrooms or more has seen the biggest rise this month, up by 1.9% or £9,970. Their annual rate of increase remains the lowest however, at 5.1%. ‘While some felt that there would be a stampede of existing landlords selling to other landlords, these figures indicate that many of those who sold during the buy to let rush were actually first time sellers looking to trade up,’ said Shipside. ‘They used the heightened demand from investors competing fiercely with first time buyers to springboard themselves onto the next rung of the housing ladder. After several years of being held back from moving by post credit crunch price doldrums, they have now benefitted from a heady combination of price growth, historically cheap interest rates, and confidence of a quick sale with purchasers working to a tight deadline,’ he pointed out. ‘Trader uppers have now been unleashed and this has spread demand upwards and helped to form longer chains. Interestingly there has been a stamp duty double whammy effect pushing up prices in these higher sectors too. Earlier reforms in December 2014… Continue reading
Irish property market recovery leads to boost in planning applications granted
In yet another sign that the residential property market in Ireland is recovering, planning permission for new dwellings increased by over 95% in the final quarter of 2015. The data from the Central Statistics Office show 4,017 applications were permitted compared with 2,057 units for the same period in 2014, an increase of 95.3%. A breakdown of the figures shows that the permissions were granted for 2,754 houses in the fourth quarter of 2015 and 1,905 in the fourth quarter of 2014, an increase of 44.6%. In terms of apartments some 1,263 units were granted compared with 152 units for the same period in 2014, an increase of 730.9%. One off houses accounted for 22.7% of all new planning permissions granted in the final quarter of 2015, the data also shows. The total number of planning permissions granted for all developments was 4,470. This compares with 3,504 in the fourth quarter of 2014, an increase of 27.6%. Total floor area planned was 1,468 thousand square metres in the fourth quarter of 2015. Of this some 40.9% was for new dwellings, 46.8% for other new constructions and 12.3% for extensions. The total floor area planned increased by 94.7% in comparison with the same quarter in 2014. Planning Permissions for new buildings for Agriculture increased to 420 on the quarter compared to 165 permissions in the same quarter of 2014. Continue reading
New body launches in UK to bring professionalism to multi home rental sector
With the residential rental sector attracting more investors than ever before the first cross-industry organisation dedicated to driving the professionalism in the sector has been launched. The UK Apartment Association (UKAA) said it will focus on driving up standards of customer service and delivery to ensure that all renters are given the best possible experience. Its creation has been championed by Housing Minister Brandon Lewis, who is calling on the industry to work together to deliver more homes for rent and better standards for tenants. The UKAA aims to differentiate the multi-family housing market from the amateur ad hoc rental service provided by small scale landlords that currently make up the bulk of rentals. ‘I want to see the private rented sector respond to the nation’s housing needs by providing new forms of supply and improved quality and choice,’ said Lewis. ‘I welcome the UKAA as a body that can help build the capabilities of the build to rent sector in this country, bringing together the needs of private renters with the institutional capital that wants to invest in meeting their demands,’ he added. With more than nine million renters in the UK and vast potential for that number to grow, there is a huge opportunity for build to rent developments as an institutional asset class. In recent months alone, the number of developers and investors committing to projects has risen but there is still a distance to go before renting becomes the professional, service led industry backed by large institutional investors that it is in the United States. As the first international partner of the US-based National Apartment Association (NAA), the UKAA will benefit from the experience of the US multi-family industry. A federation of nearly 170 state and local affiliates, NAA encompasses over 69,000 members representing more than 8.1 million apartment homes throughout the United States and Canada. ‘The NAA is eager to bring industry training, best practices and networking opportunities to the UK. In addition, our US members are increasingly seeing opportunities for global growth and are looking to NAA for guidance when entering a new market. Our partnership with UKAA will be invaluable to our association as we address the growing need for a global rental housing industry,’ said Doug Culkin, president and chief executive officer of the NAA. As well as providing a valuable platform for the industry, the UKAA aims to lead educational training, customer service delivery, study tours and provide a suppliers’ forum, market data and a range of resources. A growing number of high profile companies and professionals from across the sector have already signed up as members including Atlas, Hermes, Greystar, Manchester Life and Savills with suppliers including Roomservice by CORT and Yardi. The UKAA is working in conjunction with all of the other industry bodies and is in the process of establishing regional branches, which are so far under way in Manchester and Scotland. ‘This evolution of the rental sector… Continue reading
