Tag Archives: real-estate
US pending homes sales fall month on month after record breaking 2015
Pending home sales in the United States fell by 2.5% in the first month of 2016 following the highest average year in nearly a decade, the latest index shows. On the South saw sales rise, but sales are still 1.4% higher than they were a year ago, according to the forward looking index from the National Association of Realtors. Although the index has increased year on year for 17 consecutive months, last month’s annual gain was the second smallest and NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun said that a myriad of reasons have contributed to the drop in January. ‘While January’s blizzard possibly caused some of the pullback in the Northeast, the recent acceleration in home prices and minimal inventory throughout the country appears to be the primary obstacle holding back would be buyers. Additionally, some buyers could be waiting for a hike in listings come spring time,’ he explained. Existing home sales increased last month and were considerably higher than the start of 2015, but price growth quickened to 8.2%, the largest annual gain since April 2015 when it was 8.5%. While the hope is that appreciating home values will start to entice more homeowners to sell, Yun said that supply and affordability conditions won’t meaningfully improve until home builders start ramping up production, especially of homes at lower price points. ‘First time buyers in high demand areas continue to encounter instances where their offer is trumped by cash buyers and investors. Without a much needed boost in new and existing homes for sale in their price range, their path to home ownership will remain an uphill climb,’ Yun pointed out. Existing homes sales this year are forecast to be around 5.38 million, an increase of 2.5% from 2015. The national median existing home price for all of this year is expected to increase between 4% and 5%. In 2015 existing home sales increased 6.3% and prices rose 6.8%. A breakdown of the figures show that the index in the Northeast declined 3.2% but is still 10.9% above a year ago. In the Midwest the index fell 4.9% but is still 1.4% above January 2015. Pending home sales in the South inched up 0.3% but remain 1.3% lower than last January. The index in the West decreased 4.5% but is still 0.4% above a year ago. Continue reading
Research reveals the extent of sub-letting in the UK without landlords’ permission
One in six tenants in the UK have rented out part or all of their property to someone who isn’t on the lease agreement, new research has found. Some 25% who sub-let their property didn’t check the terms of their lease to see if it was permitted, while 34% had not informed their landlord of the decision, according to the survey by landlord insurance provider Direct Line for Business. Of the sub-letters who did not inform their landlord, 23% got found out in the end anyway and the firm points out that the consequences when landlords catch tenants sub-letting can be severe. Indeed, some 11% of cases the tenants named on the lease were evicted with 6% losing their deposit in the process. Other repercussions include landlords increasing rental charges which happened in 22% of cases, 14% were fined and 8% given a formal warning. In spite of this, Direct Line for Business’s research reveals that 2016 could see an increase in the number of people sub-letting their properties. Some 15% claim they are thinking about sub-letting part or all of their rented property by advertising on property letting websites such as Airbnb. ‘The average monthly rent across the UK currently stands at £739. This means on average, approximately a third of people’s income goes towards accommodation. With the market having seen a five per cent increase in average rents in the last year, it seems that a larger number of renters are tempted to offset this expense by sub-letting their properties,’ said Nick Breton, head of Direct Line for Business . Over the last two years, Landlord Action, a firm that represents landlords, said it has seen an 18% increase in the number of instructions from from landlords with sub-letting cases. ‘Sub-letting is fast becoming one of the leading grounds for eviction, alongside rent arrears and Section 21 for possession only. This has been fuelled by sky high rents preventing some tenants from being able to afford even single-unit accommodation, forcing many to resort to bedsits or shared accommodation,’ said founder Paul Shamplina. ‘Organised sub-letting scams are also becoming more prevalent, where tenants, or sometimes even fake tenants, advertise properties and rooms on holiday/accommodation websites in order to cream a profit without the landlords’ consent,’ he added. The research also found that 28% of tenants who had sub-let had done so to friends or people recommended to them. Family members accounted for 21% while 19% of renters have sub-let to strangers responding to an advert. Sub-letting is most common in the North West and West Midlands with 27% of private tenants say that have sub-let their properties. In London it was 23%, it was 9% in the South East 7% in Northern Ireland. ‘There could be some serious consequences for tenants who sub-let, but landlords need to be aware that in these circumstances there could also be insurance implications. Sub-letting is not covered under… Continue reading
Prices in Australian cities up 0.5% in February, but growth is moderating
Property prices in Australia’s capital cities increased by 0.5% in February and by 1.4% over the last three months, according to the latest index figures. However the trend in annual growth has slowed over the last seven months from 11.1% to 7.6%, the CoreLogic RP Data home value index also shows. Prices increased in all capital cities apart from Perth and Canberra were prices fell by 1.1% and 0.2% respectively and over the past three months they increased across all capitals except Sydney where they fell by 0.2%. An examination of the data shows that the largest monthly increases in home values were recorded in the cities that have been underperforming over the growth cycle to date. In Hobart values were 2.9% higher, Adelaide up 1.9% and Brisbane up 1.8%. The cities to record the greatest value rises over the past three months have been Hobart with growth of 8.5%, Melbourne up 3.8% and Brisbane up 2%. According to CoreLogic RP Data head of research Tim Lawless, even though home values have trended lower over the year in Perth and Darwin, they have recorded value rises of 0.2% and 0.3% respectively over the past three months. He also pointed out that while values are still increasing across most capital cities however, the results remain diverse. Sydney and Melbourne remain the strongest markets in trend terms, however, the gap is widening between the performances of Melbourne relative to Sydney. Over the past 12 months, combined capital city home values have increased by 7.6%, with the annual rate of growth down from a recent peak of 11.1% recorded in July last year. Melbourne has maintained its number one growth position, with annual capital gains of 11.1%. ‘Melbourne values appear to be holding reasonably firm since December last year with the annual rate of capital gain virtually level over the past three months,’ Lawless explained. Sydney’s annual rate of growth has continued to moderate, having almost halved from its cyclical peak of 18.4% recorded in July last year to reach 9.5% growth over the past 12 months. Lawless said that despite the slowing trend, Sydney remains the second best performing capital city over the past year but he pointed out that a few of the smaller cities where growth rates have recently accelerated may start to rival Sydney’s position over the coming months. ‘The trend in home value growth is showing signs of increasing in those markets that have previously underperformed. These include Brisbane, Adelaide, Hobart and Canberra. Affordability constraints aren’t as apparent in these cities and rental yields haven’t been compressed to the same extent as what they have in Melbourne or Sydney,’ Lawless said. ‘Home values increased in Brisbane by 5.5% over the past year, which is the fastest annual rate of value growth in a year. In Hobart, home values are 6.2% higher over the year, which is its fastest annual rate of home value growth since July 2010,’ he added. Continue reading
