Tag Archives: real-estate
Fewer foreigners buying in France as housing market shows signs of improvement
Foreign buyers are not yet returning to the French property market with the latest figures from Notaires showing that numbers have dropped almost threefold in the last decade. Overseas buyers made up just 1% of property sales in 2015 compared to the peak of 2.8% in 2006, just before the global economic crisis. This number dropped to 1.4% by 2014 and then to 1% in 2015 and numbers are not likely to rise much in 2016. But there are signs that the property market in France is picking up with figures, which exclude new builds, from the Notaires showing that overall house prices increased by 0.4% in the final quarter of 2015 while apartment prices rose 0.3% in metropolitan areas, but are down 1.6% and 1.9% year on year respectively. In Paris and the surrounding area house prices increased by 1% in the third quarter of 2015 and apartment prices were up by 0.7%, House prices are now down 1.1% and 1.3% year on year respectively. In rural areas house prices increased by 0.2% quarter on quarter but apartment prices fell by 0.1%. House prices are down 0.7% year on year and apartment prices down 2.3% year on year. They predict a stable market in the coming months with apartment prices up around 0.4% and house prices by 1.4% by the end of the first quarter. The report adds that a year on year rise in sales of 12.5% up to the end of November 2015 bodes well for the market in 2016. This level of sales has not been seen since Spring 2012. British buyers still make up the majority of overseas buyers, purchasing some 32.6% of foreign bought property in 2015. The next most common nationality was Italian, at 15.3% and Belgians at 11.1%. The most popular parts of France for British buyers remain old favourites like Normandy, Brittany, the Dordogne and the Loire. They buy just 7% of foreign owned property in Paris. In Normandy and Brittany some 72% of buyers are British, 10% Belgian and 3% German, while next door in an area covering the Loire and Dordogne some 78% of foreign buyers are British, 6% Belgian and 5% Dutch. The British are also the biggest group of foreign buyers in Aquitaine and along the Spanish border towards Provence at 42% with 15% Belgian and 12% Spanish or Portuguese. While in the Alps and down the Rhone some 32% are British, 22% Swiss and 12% Belgian. In PACA the largest group of foreign buyers are Italians at 28%, British at 15% and Scandinavians at 12%. In the North East 28% are Belgian, 17% British and 14% Dutch while in an around Paris 20% are Italians, 8% American and 7% British. Despite the fall, the report from the Notaries’ indicates that the financial climate for foreigners, particularly British people due to currency rates, for buying a house in France remains positive. The Notaries’ report says that since the Spring of 2015 the… Continue reading
Sales in US up strongly, but aided by transaction carryover
Existing home sales in the United States increased again in December after seeing some months of dwindling transactions and were up 14.7% compared to November. But the data from the National Association of Realtors includes a carryover of delayed transactions from November into December as a result of the Know Before You Owe initiative. However the existing homes sales index shows a rise in sales in all four major regions, led by the South and West and transactions are now up 7.7% year on year. It means that 2015 was the best year of existing home sales at 5.26 million since 2006 when it was 6.48 million. ‘While the carryover of November's delayed transactions into December contributed greatly to the sharp increase, the overall pace taken together indicates sales these last two months maintained the healthy level of activity seen in most of 2015,’ said Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist. ‘Additionally, the prospect of higher mortgage rates in coming months and warm November and December weather allowed more homes to close before the end of the year,’ he added. Prices are also rising. The median existing home price for all housing types in December was $224,100, up 7.6% from December 2014, the 46th consecutive month of year on year gains. The data also shows that total housing inventory at the end of December dropped 12.3% to 1.79 million existing homes available for sale, and is now 3.8% lower than a year ago. Unsold inventory is at a 3.9 month supply at the current sales pace, down from 5.1 months in November and the lowest since January 2005 when it was 3.6 months. ‘Although some growth is expected, the housing market will struggle in 2016 to replicate last year's 7% increase in sales. In addition to insufficient supply levels, the overall pace of sales this year will be constricted by tepid economic expansion, rising mortgage rates and decreasing demand for buying in oil-producing metro areas,’ Yun explained. The share of first time buyers was at 32% in December, matching the highest share since August, up from 30% in November and 29% a year ago. First time buyers in all of 2015 represented an average of 30%, up from 29% in both 2014 and 2013. A separate NAR survey from the NAR revealed that the annual share of first time buyers in 2015 was at its lowest level in nearly three decades. ‘First time buyers were for the most part held back once again in 2015 by rising rents and home prices, competition from vacation and investment buyers and supply shortages,’ said Yun. ‘While these headwinds show little signs of abating, the cumulative effect of strong job growth in recent years and young renters' overwhelming interest to own a home should lead to a modest uptick in first time buyer activity in 2016,’ he explained. All-cash sales were 24% of sales in December, down from 27% in November and are down from 26% a year ago. Individual… Continue reading
UK home owners confident about prices rises in 2016, latest sentiment index shoes
Households across the UK expect house prices to rise in 2016 believe that the value of their home rose in December, according to the latest research. People in London perceived the strongest rate of price growth over the course of the month, while households in the North West reported the most modest rate of growth, the data from the House Price Sentiment Index from Knight Frank and Markit Economics. The strongest growth expectation was in the East of England but the rate of growth expected over the next year eased in six of the 11 regions in January. The figures shows that 20.9% of the 1,500 households surveyed across the UK said that the value of their home had risen over the last month, while 3.6% said that prices had fallen. This resulted in a HPSI reading of 58.7. This is the thirty fourth consecutive month that the reading has been above 50. Any figure over 50 indicates that prices are rising, and the higher the figure, the stronger the increase. Any figure below 50 indicates that prices are falling. January’s reading was a slight decrease from the 59.4 recorded in December, but returns the index to the same level as seen in November. It is just slightly higher the average reading of 58.5 recorded throughout 2015, but remains below the peak of 63.2 in May 2014, reflecting the easing in average UK house price growth seen since then. Households in all of the 11 regions covered by the index reported that prices rose in January, led by households in London at 68.1 and the South East at 64.3, although in both cases these sentiment index readings were slightly lower than in December. The current sentiment index was lowest for the North West at 51.3 and the East Midlands at 52.3, indicating that households in these regions perceived the most modest rise in prices across the UK in January. The future HPSI, which measures what households think will happen to the value of their property over the next year, rose slightly in January to 70.5 from December’s 70.3. This is the highest reading since June 2015, but remains below the peak of 75.1 reached in May 2014. Households in the East of England chalked up a record high reading for future house prices expectations at 81.1, indicating they anticipate the largest increase in the value of their home over the next 12 months. Londoners at 79.1 continue to expect strong growth in prices over the next year, with the highest reading for the region since May 2014. Meanwhile, there was a notable drop in the future reading for the North West, down from 67.5 to 62.3 in January, as well as Scotland, which fell to 61.8, down from 65.8 in December, and an average reading of 65.1 throughout 2015. Mortgage borrowers are the most confident that prices will rise over the next year at 76, followed by those who own their… Continue reading
