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House price growth slows in Auckland
Residential house price growth in Auckland, New Zealand, slowed in the second half of 2015 but are still higher than where they were at the same time last year. The latest data show that average price at $822,024 in February was up 1.3% on the average price for January and up 10% year on year while the median price at $738,000 was down 2.9% on January but up 7.5% on last February. ‘While prices are down from their record highs, based on past trends, prices in coming months are most likely to build modestly,’ said Peter Thompson, managing director of agents Barfoot & Thompson. ‘This trend has occurred over the past nine years where Auckland house prices have followed a cycle of falling in the first quarter of the year and then rising from autumn on. We have now had two months of trading where prices have been higher than they were in their equivalent months last year, and in the past that has meant prices have risen throughout the year,’ he explained. He added that the most significant figures in February’s data were that sales numbers stalled and new listings doubled while the number of properties sold at 698 was the lowest in any month for three years. ‘The reason was that at the start of February the number of properties on the market was at its lowest number for 20 years, and buyers had limited choice. However, as the month progressed more properties were listed, and we finished the month with 2,060 new listings, the highest number in the past six months. There are currently an extremely high number of properties in the pipeline for settlement in March and April,’ Thompson pointed out. ‘At month end, we had 3,318 properties on our books, the highest since March last year, and we anticipate an extremely busy period through autumn. Another factor that affects the average and median sales price in the early part of the year, is the summer break results in a relatively low number of sales in the $1 million plus price category,’ he added. The data shows that throughout last year, on average, some 332 properties a month were sold in the $1 million plus price category, but in February the sales in this price category was just 187. Sales of properties for under $500,000 in February made up 20.6% of all sales, whereas throughout last year they averaged 14.9% of sales. Meanwhile, the latest data from Statistics New Zealand show that building activity reached a record high in the last quarter of 2015, with an increase from the previous quarter in Auckland but a decrease in Canterbury. The total volume of building work rose 2.5% from the previous quarter, with rises of 2.8% for residential buildings and 2.3% for non-residential buildings. ‘This is the most building activity we’ve seen since the series began 26 years ago, with total activity slightly higher than the previous record,’ said Statistics New Zealand… Continue reading
Slow start to the year for property prices and rents in UAE
Residential property prices and rents have fallen in Dubai at the start of 2016, with the latest index figures indicating a falling or stagnant market. Overall property prices rose just 0.09% in January and were down 9.6% year on year, according to the data from the latest ReidIn index. A breakdown of the figures shows that apartment prices fell 0.19% month on month and 9.7% year on year while villa prices increased 1.23% but are down 8.9% year on year. Overall property rental values fell by 1.57% and were down 5.3% year on year. Apartment rents fell 1.67% month on month and 5.2% year on year while villa rents were down 0.9% month on month and 5.9% year on year. In neighbouring Abu Dhabi Residential the property markets are also more or less stagnant with the overall property price index up by 0.62% month on month and by 0.1% year on year. Apartment prices increased 0.89% month on month but were down 2.6% year on year while villa prices increased 0.13% month on month and 3.1% year on year. The rental market in Abu Dhabi was slightly more buoyant and values increased by 2.11% in January compared to December but are down 1.8% compared to January 2015. A breakdown of the figures show that apartment rents increased 2.3 month on month but were down 0.9% year on year while villa rents increased 1.86% month on month but were down 1.6% year on year. Continue reading
Bristol and Cardiff set to see largest rises in office rents in UK
A lack of supply of Grade A space in the UK’s regional cities is currently driving significant demand for value-add office refurbishment opportunities, according to new research. With average take-up across the UK’s regions at 4.6 million square feet, with availability currently down 18% on 2007 levels, there is under a year’s supply of Grade A space coming to the market in the next three years says the outlook report from real estate firm Savills. It explains that speculative development in the regions has risen 129% on the same time last year to approximately 3.5 million square feet, but with 28% pre-let it is expected that this will largely be absorbed in the first and second quarters of 2016. Savills says that the lack of available space has driven demand for value-add office opportunities to help plug the gap, with January 2016 marking the 41st consecutive month of refurbishment activity. With competition for space outstripping supply, the gap between the rents on new build space and the best quality refurbished stock has narrowed, although it is likely to widen once more as new developments are completed later on in the year. New build office rents in Bristol, for instance, currently stand at £28.50 per square foot compared to £27 per square foot for refurbished office space, whilst in Leeds new build rents of £27 per square foot are only £1 higher than those for refurbished space at £26 per square foot. Savills forecasts that Bristol will see the highest growth in rents of 12% by the end of 2016, followed by Cardiff at 9%. The lack of supply has also forced some occupiers to look outside CBD’s at business park locations. Savills gives Birmingham Business Park as an example which has seen its vacancy rate drop from 75 to 15% over the last 12 months. ‘UK wide job creation is driving demand for good quality space in amenity-rich and well-connected regional cities, leading to a squeeze on space and rent rises. By the end of 2015 rents in the M25 office market had risen 10%, Manchester by 6% and Leeds 4%, and we’re set to see strong rental growth in many other regional markets before 2016 is out,’ said Claire Bailey, associate director, Savills commercial research. ‘While speculative development has picked up pace, a lot is already pre-let so we’re going to see a pinch on new build towards the end of 2016 and into early 2017 when occupiers are going to have little choice but to turn to refurbished stock or possibly even pre-letting to meet their requirements,’ she pointed out. Savills reports that in the past year regional offices prime equivalent yields have moved in by 50 bps to 4.75%. The proportion being invested in office markets outside London has also risen over the last two years, with regional volumes in 2015 standing at 31% of market share, compared to just 16% of total… Continue reading
