Tag Archives: vancouver
House prices start seeing growth again in Scotland
House price growth in Scotland has quickened after a tempestuous year with prices up 1.4% year on year, more than double the 0.6% annual growth seen in the previous month. Month on month prices were up 0.5% taking the cost of an average home to £167,505, according to the Your Move house price index. Growth is yet to hit a third of the speed seen in September last year when annual growth was 5.4% but sales have soared to reach their highest rate for the month of September for eight years, up 10% on a year ago. Christine Campbell, Your Move managing director in Scotland, explained that usually there is a decline in house purchase activity between August and September, as a lagged effect of the summer holidays. ‘However, this month’s figures go against this trend. Despite other headwinds, this could be down to Scotland’s rising employment rate, increasing by 3,000 in the three months to September to 2,614,000 according to the ONS. With interest rates unlikely to change until 2017, low borrowing costs and near zero inflation should also help to pull up prices in the future,’ she said. Regionally, this means that 23 of Scotland’s local authorities have seen annual price growth, up from 22 last month. However, prices are still lower in seven of the nine most expensive local authorities, and Campbell said that the Land and Buildings Transaction Tax is still preventing the top end of the market from taking off. There have been fewer high value sales since the introduction of the tax. She also pointed out that if September’s pace of growth has been seen throughout the year it would translate to 6.2% annual growth but year on year growth is four times slower than the 5.4% recorded in September 2014. ‘Looking back at the past half decade, Scotland has seen the second lowest price house price growth across Great Britain. Only house prices in the North of England have risen slower. Scotland’s house price increases have been generally steadier, growing by a total of 4.3% over five years, an increase of £6,866. However, this house price growth is much more sustainable than the 26.7% total increase in Scottish house prices, seen between 2005 and 2010 when prices shot up by £33,826,’ said Campbell. But Scotland’s sales have bucked the usual seasonal trend, increasing 3% over the previous month, while sales in England and Wales fell by 1.5% over the same period. ‘In Scotland, sales will typically fall by 6% during this period which make the growth particularly significant. This month Scotland has had the strongest September sales since 2007, with 10% more sales this month than last year,’ Campbell added. Continue reading
Latest data shows remortgage activity in the UK soared in 2015
Remortgaging activity in the UK has soared over the past year with the total number of valuations some 53% higher than in October 2014. The data from the latest research report from Connells Survey & Valuation says that this is despite the seasonal fall, which saw activity from remortgaging in October drop 21% compared to September 2015. Those looking for cheaper rates have likely been tempted to remortgage to take advantage of the rock-bottom interest rates while they last, according to John Baghsaw, the firm’s corporate services director. ‘Many are also taking this opportunity to remortgage in order to release equity and so upgrade their current property. That said, it’s still a great time to move house. Home sales continue to climb and the Government is improving the liquidity in the housing market by kick starting the construction of starter and mid-range homes. In addition, low interest rates are not just a remortgagors dream, they also make it easier for home movers to climb the property ladder,’ he explained. Despite home mover valuation activity falling 27% between September and October of this year, growth on a 12 month basis remains solid. The sector registered 14% growth in October 2015, when compared to October of last year. Valuation activity for all purposes remains strong, climbing 28% between October 2014 and October 2015, despite dropping back by 21% compared to last month, the data also shows and Bagshaw pointed out that home movers, traditionally the bedrock of the housing market, have experienced more steady activity in October compared to previous months. ‘But with home values continuing to rise solidly and mortgage rates remaining low, this seems like more of a seasonal blip than the start of a trend. By most measures, it’s still a great time to buy. The housing market’s forward indicators remain strong. Activity in all sectors is up on last year, a reflection of a positive combination of economic growth, rising consumer confidence and increasing real terms wages,’ he added. Both the buy to let and first time buyer sectors recorded strong year on year activity in October. Valuations carried out for buy to let investors grew by 25% between October of this year and October 2014, while first time buyer valuations increased by 20% over the same period. However, both sectors also experienced a slight monthly downturn, with October activity in the buy to let sector down by 9% on September. Meanwhile, first time buyer activity saw a 17% dip over the same period. The buy to let sector continues to thrive, albeit it at a steadier pace than in previous months. The fundamentals of its profitability have remained intact. Demand for housing still exceeds supply and very low mortgage rates remain in abundance. Moreover, the Bank of England announced recently that any rate rise is off the cards for the immediate future, meaning the field is still open for many more investors to acquire a portfolio and become a new… Continue reading
Canadian property sales up for fourth month in a row
Nationally home sales in Canada have increased for the fourth month in a row, up 3.1% from April to May and prices are up 8.1% year on year. Actual, not seasonally adjusted, activity is now 2.7% above May 2014 levels although the he number of newly listed homes was little changed from April to May, according to the latest index data from the Canadian Real Estate Association. CREA said that the Canadian housing market remains balanced overall put national figures are being skewed by exceptional prices in Greater Vancouver and Greater Toronto. If these are excluded than the year on year price increase is just 2.4%. The data shows that national sales activity is at its highest level in more than five years and transactions were up from the previous month in about 60% of all local markets, led by increases in the Greater Toronto Area, Calgary, Edmonton, Ottawa and Montreal. One factor that could be responsible for the sales growth, however, is that “mortgage default insurance premiums increased at the beginning of June and this may have encouraged buyers to complete in May top beat the rise. Year on year price growth accelerated in May in all home categories tracked by the index with the exception of one storey single family homes. Two storey single family homes continue to post the biggest year on year price gains with a rise of 7.18% while the price of one storey single family homes increased by 4.11%, townhouse/row units by 4.09% and apartments by 2.91%. Annual price growth varied among housing markets tracked by the index. Greater Vancouver saw the biggest rise at 9.41% followed by Greater Toronto at 8.9%. Fraser Valley, Victoria, and Vancouver Island all recorded year on year gains of about 4% in May. The data also shows that price gains in Calgary continued to slow, with a year on year increase of just 1.21% in May. This was the smallest gain in more than three years and the eleventh consecutive monthly slowdown in year on year price growth. Elsewhere, prices held steady in Saskatoon and Ottawa, rose slightly in Greater Montreal and fell by about 3% in Regina and Greater Moncton. CREA chief economist Gregory Klump pointed out that sales in and around the Greater Toronto area played a major role in the monthly increase in May sales. ‘At the same time, the rebound in sales over the past few months in Calgary and Edmonton suggests that heightened uncertainty among some home buyers in these housing markets may be easing,’ he said. The number of newly listed homes was virtually unchanged, down 0.2% in May compared to April. The CREA report says that this reflects an even split between housing markets where new listings rose and where they fell, with little monthly change for new listings in most of Canada’s largest and most active urban markets. The national sales to new listings ratio was 57.6% in May, up from a low… Continue reading
