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Almost half of home owners in London putting selling plans on hold due to EU vote
Almost half of home owners in London intend to put any plans they have to buy or sell on hold under after the referendum in June on the future of the UK in the European Union. A survey has found that 47% will not get involved until after the vote and Bishop’s move, which commissioned the poll, believes that uncertainty over the outcome of the EU referendum is likely to slow London’s housing market in the coming months. In the poll 20% of Londoners said whether the UK stays or leaves the EU would not play any part in their decision to put their house on the market, and a further 32% said they weren’t sure. But 30% of home owners in London also believe that leaving the EU would actually strengthen the value of their home compared to 13% who believe that leaving the EU will not have an impact at all on the value of their home. Just13% in the neighbouring South East region said that an ‘out’ vote would add value to their property. The survey also discovered a significant proportion of younger generations would prefer to wait for the outcome of the EU vote. Some 46% of those aged 16 to 24 and 43% of those aged 24 to 35 said they intend to wait for the outcome of the vote compared to 16% of those aged between 45 to 54 and just 9% of those aged 55 and above. With almost half of London home owners willing to wait until after the EU referendum, in contrast just 11% in the East of England, 14% in the North East, and 15% in Yorkshire and the Humber claimed that they would prefer to wait until after the EU referendum to sell their property. ‘This paints a picture of the both the attitude towards the EU referendum amongst London homeowners and also their approach towards the price of property in the capital. It’s actually a very similar situation we found in Scotland during its 2014 independence referendum,’ said Chris Marshall, sales and marketing director at Bishop’s Move. ‘Significant policy decisions can severely impact the UK housing market and our own research last year also found almost a quarter of those looking to buy and sell a property delayed their move by one to four months in order to wait for the outcome of the General Election,’ he pointed out. ‘However, whilst these results point to a slowdown in the build-up to June, we fully anticipate business to resume as usual, particularly when the school holidays arrive and everyone wants to get their moves completed during the break,’ he added. 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
Index shows UK prices increased by just 0.3% in February
Residential property prices in the UK increased by 0.3% in February and there was a slight growth taking the annual increase to 4.8%, the latest house price index shows. This took average prices to £196,930 and overall the annual rate of growth has remained between 3% and 5% since the summer of 2015, according to the data from lender the Nationwide. The index report also says that the number of mortgages approved for house purchase increased sharply in January to almost 75,000, up from around 71,000 approvals in December and the highest number since January 2014. However, Nationwide’s chief economist Robert Gardner pointed out that much of the increase is likely to be related to the impending increase in Stamp Duty on second homes which is due to take effect in April 2016. He pointed out that after declining gradually over the past 12 years, the rate of home ownership in England stabilised in 2014/2015 but at 63.6%, this is well below the peak of 70.9% recorded in 2003. ‘This is likely to have brought forward a significant number of purchases, which in turn will probably result in a fall back in approvals during the spring/summer. Looking through this volatility we expect the underlying pace of activity to increase in the quarters ahead as improving labour market conditions and low borrowing costs provide ongoing support,’ he said. Gardner pointed out that after declining gradually over the past 12 years, the rate of home ownership in England stabilised in 2014/2015 but at 63.6%, this is well below the peak of 70.9% recorded in 2003. ‘If we look at the shift in tenure patterns by age over the past decade, we see a particularly marked decline in home ownership rates amongst the younger age groups, especially amongst 25 to 34 year olds, traditionally the segment containing most first time buyers. While there was a marginal uptick in 2015, the proportion of younger adults who own their own home, currently 37%, remains considerably lower than 10 years ago,’ he explained. ‘Over the same period, the proportion of people renting increased from 43% to 63%. For 16 to 24 year olds, the proportion renting increased from 73% to 92% over the same period. The increase has occurred in the private rental sector, which currently houses 19% of total households. Over the past 10 years, the number of privately rented households has increased by 75% to 4.3 million,’ Gardner said. He also pointed out that the latest English Housing Survey showed that the proportion of private renters who expect to buy a home at some point in the future declined from 61% to 57%, the lowest reading since the survey began in 2008/2009. Even amongst those who expect to buy a home, for most this remains a longer term aspiration, with 75% expecting it to take at least two years. March is likely to be similar in terms of house prices and sales, according to Alex… Continue reading
