Positive outlook for buy to let

Positive outlook for buy to let lending in the UK

Wednesday, 29 October 2014

Intermediaries’ are positive about their future levels of mortgage business over the next year, according to the latest quarterly intermediary survey. On average, advisers expect to do 6% more overall mortgage business in the fourth quarter of this year compared with the third quarter, up slightly from an average predicted quarter on quarter increase of 5% in the second quarter, according to the survey from buy to let lender Paragon Mortgages. In terms of levels of buy to let mortgage business, advisers expect to see a 3% average increase over the next 12 months, which is unchanged from the level recorded in the second quarter of the year. More than half, 56%, of intermediaries expect their levels of buy to let mortgage business to remain stable over the next year. In comparison, 40% said they expect to do more buy to let business, with 19% expecting there to be an increase of 6% or more. The majority, 69%, of intermediaries identified rental demand as the most important factor for determining the expected change in their level of buy to let mortgage business over the next 12 months, followed closely by property prices at 65% and interest rates at 64%. ‘It is positive to see that average expected levels of mortgage business, both general and buy to let, have increased since the previous quarter, particularly following the recent implementation of the Mortgage Market Review,’ said the firm’s director of underwriting Paul Clampin. ‘Demand from tenants continues to remain high and is likely to do so over the foreseeable future as more people move into the private rented sector. Therefore, this is likely to have a positive impact on intermediaries’ expected levels of buy to let business going forward,’ he added. Source: www.propertywire.com

Cambridge property outstrips London with 33% leap

The cities where house prices have surpassed their pre-crisis peak: Cambridge property outstrips London with 33% leap

Property values in Cambridge have rebounded more strongly than any other major city in Britain according to property analyst Hometrack.

Prices in the city have surged 32.5 per cent higher compared to their 2007 peak to reach £348,300 on average. This beats even London, where values sit 29 per cent above their peak at £398,700 typically.

The only other cities to have surpassed their pre-crisis peak are Oxford, Aberdeen, Bristol, Portsmouth, Southampton and Bournemouth. It is a new index from the property market analysts which looks at 20 cities across Britain.

Cambridge houses a world-famous university and a booming biomedical industry, with AstraZeneca opening a £330million research facility by the end of 2016 in the city. It is also moving its London corporate offices with it.

The university is working on a huge £1billion development which includes new research facilities, 3,000 homes, new schools, shops and surgeries.

It is also well connected, with frequent trains to London Liverpool Street and King's Cross taking roughly an hour and the M11 which also heads south, making it a popular hub for commuters.

In the summer, property website Rightmove said Cambridge had the 'hottest' housing market, with houses taking an average of 27 days to sell, compared to 39 the previous year.

Other cities, such as Belfast, Leeds, Newcastle, Manchester, Liverpool, Edinburgh and Glasgow still have some distance to climb before prices match their 2007 levels.

In Belfast, prices have fallen by more than 50 per cent since the property peak. Liverpool has prices 15 per cent below and Glasgow 14.9 per cent.

London surge: Property values in the capital have grown the fastest in the last 12 months

Over the past year, London, Cambridge and Bristol have seen the strongest uplifts in values out of the cities looked at, while Glasgow and Leicester have seen the lowest increases, according to the findings.

Fourteen out of the 20 cities looked at recorded year-on-year house price inflation which was below the average seen across the whole of the UK. Across the country generally, the typical house price has lifted by nine per cent or £15,300 over the last year to reach £184,580.

The average London house price has increased by 18.1 per cent, or £61,000 in cash terms, over the year to September, while a home buyer in Cambridge would need to find 17.9 per cent or £53,000 more than they would a year ago.

Meanwhile, the average Bristol property has added 14.1 per cent or £26,900 onto its value over the last year.

Glasgow recorded the smallest year-on-year percentage increase in prices of the 20 cities looked at, with property prices there lifting by 4.3 per cent or £4,600 in cash terms to reach £109,200. Property values in Leicester have increased by 4.8 per cent or £6,600 year-on-year to reach £141,400.

Source:  www.thisismoney.co.uk

UK property prices expected to rise 9% this year and 5% in 2015

Property prices across the UK are set to finish 2014 up by 9% and rise another 5% in 2015, according to the latest outlook report.

Real estate firm Strutt & Parker expects good growth despite prices cooling and the looming general election next year in a report compiles with its retained economic advisors Volterra.

But the outlook for the prime central London market is more subdued with Strutt & Parker predicting growth of 3% in 2014, and a further 2% in 2015. These forecasts are a stark contrast to 2010 and 2011 when prime central London prices surged by over 13% year on year.

The firm believes that whilst improved economic foundations would certainly suggest that prices will continue to rise over the next few years, the biggest perceived uncertainty surrounding the property markets over the remainder of 2014 and 2015 will continue to be the looming election.

‘Agents are reporting a continued slowdown in some areas as buyers and sellers nervously await news on the upcoming general election and the potential for a mansion tax. This is beginning to feed through into transaction levels. As is often the case in uncertain times, it may also be that transaction levels will decrease in the run up to May 2015, but values could hold up better than expected,’ said Stephanie McMahon, head of research at Strutt & Parker.


‘Above and beyond the general election there are a number of other potential headwinds slowing the property market, including talk of interest rate changes and the Mortgage Market Review (MMR) and the slowdown it is causing,’ she explained.

She pointed out that it is important to remember that the property market is all about supply and demand. ‘On the supply side, the government is continuing to boost house building across the country, and recent output figures from the construction sector reflect this. House prices tend to rise when stock is low and with more houses being built, particularly in the lower end of the housing market, this could also have an effect on UK house prices over the next few months,’ said McMahon.

‘The main driver for price market price growth in recent years has indeed been the consistent shortage of good quality housing stock in highly sought after prime locations. Any future increase of supply to the market in central London would therefore put downward pressure on prime central London house prices and we have taken this into consideration in our London predictions,’ she added.

‘In short, we expect that price growth during the remainder of 2014, and even more so in 2015, will be sensitive to prevailing political press and expectations,’ she concluded.

Source: www.propertywire.com

 

House prices have increased strongly annually across the UK

House prices have increased strongly annually across the UK, says latest ONS index

Tuesday, 14 October 2014

UK house prices increased by 11.7% in the year to August 2014, unchanged from the year to July 2014, according to the latest index from the Office of National Statistics (ONS). House price annual inflation was 12.2% in England, 4.7% in Wales, 6.7% in Scotland and 9.6% in Northern Ireland. The index report says that house prices are increasing strongly across the UK, with prices in London again showing the highest growth. Annual house price increases in England were driven by an annual increase in London of 19.6% and to a lesser extent increases in the South East of 12.3% and the East of 11.6%. However, excluding London and the South East, UK house prices increased by 7.8% in the 12 months to August 2014. On a seasonally adjusted basis, average house prices increased by 0.6% between July and August 2014, the data also shows. In August 2014, prices paid by first time buyers were 12.9% higher on average than in August 2013. For existing owners prices increased by 11.2% for the same period. ‘While price growth dulls, activity in the market is still vibrant, and total house sales completions are up 16% year on year in September. First time buyers have been bringing much of the vitality and optimism to the party,’ said David Newnes, director of Reeds Rains and Your Move estate agents. ‘While the market adapts to a mellower beat, schemes like Help to Buy and an accessible lending environment are essential to ensure that confidence isn’t silenced, and activity continues to sing,’ he added.  He pointed out that a North/South divide remains evident in the race back from the debris of the financial crash. For six regions of the UK, average property prices achieved on completion are yet to match their pre-crisis score. The North has the furthest ground to travel, with average prices still 8.3% or £13,400 below their housing boom high in March 2008. The London property scene is on a different scale to the rest of the country.  ‘Overall, the capital has seen the strongest housing market recovery, with prices having now grown 47.3% from their previous peak in February 2008. However, the rate of annual house price inflation in the capital eased in August, as we see growth relaxing into a slower tempo from the heady pulse earlier this year,’ said Newnes. Source: www.propertywire.com

House prices will rise by 30% in five years, Rightmove says

UK’s biggest property website believes market is not slowing down but predicts largest growth will be outside of London

 

Enfield is set to see some of the fastest-rising property prices in the next five years, Rightmove believes. Photograph: David Levene


Britain’s biggest property website has rebuffed claims that the housing market is heading for a slowdown, with a forecast that prices will soar by 30% over the next five years to average £318,000 in England and Wales and more than £715,000 in London.

But for the first time in more than a decade, it will be markets outside the capital that lead the way in price rises, Rightmove said. It predicts that Southampton will see the fastest house price increases in the country, with values expected to jump 43% by 2019 – adding nearly £100,000 to local prices – while Luton, Brighton and Swindon will not be far behind. Rightmove used independent consultancy Oxford Economics to calculate the figures.

The driving force for prices in the south-east will be the “spillover” effect of high London prices rippling through the home counties. But Rightmove said the parts of the capital that have seen the greatest price increases in the last five years will see the smallest in the coming five years.

It predicts price growth of 13.6% in well-off parts of west London, and it names Enfield in north London – until now one of the cheapest property areas in the capital – as the borough that will see the biggest gains. It said average prices in Enfield will rise from £381,000 to £531,000 or 39% – equal to an increase of £575 every week for the next five years.

The prospect of house prices rising at the rate forecast by Rightmove will put homes further and further out of the reach of first time buyers. It said the average price in England and Wales will rise from £244,192 to £317,967 – a gain of £73,775 or £14,755 a year.

The report claims to be “the most comprehensive house price forecast of its kind ever created, based on property and economic data rather than opinion and short-term market factors. It takes into account both asking and sold prices, surveyor valuations and analytics from the Oxford Economics’ global, industry and regional forecasting models.”

The figures contrast with widespread reports of a cooling in the property market after the frenetic rate of increases in the past year and a possible rise in interest rates next year. On Thursday, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors said prices in London fell for the first time since January 2011, ending the longest unbroken run of increases in more than 20 years. “Fading price momentum is more than just a London story,” it added.

Halifax this week said house price growth has peaked and will now grow at a considerably slower pace, while the Centre for Economics and Business Research is forecasting price falls in 2015.

But the forecasting model used by Oxford Economics, which includes factors such as a rising population, a poor supply of new homes, and a recovery in incomes, suggests any slowdown could be short-lived. Substantial parts of Britain still have average prices which remain below their 2008 peak and separate figures published on Friday by estate agents Your Move and Reeds Rain show prices have on average risen by 2% a year nationally since the onset of the financial crisis in 2007.

Anna Brosnan, head of campaigns at the National Housing Federation, said: “These new figures make disturbing but predictable reading. Every part of the country, north and south, is feeling the effects of the housing crisis and if we want the situation to improve for the next generation, action needs to be taken now to build more homes at a price people can afford.

“We have found that eight in 10 people don’t believe any of the main political parties will effectively deal with housing. We desperately need politicians from all sides to commit to ending the housing crisis within a generation.”

 

 

Source: www.theguardian.com

Derby house prices continue to rise

Derby house prices continue to rise








The average cost of a home in Derby has risen 3.2% over the last three months.


HOUSE prices in Derby and Derbyshire are continuing to rise, according to a new report.

The Nationwide House Price Index, published this morning, reveals that in the last three months, the average cost of a property has risen to £181,679 - an increase of 3.2% compared to the previous three months when it stood at £176,002.

The research also said that prices in Derby were 8% higher than they were a year ago.

In the rest of the county, the average cost of a home now stands at £181,689 – 9% higher than a year ago.





According to Nationwide, Derby is one of the areas in the East Midlands where house prices have risen the fastest over the past decade.

It is on a par with Nottingham, where prices have risen 13%. The only other area in the region that has seen faster growth is Nottinghamshire (15%).

Across the East Midlands as a whole, house prices grew by 2% over the past three months, with homes now costing an average of £157,293.

Nationally, house prices have risen by 1.5% over the past three months, with the average cost of a home now standing at £188,810.

London remains the most expensive region to buy a home and Northern Ireland the cheapest.

Concerns remain that rocketing house prices in the capital are causing the market to overheat. But Nationwide’s latest report would suggest that the pace of growth may be slowing.

Over the past three months, the average cost of a home in London has grown by 0.9% and now stands at £401,072.

The Nationwide’s data shows that over the past 12 months prices in the capital have grown by 21%.

Robert Gardner, Nationwide’s chief economist, said: “Among the English regions the South continued to outperform, with double-digit growth rates recorded in London, Outer Metropolitan, Outer South East and East Anglia.

“The North was the weakest English region, with prices up 4.3% over the year.”

Source: www.derbytelegraph.co.uk