RICS, The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, is UK’s leading independent organisation prepares and publishes studies and reports on a regular basis covering the UK property market. Recently the property market in UK has started to show signs of improvements. 3 of the last 5 months have shown an increase in property sales and property prices in UK.
Although increases are small and may take a long-time before a full recovery often market happens, consumer behaviour has seen a positive impact as a direct result of the improvements indicated by various studies over the last few months. Consumer expectations are high with regards to further increase in property prices in the coming months. This is the first time in the last two years that consumer expectations are high in UK’s property market. Property analysts and estate agents expect further rises in the near future. The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors has recently conducted a survey of the property industry in UK where these findings were presented. According to the report there was an increased activity in the UK property market in the previous month. The number of properties in the market is still on the lower side however there is an increased interest from home buyers. Estate agents and property analysts are optimistic about the property market fr the first time in many months.
According to the property market report, the demand for properties has increased as there was an increase in the number of enquiries made by prospective buyers. According to The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, there was a 67% increase i n enquiries in June. The pattern of growth in enquiries has continued now for a few months consecutively rather than falling. The report shows that the increase in number of enquiries is now translating into increased sales. The number of properties sold increased in June. The figures are still quite dismal compared with property sales figures two years ago.
The average number of properties sold over the past three months rose to 12.7, up from 11.7. Meanwhile, newly agreed sales, measured on a net balance basis, increased sharply, reaching their highest level since August 1999. According to [property analysts, in spite of the improving signs in the property market, it is not likely to result in a sustained growth mainly because mortgage lenders are still wary of approvals due to risks involved. The supply is still at low levels.
After the recent reports of stabilisation and growth witnessed by the UK property market in recent months, the property market in US has also shown signs of improvements for the first time in many months.
Property buyers and investors in the US will be finally relieved from the improvement which is one of the first good news in US property market in the last two years.
For the first time in many months, the residential property prices in US have witnessed its first quarterly gain in the last 2 years. In fact this is the first gain in the US property market since 2006. Property analysts and investors in US are seeing this as the first sign that things are finally looking better for the world’s largest economy which also happens to be the worst hit by the recent financial crisis experienced worldwide.
According to property market results released for the month of July, 2009, published by Clear Capital, one of the leading Valuation and Intelligence websites in US, overall property prices in US have increased by 1.7% in the first quarter of 2009. The property market study provides a good look at U.S. house price environment across all levels i.e. national, metropolitan and also local levels.
The report shows that some parts of the country have witnessed a strong surge in prices while some have lagged behind. The Midwest region of US leads the way and has shown the maximum price increase of 5.3 %. House prices in Cleveland have increased by 19.6 per cent overall, in spite of Cleveland being one of the worst affected cities in relation to foreclosures. All in all the overall US property market especially in the residential sector has shown an overall improvement in this quarter. Such an increase in house prices would have seemed far fetched only a few months ago. It is little surprise that the report is a cause of celebration for the US property market.
In the South of US, property prices have also shown improvements and the property prices have increased by 2 % from the previous quarter.
Property analysts, investors as well as home owners are encouraged by the first quarterly increase in three years.
There are many factors responsible for this growth in prices within the US property market. First time home buyer incentives and increased investment activity are some factors that have contributed to the national increase in US house prices.
In spite of the first quarterly overall price increase in US property prices, some parts of the country continued the downward trend in falling house prices. Las Vegas and Orlando was surprisingly were some of the cities where house prices continued to decline by 12.4 % and 9 % respectively. In spite of being popular with tourists, this came as a surprise to many.
In California that was significantly affected by the economy over the last two years, the real estate market has finally started to show positive signs. According to a survey conducted by the California Association of Realtors, the current quarterly period has seen a 27 per cent rise in residential property sales in the state.
House prices in UK rise for 3 months out of the last four months.
The property prices in UK have risen by 0.9% in the month of June. This is the first time since September 2008 that the property prices have shown an increase for 3 months consecutively. This is yet another positive indication in the UK property market.
Although a sustained recovery is still far, this is the latest in a streak of positive indicators in the British property industry.
The annual rate in property prices is still in the negative as the previous months falls in property prices may take some time to recover. However with the increase in property prices in June, the overall annual decline has now been reduced to 9.3% only.
At the same time, with this increase in June, the average price of a property in UK has increases from £154,016 to £156,442.
According to property analysts in UK, the property prices have now improved for 3 months out of four and this definitely points towards an improving property industry.
According to the Bank of England the mortgage approvals have also improved slightly while remortgaging has remained very low.
While it is encouraging to see property prices are not falling steeply any more, there is still along way to go before a market recovery as a whole is possible.
All in all homebuyers as well property investors are pleased with the recent results. Any sign of stabilisation in the property industry is a welcome surprise. Any improvements in the property market did not seem possible a few months ago while now we are looking forward to further improvements in the coming months.
Property analysts in UK believe that there is still along way to go. Nevertheless any positive news or growth is a cause of celebration.
There are also improvements in the number of properties available in the market. It is reported that estate agents now have more properties on their books. This is good news for buyers as the market can be seen to stabilise.
Job losses in the property industry is still present however and more losses are predicted in the coming months as estate agents and established property businesses take steps to become more efficient and cut costs wherever possible. In addition, it is expected that interest rates may rise in future.
According to the latest report published by Land registry in the house prices in have fallen again in the month of April. The fall in house prices in April however is quite small as compared with other months where the prices have fallen.
After seeing a small improvement in house price in March, April has once again seen a decline in house prices, according to land registry. This time around however the house prices have only fallen slightly. The total decline in house prices was only 0.3% which seems insignificant compared to decline in house prices in many other months during the period of recession.
The average fall in house price in an annual period still remains at just over 16%. According to the Land registry in UK, which keeps a record of all properties sold in the UK, the market price of an average home in the UK was £182,557 at the same time last year. The same home will now be valued at only £152,898 according to house price index of April 2009. According to property analysts although house prices have fallen it is quite important to note that the rate at which prices are falling has remained fairly consistent over the past few months.
In a more recent report on house price index, published by Nationwide building society, average house prices in UK could have risen by 1.2% in the month of May. The may increase in house prices will make it the second increase in 2a 3 month period.
The recent reports on the property market in UK offer a positive indication and show that the downturn in the property market may be coming to an end. However in spite of the positive reports, property sales are still slow this year. The main reasons for property sales have not picked up is due to difficulties in obtaining property finance. Lenders and property finance companies are still being cautious with their lending and may continue to do so in the months to follow.
In spite of the slight improvements on monthly property figures and reports, the total decline on an annual basis is still significant and may require many months of continuous improvements before it changes. The total number of properties sold in a 3 month period still remains at lower than 40% as compared to the same 3 month period last year. Nevertheless the recent growth in the property market seen in the last 3 months show signs of stabilisation of the property market in UK.
“Despite the predictions and positive reports on a monthly level, many property analysts expect that the property prices will decline by a further 10% towards the end of the year. While some property analysts believe the market has already reached its bottom and can only grow form here, others believe that the bottom has not yet been reached. Some regions like London have started to see a small rise in house prices but many other regions are yet to follow. According to the Land Registry, in London house prices have risen by 1.2% in the month of April.
On an annual basis, average house prices have fallen in almost all regions including the capital. The monthly figures will need to continue for many months before the annual decline can be covered. Although its early to predict a downturn in the property industry, it will be fair to say that the market has finally started to show signs of stabilisation and an overall improvement may not be as far away as we think.
Property Sales in UK Highest in 18 Month Period, according to the recent property sales figures released by the National association of Estate agents. The last few months has seen more than one report that shows an improvement in the property market in UK. After many months of news and blog posts highlighting the downward trend in international as well as UK property market, it seems that good news for the property market has finally started to appear. While it is still early to expect the property market in UK as well globally to recover from continuous losses and declines in property prices over the months, any news or report that shows an improvement in the property market can only be good news for Estate Agents as well as hope owners. Recent news showing slight improvements in different areas of the property market has been welcomed by Estate Agents, Home owners and property investors.
The past few months has seen more than one report or news item that will of interest to property analysts. According to the National association of Estate Agents in UK, the houses sold by Estate Agents in the month of April has increased. According to the report, Estate agents in UK have sold more houses in April than in any month in the last 15 months. The new report by the National Association of Estate Agents is significant as the property prices in all sectors, houses and flats have been falling continuously month on month. Property sales figures across all areas need to increase repeatedly month over month before a full recovery of the property industry in UK is possible.
The report on houses sold shows an improvement for Estate agents who on an average have sold ten properties in April. This is up from an average of eight properties sold per Estate agent in the month of March. The figure had declined to its lowest point in the middle of last year when on an average, Estate agents only managed to sell five properties each.
According to the National Association of Estate Agents, the increase in property sales in April is only of the many positive indicators highlighted by recent studies and reports published across the UK. Combined with other reports published recently by various independent property analysts and groups, this is the most consistent improvement witnessed by the property industry since the beginning of the year.
Towards the end of last year, any improvement in the property industry seemed a distant future. The property industry had fallen to its lowest point. The demand for property ahs remained strong across the recession, however the consumer confidence had fallen to its lowest. The recent figures show that the confidence in the property market has started to rise.
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