News

Despite frustration at delays and despair at the prospect of strikes, the Tube remains a vital part of every Londoner’s life.

And it is crucial when buying a house, too. Accordingly, eMoov has revealed the average property price at every one of the 280 Tube stops on the network (excluding the DLR and the Overground).

Just one stop can make a huge difference in property prices: it is just an eight minute Tube ride between Wembley Park and Finchley Road on the Metropolitan line. But the average house price differs by £1m. At Finchley Road, house prices average £1.4m, and at Wembley Park they are £400,000.

New London Underground map shows how expensive it is to rent stop-by-stop

Not a single Tube station in Zone One has an average property price less than £500,000 – but there are still bargains to be found.

The cheapest in Zone One:

1. Aldgate East: £535,920
2. Lambeth North: £660,167
3. Borough: £664,838
4. Waterloo £669,743
5. Vauxhall: £689,556

Average for Zone One: £1,256,149

Russell Quirk, the founder and chief executive of eMoov, said: “The tube map is a fascinating way of breaking down the London landscape, especially where property price is concerned.

“Despite the constant threat of strike action, a property close to a tube stop, on a good line, remains one of the most sought after pieces of property in the capital. Close proximity to a tube stop will always act as an additional selling point for sellers and in most cases, is justification for a higher asking price.

“It’s well worth doing your homework when buying in London, because as this research shows, sacrificing a few extra minutes with a longer commute can result in a considerable reduction in the price you will pay for a property.”

The cheapest in Zone Two:

1. West Ham: £313,054
2. Canning Town £323,601
3. Bromley-by-Bow: £329,778
4. Stratford: £339,600
5. North Acton: £384,626

Average for Zone Two: £795,981

The cheapest in Zone Three:

1. East Ham £274,206
2. Upton Park £283,134
3. Plaistow £284,692
4. Leyton £364,067
5. Park Royal £371,114

Average in Zone Three: £594,673

Source: Telegraph

The availability of housing stock on the UK market has almost halved in a decade, with house prices set to rise during 2016 as demand remains high.

Summary:

• The amount of available property on the UK market has fallen by almost 50% in 10 years
• There is an average of 37 properties on sale per estate agent in the entire country
• Low supply, record-low interest rates and low unemployment will fuel further house price growth in 2016

The supply of available property to buy in the UK has almost halved in 10 years.

The average amount of property available per every estate agent branch in December fell to 37, the latest housing market report from the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) found.

It is the joint lowest figure for 2015, along with September, and almost half the number of properties that were available to buy in December 2005, when there were 72 houses per branch.

The news comes as Nationwide predicts an impending acceleration in UK house price growth. Continued low supply, combined with record-low interest rates and low unemployment, could encourage further house-buying and increase demand.

Mark Hayward, NAEA Managing Director, commented: “The issue of lack of supply needs to be solved, but it isn’t going to be done anytime soon. We are still waiting to see new homes being built and whilst we wait, house prices continue to rise. The number of home buyers on the books has been gradually increasing.”

Low supply affected the number of sales in December, with an average seven properties sold per estate agent branch, the lowest recorded in 2015. The number of interested buyers has increased year-on-year, despite a seasonal dip in December where house hunters fell from 374 to 403.

Source:: Select Property

The number of property sales in Cyprus during December rose 13 per cent compared with the numbers sold in December 2014 according to official statistics published by the Department of Lands and Surveys.

PROPERTY sale transactions in 2015 recorded only their second year-on-year increase since 2010, growing by 9 per cent to reach 4,952 compared with 4,527 in 2014, according to official statistics published earlier today by the Department of Lands and Surveys.

This follows a 20 per cent increase in 2014 compared to 2013.

Of those 4,952 sale transactions (which include residential properties, commercial properties and land) 3,603 (73%) were made on behalf of Cypriot purchasers while the remaining 1,349 (27%) were on behalf of overseas buyers.

Sale transactions in Larnaca rose by 35 percent, while those in Limassol rose by 11 percent. Transactions in Paphos and Nicosia rose marginally by 0.2 per cent and 0.1 per cent respectively, while transactions in Famagusta fell by 2 per cent. (As noted by Resolute Asset Management in its annual report, Cyprus Economy & Real Estate Market, Famagusta is heavily reliant on local demand for holiday homes.)

Frenzied buying, mainly by UK nationals looking for a holiday home in the sun, together with nefarious business practices and reckless lending by the banks pushed up prices creating a bubble, which eventually burst in at the end of 2007. Cypriots found themselves priced out of the market as land prices rose faster than their salaries; property sales to the Cypriot market reached their zenith in 2003.

Whether Cyprus has learnt from its mistakes of the past only time will tell. But it appears that after two consecutive years of rising sales, the island’s property market has finally started on the long road to recovery.

Source: Cyprus Property News

Above:A fifth of UK homeowners have seen the value of their property already increase in 2016.

As Knight Frank release its House Price Sentiment Index, homeowners in the UK are confident the value of their property will increase in 2016.

Summary:

• A fifth of UK homeowners have seen the value of their property already increase in 2016
• According to Knight Frank’s House Price Sentiment Index, property prices are expected to continue to rise over the next 12 months
• The outlook for the UK property market growth is the strongest since June 2015

Homeowners across the UK expect the value of their property to rise in 2016.

Of the households surveyed by Knight Frank and Markit Economics, 20.9% of the 1,500 respondents across the UK said that the value of their home had risen over the last month. As part of their House Price Sentiment Index, Knight Frank assigns a HPSI reading – in this case, the reading registered at 58.7 in January for house price growth.

This is the 34th consecutive month that the reading has been above 50. With any figure over 50 indicating that prices are rising, the index demonstrates the continued strength and expected growth of the UK property market in 2016.

January’s reading was a slight decrease from the 59.4 recorded in December, but returns the index to the same level as seen in November. It is just slightly higher than the average reading of 58.5 recorded throughout 2015, but remains below the peak of 63.2 in May 2014, reflecting the stabilisation in average UK house price growth seen since then.

Above:Gráinne Gilmore, Head of UK Residential Research at Knight Frank said Households expect house prices to rise again in 2016.

Gráinne Gilmore, Head of UK Residential Research at Knight Frank, said: “Households expect house prices to rise again in 2016. The future sentiment index is now sitting just above where it was in January 2015, and we now know that UK house prices climbed by 4.5% during the course of the year. The latest house price sentiment index suggests that monetary and political housing policies have not had a dramatic impact on households’ assessment and outlook for the value of their property.”

The future HPSI, which measures what households think will happen to the value of their property over the next year, rose slightly in January to 70.5 from December’s 70.3. This is the highest reading since June 2015, but remains below the peak of 75.1 reached in May 2014.

Source: Select Property

Brisbane’s residential property market is expected to shine in 2016, while Perth is approaching the bottom of the cycle, property developer Cedar Woods says.

Chief executive Paul Sadlier said Brisbane’s new housing and established residential property market had been undersupplied for a while.

“It’s probably got the best residential housing outlook of the states at the moment,” Mr Sadlier said.

He expects Cedar Wood’s inner developments in Brisbane to trade well even if the economic climate deteriorates.

Meanwhile, Perth home prices were down around three to four per cent in 2015 and would stay fairly flat throughout 2016, he said.

“I think we’re getting towards the bottom,” Mr Sadlier said.

The resources dependent state of Western Australia was now three years off its peak as the mining downturn continued.

But Mr Sadlier said the city was making a transition from mining to health, education and agriculture.

“This year should be fairly steady for WA in terms of both volume and price,” he said.

While Sydney’s market continued to cool, thanks to tighter rules for investors, there was still strong demand in terms of volumes.

Melbourne had been the steadiest market of all of the major capital cities, but Mr Sadlier expects the city’s recent strong price growth to ease in 2016.

“In volume terms they’re capturing more than their fair share of immigration and being a price point below Sydney they will continue to capture that market,” he said.

Adelaide’s population growth was not as strong as the other capitals but the city was undergoing an inner city transformation.

Mr Sadlier added that owner occupiers were now pushing aside investors and first home buyers as the strongest buying group in the nation.

He also expects Chinese developers to continue focusing on Sydney and Melbourne unless the Chinese leadership tightens rules on capital movement.

Cedar Woods has projects in Victoria, Western Australia, South Australia and Queensland.

Source: SBS