Property sales nationwide in Canada recorded a sizeable month on month increase in May with growth of 5.9%, according to the latest data from the Canadian Real Estate Association.

It is the largest month on month increase in nearly four years and sales rose in four out of every five local housing markets, including almost all large urban markets.

Actual, not seasonally adjusted, activity in May stood 4.8% above levels reported in the same month last year, and 3.8% above the 10 year average for the month of May.

May sales were led by Greater Vancouver, Fraser Valley, Calgary, and Greater Toronto but monthly activity trailed levels reported last May in Montreal and Halifax-Dartmouth.

‘Over the past 25 years, that widespread a monthly sales increase has been recorded only a handful of times. Even so, the improvement varied by location,’ said CREA president Beth Crosbie.

The actual, not seasonally adjusted, national average price for homes sold in May 2014 was $416,584, up 7.1% from the same month last year. But the national average price continues to be skewed upward by sales activity in Greater Vancouver and Greater Toronto, which are among Canada’s largest and most expensive housing markets.

Excluding these two markets from the calculation, the average price reaches a relatively more modest $336,373 while the year on year increase shrinks to 5.3%.

The MLS Home Price Index, which CREA says provides a better gauge of price trends because it is not affected by changes in the mix of sales activity the way that average price is, was up by 4.98% year on year in May, which is slightly smaller than gains of 5.03% and 5.19% in April and March respectively.

Year on year price growth gained strength for two storey single family homes and townhouse/row units, and lost a bit of momentum for one storey single family homes and apartment units.

Year on year price gains were led by two storey single family homes with growth of 5.98%, followed closely by price increases for one storey single family homes at 5.19% and town houses by 5.04%. The price increase for apartment units was comparatively more modest at 2.93%.

Year on year price growth varied among local housing markets tracked by the index, with the biggest gains having been posted by Calgary at 10.12%, Greater Toronto at 7.08% and Greater Vancouver at 4.27%.

The national trend for new listings has mirrored the trend for sales in recent months. The number of newly listed homes rose 3.8% in May, the fourth straight monthly gain. Also in line with sales activity, new listings were up in about 80% of local markets.

‘In markets where supply had become tight, we expected sales to improve in tandem with listings. Had it not been for such a brutal winter that delayed the launch of the spring market, the improvement in new listings and sales would likely have been more spread out over the past few months,’ said Gregory Klump, CREA’s chief economist.

The…

Since 2009 there has been virtually no speculative office development outside of London… until now.

ISG is closing its Tonbridge office in Kent as part of a restructuring of its regional UK operations.

The Welsh government is backing a new initiative to reduce waste in the construction industry.

The UK government’s Garden Cities programme will not help solve the housing crisis unless the number of homes planned for locally is large enough to meet true housing need, according to property adviser Savills

The government prospectus for locally led garden cities states that these new settlement should be at or above 15,000 but analysis by Savills research shows that at this level it would require one new garden city a year the equivalent of the proposed Ebbsfleet development simply to accommodate the London overspill.

Savills suggests that the housing shortage is failure on two counts: not enough homes are being built and local authorities are failing to plan adequately for housing need in the first place. It says that local authorities need to cooperate more to meet local housing need particularly around cities where there is acute shortfall.

Even if existing planning targets are achieved, Savills research suggests that southern England faces a shortfall of 160,000 homes over the next five years, of which some 80% are in London. Savills argues that garden city proposals should be in addition to and not a replacement for existing urban extension plans and new homes already allocated in local plans.

‘There is no single solution to the housing crisis. The creation of new garden cities is not a panacea but a piece in a much bigger jigsaw,’ said Susan Emmett, Savills residential research director.

The government’s garden cities prospectus emphasises that the proposals need to attract private capital and make use of land value uplift to finance necessary infrastructure. It also states that projects must be locally led, brought forward by local authorities with the support of the community.

Savills proposes that a New Town Development Corporation could be the vehicle that helps delivery a long term vision. Land needed to accommodate 15,000 homes will cross local authority borders and involve multiple landowners.

‘This is a tall order on all counts. To achieve the scale necessary in locations where people want to live at a realistic cost to the landowner, developer and end user, requires a solid and accountable framework,’ said Emmett.

‘The suggestion that the required infrastructure can be funded from land value capture is heroic. Contributions from landowners and developers would supplement, rather than replace, central and local government funding,’ she explained.

She also pointed out that encouraging land owners to bring forward their land is a key consideration and that a balance must be struck between encouraging landowners to bring forward land willingly and achieving the right price to ensure schemes are delivered.

One route proposed in the report, is to hold a national competition for sites to come forward. The competitive element would test the potential for lower land prices so that gains from value uplift could be used to fund infrastructure. A complementary approach would be for the landowner to retain a share in the project, thus benefitting from rising land values over the longer term.

The report identifies…

Average house price in England and Wales increased by 0.4% in May and were 6.7% higher than a year ago, according to the latest data from the Land Registry.

This takes the average price of home to 172,035, not far off the peak of £181,518 in November 2007 and the data also shows that over 72,450 residential properties in England and Wales were lodged for registration in May ranging from £7,000 to £39 million.

The region in England and Wales which experienced the greatest increase in its average property value over the last 12 months was London with an increase of 18.5%. London also experienced the greatest monthly rise with a rise of 2.5%.

The North East saw the lowest annual price growth with a rise of 0.9% while Yorkshire and the Humber saw the most significant monthly price fall of 0.9%.

The most up to date figures available show that during March 2014 the number of completed house sales in England and Wales increased by 16% to 63,587 compared with 54,708 in March 2013.

The number of properties sold in England and Wales for over £1 million in March 2014 increased by 28% to 840 from 657 in March 2013.

Repossession volumes decreased by 37% in March 2014 with 987 compared with 1,560 in March 2013. The region with the greatest fall in repossession sales in March 2014 was the East Midlands.

David Brown, commercial director of LSL Property Services, pointed out that while optimism has spread outside of London, many regions are seeing only very gradual house price rises.

‘Stability is not the finish line for the housing market. Sustainable price growth must go hand in hand with a growing stock of homes, and growth is the order of the day. The property industry will still take some time to recover fully from the longest recession on record and construction will only pick up more swiftly after the purchase market has demonstrated its stability,’ he explained.

‘In the meantime the rental market is efficiently providing homes in centres of employment and rents are now only rising in line with wages. But in the purchase or the rental market, the legacy of the credit crunch will still linger if we don’t build more homes quickly,’ he added.

According to Peter Rollings, chief executive officer of Marsh & Parsons, the figures show that after one of the busiest starts to the year price growth is beginning to slow, as a fresh supply of property comes onto the market to counter the imbalance with demand.

He believes that the figures demonstrate the self regulatory nature of the market as it returns to normal. ‘Not only does this give buyers’ some breathing space from the fierce competition experienced earlier this year it is also good news for sellers who now have more choice for their onward purchase,’ he said.

‘London, where property is still in much higher demand, continues to be in a league of its own and unrepresentative…

New home sales in Australia posted a fourth consecutive gain in April 2014, providing an important positive signal for broader economic activity, according to the Housing Industry Association.

Private sector new home sales saw a monthly gain of 2.9% and an increase of 6% over the three months to April this year. Multi-unit sales increased by 9.3% while detached house sales were up 1.8%, the sixth consecutive increase for this sector.

‘The recovery in new home building is a key plank in Australia’s economic growth. Momentum in new home building activity will carry over into the June quarter, while the trajectory evident in coming months for leading indicators such as new home sales and building approvals will provide crucial insight to the growth prospects for the broader economy in 2014/2015,’ said Harley Dale, HIA chief economist.

‘A healthy April for new home sales provides a promising start to the June 2014 quarter. It is not just the magnitude of a new home building recovery that is important, but also the breath and duration of that recovery. Market forces are to date largely overcoming the excessive tax and regulatory environment in which the sector operates, while the structural shortage of skilled labour has yet to fully rear its head in the cycle,’ he explained.

‘To unleash the productivity dividend the new home building sector can provide the Australian economy in addition to the positive impetus already in play, policy makers across all levels of government need to address these structural impediments,’ he added.

The data shows that overall seasonally adjusted detached house sales increased by 6.4% in Western Australia, by 5.2% in New South Wales and by 0.5% in Victoria. Detached house sales fell by 2.1% in Queensland and by 6% in South Australia.
The HIA is forecasting that new home building will increase by 7.1% in 2014, its second highest level on record. This follows growth of 10.9% recorded in 2013. But commencements are forecast to decline in 2015 and 2016.

Renovation activity is forecast to recover from a 10 year low. ‘After dropping to decade lows in 2013 there is huge upside potential for renovations activity. Two consecutive quarters of growth through to March 2014 provides confidence for our forecast of 1% growth in the total value of renovations investment in 2013/2014,’ said Dale.

Momentum in renovations activity is forecast to build in coming years with growth of 1.2%, 2.3% and 2.5% over the three years to 2016/2017. This would see investment exceed $30 billion for the first time since 2011/2012.

Communities across the country are set to benefit from thousands of extra homes under new deals revealed by the UK government

Speaking at the Chartered Institute for Housing conference in Manchester, Communities Secretary Eric Pickles set out why housing is the cornerstone of Britain’s economic strength and social well being.

He said considerable progress has been made to fix the broken housing market, but that there is still more to do and government will continue to get the country building more homes.

The Secretary of State announced millions of pounds of investment across a range programmes, to boost the supply of new homes in all areas of the housing market.

Some £53 million will accelerate construction of more than 7,000 homes on large developments in Manchester, Medway, Swindon and Kettering. The new deals will bring the total number of homes supported through the Local Infrastructure Fund to over 80,000 since the scheme began in 2012.

The government has set aside £1 billion over the next five years for further rounds of the programme. So far 56 bids have been received which demonstrate the strong interest from developers in getting workers back on stalled large scale sites and to deliver the homes. An announcement about the shortlisted bids for the first round of funding will be made later in the summer.

A new £3 million fund to help planning authorities tackle barriers to work starting on site. The fund will give authorities additional capacity to focus on issues such as finalising section 106 agreements and signing off planning conditions, to help get work started on sites as quickly as possible. The fund could accelerate starts on up to 85 sites with the potential for up to 25,000 homes.

Also, over £49 million will support three new schemes under the Build to Rent programme in Hampshire and Croydon. The funding will help deliver over 540 homes specifically for private rent, bringing the total number of homes supported through the programme so far to over 1,600.

A new prospectus for a new £150 million investment fund for 10,000 serviced plots will be published. The funding will help bring forward shovel ready sites where people can hire a developer to build the home they want, a type of development known as custom build. A demonstration site at Park Prewett, near Basingstoke, will begin shortly.

‘In 2010 we inherited a paralysed housing market and a collapsing rate of construction. Since then we’ve delivered over 445,000 new homes, and house building is at its highest rate since 2007 and still climbing,’ said Communities Secretary Eric Pickles.

‘The resurgence in house building is clear evidence that the government’s long term economic plan is working, but there is still more to do. The investment will help us meet this challenge by driving up the supply of new homes in every corner of the housing market,’ he explained.

‘From new places for rent to people designing to those building their own properties. We will support and deliver the homes this country…

Total house sales on a seasonally adjusted basis in the UK have fell by 3.5% in May but this is 14.8% higher than in the same month last year, according to the latest figures from HMRC.

The provisional seasonally adjusted UK property sales count for May 2014 was 99,320 residential and 8,800 non-residential transactions.

The trend since the beginning of the 2013/2014 financial year has been of a general month on month increase in transactions for the seasonally adjusted data until February 2014, after which there has been a gradual decrease, the data report shows.

Recent non-seasonally adjusted transactions peaked in November 2013, the highest level since November 2007, then steadily declined until February 2014, after which there has been a gradual increase.

According to Peter Rollings, chief executive officer of Marsh & Parsons, the figures show that the country has moved into a new chapter of the housing market recovery. ‘The story so far this year has been one of record breaking house price rises, due to intense competition for available properties and a new wave of first time buyers climbing on the property ladder,’ he said.

‘But on a seasonally adjusted basis, total house sales have also fallen 3.5%. The impact of the Mortgage Market Review is still to be determined, but the introduction of tougher lending conditions has lengthened the approval process as the mortgage market adapts to this regulatory shake up and stabilises,’ he explained.

‘Price growth is beginning to tail off as more property becomes available, offering buyers some welcome respite from the frenetic pace of the market and greater choice. This is also great news for sellers looking for their onward purchase, and will normalise trading conditions and boost activity levels,’ he added.

He also pointed out that with interest rate rises lenders are increasingly cautious against higher risk mortgage loans and implementing stricter affordability criteria to ensure that borrowing remains responsible.

‘However the government and the Bank of England should be wary of taking their foot off the gas completely. The London property market may be standing head and shoulders above the rest of the country, but further afield initiatives such as Help to Buy have been vital crutches helping the recovery get back on track,’ added Rollings.

Prime London property values rose by an average of just 1.1% in the second quarter of 2014, bringing year to date growth down to 4.9%, according to the latest index.

This is a significant slowdown from 2013 when prices rose by an average of 11.8%, the Savills quarterly prime London index also shows.

It brings prime London price growth into line with steadier levels of growth now being seen in the prime regional markets, which are still in the early stages of recovery as buyers begin to take advantage of the gap between London and regional values.

Sub markets that have been the top performers since the nadir of early 2009 are now levelling off. Prime central London growth slowed to just 2.5% in the first six months of this year and values now appear to have now plateaued with growth of 0.4% in the second quarter.

The strongest growth is now being seen in the lower value core prime markets of Islington and Canary Wharf and Wapping, reflecting confident amongst young financial sector employees and investor buyers targeting City based renters. The data also shows that average values have risen 10.1% year to date, which follows 13.3% growth in 2013.

‘Successive changes to stamp duty and the wider tax regime have left some prime London markets looking fully valued and sensitive to shifts in both overseas and domestic buyer sentiment,’ said Lucian Cook, Savills UK head of residential research.

‘These results suggest that the spectre of interest rate rises, and in some parts of the market more constrained mortgage lending, is beginning to impact on buyer sentiment and constrain prices even in markets rich in equity,’ he explained.

‘We now expect values to plateau in locations that have seen the steepest price rises as buyers apply the brakes on further increases for a period,’ he added.

The report also says most established core prime central locations such as Mayfair, Knightsbridge, Belgravia and Chelsea, where average values are in the £2,100 to £2,400 per square foot, have all recorded quarterly growth of no more than 1%, while in lower priced Marylebone, where prices average £1,600 per square foot, values rose 3.5% in the quarter.

The predominantly domestic markets of prime southwest London, which beat all other prime markets to rise 14% last year, have also slowed. In the face of buyer resistance to further price inflation and higher stock levels, year to date growth stands at just 4.4%, having slowed to just 0.4% in the past three months.

‘The prime London markets have all become more price sensitive. Around one in five properties within our index actually recorded small price falls over the last three months, with the falls concentrated amongst higher value properties,’ said Cook.

This pattern is most evident in prime central London where homes worth over £10 million fell by 1.5% in the second quarter of 2014. This means that London’s highest value homes have shown zero growth over the past year, albeit values…

Home prices in Spain fell 4% in May compared with a 10.4% drop recorded in May 2013, indicating that the market could be nearing the bottom.

The data from the leading valuations company Tinsa index also shows that this was the lowest annual drop in May since 2008.

The biggest price declines were on the Mediterranean coast, down 7.9%, but even that was the slowest drop since 2010. Madrid saw the smallest fall at 3.3% and other large cities also saw smaller than usual price declines.

Recently released figures from the National Institute of Statistics showed a 1.6% annual decline in prices recorded in the first quarter of the year compared to a 7.8% annual decline in the fourth quarter of 2014. On a quarterly basis prices fell 0.3% compared to a 1.3% drop in the fourth quarter.

The annual drop in new housing prices was 1.1% with second hand homes dropping in value 1.7%, both significant improvements over the previous quarter.

There was some regional variation. Madrid saw prices rise by 1.9%, the first increase in the capital since 2010. Prices on the Balearic Islands, including Ibiza and Mallorca, recorded an increase for the first time since 2008. The biggest increase was in Murcia, one of the area’s hardest hit by the market collapse.

Last week data released by Spain’s Development Ministry showed a 0.5% decrease in home prices in the first quarter, a 3.5% drop from the first quarter a year ago and the twenty second quarterly drop in a row.

And the latest property report from notaires talked about signs of stability with sales picking up in the first quarter of 2014 and prices up 1.6% compared to the previous quarter, although prices in March were still 4.8% below prices in March of 2013.

According to expert Mark Stucklin of Spanish Property Insight it is good news that the various indices are in agreement that the price declines are slowing and a sign that the bottom of the market is not far off.

‘Prices and sales are still struggling, but the declines have slowed and there are increasing signs of stabilisation. The similarity in the trends reported by the different agencies is worth noting,’ he said.

‘Typically, Spain’s different housing market barometers can be confusing, with each report posting radically different numbers. And the specific housing data is often impacted by several factors which have nothing to do with supply and demand. That’s certainly true over the last year, when changes in tax laws help boost sales,’ he explained.

‘But the latest reports been remarkably consistent. The Tinsa data reflects the same distinct movements as the other reports released in recent days, suggesting that a real trend can be identified,’ he added.

The Bank of England has told mortgage lenders to limit the proportion of mortgages at loan to income multiples of 4.5 and above to no more than 15% of their new mortgages.

It has also said that lenders will be required to check their borrowers’ affordability against an assumed Bank rate 3% higher than at origination as a guard against a potential property bubble.

The announcement in its latest Financial Stability Report has been met with concerns that it will affect ordinary mortgagees rather than cash buyers, wealthy overseas buyers and buy to let landlords who are credited with pushing up home prices in London and the South East.

‘The recovery in the UK housing market has been associated with a marked rise in the share of mortgages extended at high loan to income multiples. At higher levels of indebtedness, households are more likely to encounter payment difficulties in the face of shocks to income and interest rates. This could pose direct risks to the resilience of the UK banking system, and indirect risks via its impact on economic stability,’ the report says.

‘While the Financial Policy Committee does not believe that household indebtedness poses an imminent threat to stability, it has agreed that it is prudent to insure against the risk of a marked loosening in underwriting standards and a further significant rise in the number of highly indebted households,’ it adds.

The FPC has recommended that when assessing affordability, mortgage lenders should apply an interest rate stress test that assesses whether borrowers could still afford their mortgages if, at any point over the first five years of the loan the Bank Rate were to be 3% higher than the prevailing rate at origination.

Council of Mortgage Lenders director general Paul Smee said that while the new affordability stress test will clearly ensure resilience to shocks, limiting the level of a lender’s lending to no more than 15% of new mortgages at 4.5 times income or above and none at all for Help to Buy guaranteed loans is likely to impact the London market. He pointed out that nationally, 9% of new loans are at 4.5 times income or more, but the figure is 19% in London.

‘It’s important not to confuse these measures, which are designed to ensure financial and economic stability, with wider housing policy, for which the Bank is not responsible. Additional housing supply to help correct the imbalance between supply and demand is the main way of relieving affordability pressure and household indebtedness attributable to mortgage borrowing over the long term,’ he added.

Peter Williams, executive director of the Intermediary Mortgage Lenders Association (IMLA), said that the mortgage market remains subdued by any historical yardstick and while the FPC is right to voice concerns at any emerging trends which could rock the foundations of financial stability, it would be wrong to assume that rising house prices automatically mean household debts careering out of control.

‘Sweeping caps on mortgage lending would be ill suited to…

The number of first time buyers in the UK grew 8% in April despite the introduction of new mortgage rules but the biggest barrier is still large deposits needed even with the Help to Buy schemes up and running.

On an annual basis the number of first time buyers has increased 47%, the latest First Time Buyer Opinion Barometer from Your Move and Reeds Rains, part of LSL Property Services, shows.

It says there is no doubt that the Help to Buy scheme has facilitated more high loan to value lending and first time buyer deposits fell 7.5% year on year to £24,618 in April. It was equivalent to a drop of over £2,000 from £26,623 in April 2013.

Indeed, one in 10 first time buyers say the financial assistance of government schemes such as Help to Buy enabled them to get their foot on the property ladder.

But the research shows that while 94% of tenants registered with Your Move and Reeds Rains wanted to become home owners only 22% are expecting to be able to by the end of 2014. Some 34% believe they will be able to buy within the next five years while 27% believe they will buy at some point in the future, but cannot pinpoint when.

However, the proportion of tenants who think they will never be able to afford to buy has risen to 14% in April 2014, up from 10% in February and lack of a cash deposit remains the biggest obstacle to home ownership with 44% of tenants reporting that saving a deposit was a factor prohibiting them from buying.

‘The tightening of mortgage criteria hasn’t dampened the appetite for first time buyer property. Many more new buyers are making the jump onto the property ladder, while deposit requirements and mortgage rates remain relatively low. Many buyers are locking into fixed rate deals that promise low repayments for the next few years, offers that may not be around much longer,’ said David Newnes, director of estate agents Your Move and Reeds Rains.

But he pointed out that first time buyers in London are feeling the brunt of the impact of the Mortgage Market Review and the tighter lending criteria. Nearly a third of first time buyers in London say they have found it more difficult to get a mortgage since the MMR regulations came into force.

The research also shows that in April, the average first time buyer was 30 years old and earning an annual salary of £36,276. Higher house prices in the capital were reflected in the salary of buyers in London, with the average first time buyer earning an annual salary of £41,667. First time buyers in London paid an average of £293,671 per property in the three months to April, far and away more than all other regions of the UK, including the South East at £195,185.

Northern Ireland was the cheapest region for first timers, with an average purchase price of £85,772. Yorkshire…

As many as 3.2 million home owners in the UK are planning to rent out parts of their property or their whole property as a short term let, or take part in a house swap during the next 12 months.

According to new analysis by Direct Line insurance of home owners already taking part in short term lets some 63% swap houses and 69% rent out their whole property.

More than half, 58%, already rent out a room in their property on a short term basis, as they seek to earn extra cash and holiday makers look for alternatives to traditional accommodation choices.

On average, home owners expect to receive approximately £54 per room per night in rental income. During a week’s holiday this could amount to around £758 for an owner of a two bedroom property.

Under plans to remove a 40 year old rule that prevents Londoners from renting out their homes on a short term basis, something which doesn’t apply elsewhere in the country, the Deregulation Bill will give home owners in the capital the freedom to rent out their homes on a temporary basis without having to pay for a council permit.

Current laws state that private home owners in the capital must apply for planning permission if they wish to rent out their home for less than three months.

The research found that London home owners expect to receive the highest rental income, with an average of £116 per room per night, which could earn two bedroomed property owners some £1,629 over seven nights as savvy home owners seek to capitalise on sporting events like Wimbledon in the capital.

At the other end of the spectrum, Scottish based home owners expect to receive the lowest, at £31 per room per night. However, this could still earn owners of two bedroomed properties around £435 over the course of a week, which Glasgow based home owners may wish to take advantage of during the Commonwealth Games which get underway next month.

Although renting out a property on a short term basis can create welcome additional income, Direct Line warns that home owners should be aware of the risks involved, as only 29% of UK home owners who have rented out their property for a short period report never having incurred any damage.

Property damage can be expensive, with the average bill to repair or replace items reported as £326 while 20% faced costs of over £500 following renting out their property short term and 14% paid out over £1,000.

Of home owners who have rented out for a short period 29% said they have experienced damage to furniture, 27% damage to soft furnishings, 26% to windows, doors and walls, 16% to electrical items and 14% damage to white goods. One in four of these respondents reported theft of items from the house and home emergency damage, such as plumbing, heating or drainage in 23% of cases.

‘Short term lets can be a fantastic…

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