US existing home sales grow at fastest rate since before the financial crisis in 2007 July 22, 2015 Home resales in the US rose at their highest level for eight and a half years in June, giving a sign that demand is up, indicating a housing market recovery, which should help the economy. Sales increased 3.2 per cent to an annual rate of 5.49m houses from a downwardly revised 5.32m in May, the [...]
Bigger is better, property is still nine-tenths of the law and why the network effect creates billionaires: The seven secrets of spectacularly rich people July 22, 2015 In 1991 there were about 270 billionaires in the world. Today there are more than 1,800, and 290 were added to the rolls in the past year alone. In other words, more people became billionaires in the past year than the entire number of billionaires in 1991. A negative person might say that's further evidence [...]
Residential property investment is easier than ever thanks to the fintech sector July 22, 2015 For most of us, buying our own home is an important decision but how many of us truly consider residential property as an asset class for investment? UK residential property is a massive market valued at nearly £5 trillion however, the market is dominated by owner-occupiers, with just £1 trillion owned as an [...]
British home transactions jump in June July 21, 2015 THE HOUSING market picked up pace in June as both buyers and sellers returned to the market after shaking off uncertainty from the General Election. There were 104,590 residential property transactions in June, according to figures released yesterday by HMRC. It marks a 16-month high as well as a 4.7 per cent jump on May. [...]
City Moves for 22 July 2015 | Who’s switching jobs July 21, 2015 Mount Anvil The property developer has appointed Adam Leach as senior development manager in its acquisition team, focusing on land-buying in central London. He joins from Berkeley Homes, and has also held roles at Generator and JLL. Oppenheimer Europe The investment bank has announced the launch of a debt capital markets and syndication business, appointing [...]
UK house prices to outstrip wages this year due to “chronic lack of properties being put up for sale” July 20, 2015 A shortage of homes is set to ensure house prices rise faster than incomes this year, a think tank has warned today. The Centre for Economics and Business Research has revised its estimate for price growth in 2015 more than three times to 4.7 per cent, up from its initial forecast of 1.5 per cent [...]
Apax takes control of US-based insurance broker AssuredPartners July 20, 2015 Private equity group Apax has snapped up fast growing US insurance broker AssuredPartners. The broker, which was founded four years ago, was previously owned by buyout firm GTCR and is led by former Brown & Brown executive Jim Henderson. It is currently the sixth largest property and casualty broker in the US, and also has [...]
City Moves for 21 July 2015 | Who’s switching jobs July 20, 2015 Legal & General Property Richard Poyser has been appointed leasing manager at Legal & General Investment Management’s real assets division, and will be responsible for its Bracknell Town Centre development. He joins from Argent and has also worked at Hammerson. The Channel Managing Agency The Lloyd’s managing agency responsible for running The Channel Syndicate has [...]
Home extensions pile on the pounds to property values July 20, 2015 The alterations and extensions made to people's homes have added billions of pounds to property prices across Britain. Over the last 12 months, the work has added a combined £6.5bn to the value of homes, as nearly a quarter of a million owners made changes, adding around £30,000 per property on average. In London, where homeowners have [...]
London’s housing market hits consumer confidence July 19, 2015 London’s housing market is weighing on the minds of consumers, driving the steepest decline in consumer confidence for any major region of the UK last quarter, a poll shows. Consumer confidence in London and the south east fell by six points for the three month period ending June, making it the least optimistic region in [...]