Londoners selling up for new life in the country boosts Savills August 8, 2014 Londoners swapping life in the capital for a new home in the countryside helped boost sales volumes in the regions and lift profits at property group Savills. The company said a recovery in the markets outside of London helped lift sales volumes by 20 per cent in the first half of the year compared to [...]
Urban Exposure becomes latest company to drop plans to float August 5, 2014 RESIDENTIAL property lender Urban Exposure yesterday became the latest company to scrap plans to float, blaming London’s lacklustre IPO market. The investment firm, founded by former Deutsche Bank risk analyst Randeesh Sandhu, had planned to raise £500m to help fund the construction of more homes in London and the south east. However, in a statement [...]
Chinese services PMI at its lowest since records began August 5, 2014 The Chinese services purchasing managers' index came in at 50.0 for July, its lowest reading since data collation began in November 2005. According to research by HSBC and Markit, the sector was stagnant as a result of slowing market conditions in the property sector. Any reading above 50.0 indicates growth, and this is the first [...]
Lend Lease to build homes at dockyards site August 4, 2014 AUSTRALIAN property and industrials giant Lend Lease is to build 905 new homes in east London after agreeing to buy the former dockyards site in Deptford from City & Provincial Properties. Lend Lease has been ramping up its exposure to London’s housing market and began work last year on its £1.5bn regeneration of Elephant & [...]
UK rental prices: Is it time to stop buying? August 3, 2014 House prices have been on a surge in the last 12 months and despite a recent slowing of the market many first time buyers are finding themselves priced out of the market. The ONS released figures on rental prices this week that make for interesting reading and imply that an answer to high house prices could be [...]
Countrywide profits jump July 31, 2014 BRITAIN’S largest estate agency Countrywide yesterday hailed its strongest first-half results since just before the crisis in 2007, buoyed by growth in the UK’s housing market. Pre-tax profits rose by 200 per cent to £37m in the six months to 30 June compared with the same time last year after selling its stake in online [...]
Intu’s centres jump in value July 31, 2014 SHOPPING centre giant Intu posted a 7.6 per cent jump in the value of its properties in the first half of the year, increasing its net asset value per share to 372p. The owner of the Metrocentre and Merry Hill said the rise in NAV reflected a £573m valuation gain, as strong demand from investors [...]
London house prices up 25.8 per cent in a year: How do other UK regions compare? July 31, 2014 Yet another report, this time from Nationwide, has shown that London house prices have soared in the last twelve months. Growth is slowing, however, and the latest figures show that the average house price in the UK rose by just 0.1 per cent, below expectations of a 0.5 per cent increase and lower than the [...]
In graphs: UK house prices rise just 0.1 per cent in July July 31, 2014 First it was the Land Registry telling us and now it's Nationwide: the upward spiral of house prices is coming to an end, at least for now. The latest figures from Nationwide show that the average house price in the UK rose by just 0.1 per cent, below expectations of a 0.5 per cent increase [...]
Home hunters drive record traffic for property website Rightmove as UK recovery takes hold July 30, 2014 RIGHTMOVE said a record number of home hunters visiting its website helping to lift profits in the first half by 32 per cent to £58.8m. The number of enquiries from would-be homeowners jumped by 27 per cent to a record 22.3m in the six months to 30 June as the recovery in the property market [...]