I keep an extensive blog which keeps people up to date with the latest trends in the UK. Today I uploaded articles from Nationwide with all the property indices for June and also the Rental Indices.
Go to www.ipsinvest.blogspot.com for all the information.
Here are two extracts:
Property Prices:
House price rises continued in June
House prices rose by 0.9% in June
Three month rate of change turns positive for first time since December 2007
Low supply supporting prices for now, but a sustained recovery still faces risks
Commenting on the figures Martin Gahbauer, Nationwide's Chief Economist, said:
“The price of a typical house rose by a seasonally adjusted 0.9% in June, building upon the improving trend seen over the last several months. At £156,442, the average house price across the UK was still 9.3% lower than a year ago, but this marks the first time since July 2008 that the year-on-year fall has been in single digits. The three month on three month rate of change – a smoother indicator of the short-term price trend – turned positive for the first time since December 2007 to stand at 0.9%, up from -0.4% in May. If the pattern of price movements seen in the first half of the year is repeated over the second half, then prices could show only a small single digit fall for 2009 as a whole. This would represent a stark shift from trends seen at the turn of the year, when most indicators were pointing to a repeat of the large declines seen in 2008.
Prices have stabilised despite very low house purchase activity
“House prices have now risen in three of the last four months, suggesting that the improvement that began to show up in March represents more than just statistical noise. What is unusual about the recent trend reversal, however, is that it has taken place against a background of transactions activity that is still very low by historical standards. Although it has risen from the all-time record low reached in November 2008, the industry-wide number of mortgages approved for house purchases is still 55% below its long-run average and 33% below the trough reached in the 1990s downturn. Normally, such a low level of house purchases would be associated with falling house prices. Alongside the low level of mortgage approvals, however, there continues to be a relentless drop in the stock of property available for sale, as potential sellers and builders have responded to depressed demand conditions by reducing the supply of property coming onto the market. As a result, prices have been able to stabilise even in the face of very low demand.
Rentals:
In June 2009, rents increased for the first time since August 2008, demonstrating further signs of recovery in the UK rental market.
Average asking rents have increased by 0.5% month-on-month to £823 pcm, but are still 5.3% lower than June 2008 when rents stood at £869 pcm.
Supply levels of rental property fell by 0.4% in June 2009.
This is the first time that supply has fallen in 18 months.
The average time a property is on the market now stands at 63 days, which is still 14 days longer than properties were available for in June 2008.
Asking rents in London remain volatile, declining 0.3% in June 2009 after a month-on-month increase of 0.4% in May 2009. The average rent in the Capital now stands at £1,625 pcm.
The majority of regions continue to suffer from both month-on-month and year-on-year declines in asking rents. However, the South East continued to show signs of recovery with asking rents rising by 0.2% in June 2009.
UK rental yield remained stable at 4.56% in June 2009, with average yields now standing at 4.33% for UK houses and 5.24% for UK flats.
Go to www.ipsinvest.blogspot.com for all the information and original documents.
