Australia:
House prices are likely to plummet in flood-hit Queensland communities, and some will be “unsellable” for more than a decade, a real estate agent says.
The news is also bad for tenants, with rents expected to soar in line with the surge in demand from displaced residents needing temporary homes.
The Real Estate Institute of Queensland (REIQ) has reviewed the way the property market behaved after the devastating 1974 floods, and the news for home owners after the latest disaster is not great.
“In 1974, across all of Brisbane there was some downward pressure on house prices,” REIQ managing director Dan Molloy said today. “It also coincided with a credit squeeze around that time.” But he added: “The market overall … had some level of recovery within 12 months.”
UK:
House prices in England and Wales fell in December, but fewer new houses coming on to the market helped the pace of decline to moderate for a second consecutive month, a survey indicated on Tuesday.
The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors’ seasonally adjusted house price balance nudged up to -39 from -44 in November, improving more than the consensus forecast of -42.
The index hit an 18-month low of -49 in October, though still well above levels of -80 that were common in the second half of 2008.
New buyer enquiries fell in December, but at a slower pace than November. New vendor instructions declined at a faster pace, however, with the net balance falling from -4 to -14, its lowest level since May 2009.
NZ:
December saw both residential property values and sales slide from November, though both market activity and median prices remained up on figures from earlier in the year, according to the Real Estate Institute (REINZ).
“December’s residential property sales volumes flagged a little relative to November,” said REINZ chief executive Helen O’Sullivan.
But while volumes have ebbed, December’s sales were higher than in the months of August to October of the same year. That’s relatively rare, as December volumes are usually lower than even the winter months, and bodes well for activity levels in the New Year.”
O’Sullivan said the decline in turnover has followed a fall in listings in December and in the number of houses on the market after good sales in November.
“December sales volumes are always subject to the timing and impact of the great New Zealand Christmas shut down and January’s figures will provide a better picture of market activity over summer,” she said.
“Anecdotally our members are reporting increased activity so it will be interesting to see how that translates into listings and sales.”
CANADA:
National resale real estate activity in Canada is continuing its return to normal levels, having risen in November 2010 for the fourth consecutive month, according to the latest figures from the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA)…
Seasonally adjusted national home sales activity via the Multiple Listing Service Systems of Canadian real estate Boards climbed 4.8% in November 2010 although this is still well short of record level activity for the month of November posted a year ago.
The national average price for homes sold in November 2010 was $344,268, up 2% from November 2009. Nearly two thirds of local markets recorded a year on year increase in average price. In recent months, the national average price has been influenced by rising prices but fewer sales in some of Canada’s priciest markets compared to one year ago.
‘Following the chilling lows at the onset of the recent recession and the dizzying heights during the subsequent recovery, the national housing market appears to be returning to some semblance of normalcy,’ said Klump.
‘Changes to mortgage regulations earlier this year were prudent and sufficient, striking the right balance between preventing speculative housing market activity and keeping homeownership affordability within reach for creditworthy home buyers. That’s a good thing, since housing activity helped support Canadian economic growth this year. Rising interest rates and weaker expected job growth are likely to contribute to softer prospects for housing market activity and average price growth next year, reflecting weakening economic growth prospects,’ he added.
Source: www.propertywire.com
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