Price of a student room rises 8.5% over the last year

       Average student flatshare rents exceed the maximum students are willing to pay in one in three university towns.

·      Price of a student room rises 8.5% over the last year with the average student rent now £357pcm.

·    Higher demand causes student rents to grow at fastest rate for three years as university applications rise to highest level since 2009.

·       A quarter of students have made cuts to their social life in order to afford their rent.

·       Landlords say supply and demand imbalance and cost of mortgages has driven rent rises.

Students in a third of the 25 largest university towns are in for a shock this semester as the amount of rent they are willing to pay is lower than the average on offer in their town, according to flatsharing website easyroommate.co.uk.

Research carried out by easyroommate.co.uk showed that the maximum amount of rent students are willing to pay each month stands at £411 on average, 15% higher than the average rent of £357pcm currently being charged by student landlords. However, on a regional basis, average rents in eight of the largest 25 student towns are higher than the maximum students are willing to pay

Value of English country estates rise at faster rate than prime London

During the past six months the total value of a typical English country estate increased by an average of 2.4% and has outperformed the growth recorded for country houses and prime central London residential for the year ending June 2013, according to Savills Estates Index. 

This leaves values at just -0.3% behind the peak recorded during 2008.

Crispin Holborow Savills Country department comments, “Estate values have for some time benefited from the substantial rise in farmland values.

"Our research shows that average prime arable values rose by 6% across Great Britain during the first half of 2013 to over £8,000 per acre. Ten years ago, the same land would have cost around £2,250 per acre.”

This is supported by the fact that for the first time since the downturn in 2008, a higher proportion of the whole estate value is tied up in the farmland and farm buildings (35.4%) than in the principal house (34.9%)
There is now clear evidence of the beginnings of a recovery in the other elements of value; estate cottage values improved by an average of 3.7% and marriage value or the premium attached to the assets whdoen all in one parcel, rose by 3.9% during the first half of this year.

Holborow added: “This continuing improvement in marriage value is perhaps the clearest indicator of an improving sentiment in the estates sector.

“Analysis of the viewings from the last three estate sales where Savills was involved shows interest in these rare and often trophy properties remains truly international with potential buyers coming from eight countries.

“The benefits of land ownership are now widely known. What will be interesting to follow is the performance of these Estates as the residential elements come back into their own. There could be some exciting growth potential,” he concludes.

Hometrack say demand for homes continues to grow

• Housing market activity has not registered the traditional seasonal downturn over August. 
• Demand continued to grow, up 1.1%, on the back of improving market sentiment. Over each of the last 3 years demand has fallen during the month of August.
• Supply remains constrained, growing by just 0.8% over the month. 
• Over the last 3 months much of the growth in supply has been located in the regions outside London and the South East.  
• Improving market conditions and firmer pricing levels in the Midlands and Northern regions are bringing more sellers into the market.
• Rising demand and sales agreed means that the recent momentum in house price growth has been maintained. 
• Average house prices grew by 0.4% over the month, following a 0.3% increase in July.
• The strongest market conditions are London and the South East where there is the greatest mis-match between supply and demand. 
• Prices in London and the South East grew at an above average rate of 0.9% and 0.5% respectively.
• Across other regions the overall trend in demand is upwards but supply is also rising and keeping price rises in check. 
• House prices grew across a third of the country in August – the highest coverage of price growth since May 2007.
• The net balance of supply and demand form the survey is a lead indicator of house price growth. The current balance points to continued house price increases in the months ahead.

UK house prices rise again in August - Nationwide

UK house prices continued to rise in August, increasing by 0.6% compared with July, the Nationwide said.

The building society said that property prices were up by 3.5% compared with a year earlier, although August 2012 was a slow month.

The average home was valued at £170,514, it said.

Greater consumer confidence, owing to more employment and signs of economic recovery, helped push up prices.

The building society's chief economist, Robert Gardner, added that greater availability of cheaper mortgages had also increased activity in the market.

The three-month on three-month comparison in prices, regarded as a less volatile measure of property prices, recorded a 1.4% rise.

This was the biggest increase since mid-2010, the Nationwide said.

Robert Gardner, Nationwide's chief economist, said: "A number of factors appear to be contributing to the recent upturn in house price growth. Consumer confidence has increased significantly in recent months, thanks to further modest gains in employment and signs that the UK economy is finally gathering momentum.

"An improvement in the availability and a reduction in the cost of credit, partly as a result of policy measures such as the Funding for Lending and Help to Buy schemes, is also enabling more people to take their first steps into the property market."

Largest number of first time buyers in Wales since 2007

More first-time buyers were advanced loans in the second quarter of 2013 in Wales than in any other single quarter since the end of 2007, data from the CML shows.

This positive growth saw house purchase loans in Wales up a third in the second quarter compared to the first quarter of 2013. 

First-time buyers

A total of 2,700 loans were advanced to first-time buyers in the second quarter of 2013 which was a significant increase on the 2,000 loans in the first quarter and up from 2,100 in the second quarter of 2012.

The average value of the loans also increased to £93,453 in the second quarter compared to £88,355 in the first quarter. This meant that there was a stronger growth in the total value of lending to first-time buyers in Wales which totaled £270m, an increase of 35% on the second quarter last year and 42% higher than the first quarter of 2013.

The typical deposit of first-time buyers in Wales remains at 15%, something that has not changed since the third quarter of 2011 and lower than the 20% typical deposit size seen on average throughout the UK

Home movers

Growth in lending to home movers was not as strong as first-time buyers although remains positive, 3,400 loans were advanced in Wales, worth £410m, which was an increase of 31% on the first quarter. However, this was actually a decrease of 3% compared to the second quarter of last year.

Lending for house purchase

Total house purchase lending - covering both first-time buyers and movers - in Wales have shown strong growth in comparison to the first quarter of 2013 and last year. Overall 6,100 house purchase loans were advanced in Wales in the second quarter which was an increase of 33% on the first quarter of 2013 and a 9% increase on quarter two last year. This total value of these loans amounted to £680m which was also up by 11% on the second quarter of 2012.