Rents In London Have Bounced Back To Pre-Pandemic Levels
With demand on the up, the forecast is sunny for 2022’s rental market.
2 min
London rents have rebounded to pre-pandemic levels as the city gradually returns to business as usual and brings tenants with it, according to a report Monday from Benham and Reeves.
Current rental values in the capital are now 9.4% higher than they averaged during 2020, with the leafy fringes of the city recording the strongest performances, the lettings and estate agent said.
Rents are up 20.1% year on year in Kingston, 18.3% in Bexley and 15% in Newham. Only in the City of London, the capital’s historic financial district, have prices failed to recuperate, with rental values still down 11.4% annually.
But, “while a bounceback from pandemic decline is encouraging, the real positivity lies within the fact that the average London rent is now 5.7% higher than it was in 2019,” the report said.
“Demand for rental homes evaporated almost overnight during the pandemic causing a surplus of stock on the market while rental prices plummeted,” Marc von Grundherr, director of Benham and Reeves, said in the report. “But the London market is nothing but resilient and when the tide starts to turn, it turns very quickly indeed.”
Already in high demand—the number of homes the estate agency is seeing rent is up 67% year on year and up 22.7% versus pre-pandemic levels—rental properties are expected to be increasingly coveted as international tenants return.
As such, the outlook is sunny for the city’s rental market, and the agency expects rents to rise 5.5% next year.
“We can say with confidence that the London rental market decline is now firmly behind us,” Mr. von Grundherr said. “Any lower confidence forecasts of further price reductions can now be disregarded with yet further positive growth forecast for 2022.”
Reprinted by permission of Mansion Global. Copyright 2021 Dow Jones & Company. Inc. All Rights Reserved Worldwide. Original date of publication: November 1, 2021.
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Ray White’s chief economist outlines her predictions for housing market trends in 2024
2 min
Ray White’s chief economist, Nerida Conisbee says property price growth will continue next year and mortgage holders will need to “survive until 2025” amid expectations of higher interest rates for longer.
Ms Conisbee said strong population growth and a housing supply shortage combatted the impact of rising interest rates in 2023, leading to unusually strong price growth during a rate hiking cycle. The latest CoreLogic data shows home values have increased by more than 10 percent in the year to date in Sydney, Brisbane and Perth. Among the regional markets, price growth has been strongest in regional South Australia with 8.6 percent growth and regional Queensland at 6.9 percent growth.
“As interest rates head close to peak, it is expected that price growth will continue. At this point, housing supply remains extremely low and many people that would be new home buyers are being pushed into the established market,” Ms Conisbee said. “Big jumps in rents are pushing more first home buyers into the market and population growth is continuing to be strong.”
Ms Conisbee said interest rates will be higher for longer due to sticky inflation. “… we are unlikely to see a rate cut until late 2024 or early 2025. This means mortgage holders need to survive until 2025, paying far more on their home loans than they did two years ago.”
Buyers in coastal areas currently have a window of opportunity to take advantage of softer prices, Ms Conisbee said. “Look out for beach house bargains over summer but you need to move quick. In many beachside holiday destinations, we saw a sharp rise in properties for sale and a corresponding fall in prices. This was driven by many pandemic driven holiday home purchases coming back on to the market.”
3 key housing market trends for 2024
Here are three of Ms Conisbee’s predictions for the key housing market trends of 2024.
Luxury apartment market to soar
Ms Conisbee said the types of apartments being built have changed dramatically amid more people choosing to live in apartments longer-term and Australia’s ageing population downsizing. “Demand is increasing for much larger, higher quality, more expensive developments. This has resulted in the most expensive apartments in Australia seeing price increases more than double those of an average priced apartment. This year, fewer apartments being built, growing population and a desire to live in some of Australia’s most sought-after inner urban areas will lead to a boom in luxury apartment demand.”
Homes to become even greener
The rising costs of energy and the health impacts of heat are two new factors driving interest in green homes, Ms Conisbee said. “Having a greener home utilising solar and batteries makes it cheaper to run air conditioning, heaters and pool pumps. We are heading into a particularly hot summer and having homes that are difficult to cool down makes them far more dangerous for the elderly and very young.”
More people living alone
For some time now, long-term social changes such as delayed marriage and an ageing population have led to more people living alone. However, Ms Conisbee points out that the pandemic also showed that many people prefer to live alone for lifestyle reasons. “Shorter term, the pandemic has shown that given the chance, many people prefer to live alone with a record increase in single-person households during the time. This trend may influence housing preferences, with a potential rise in demand for smaller dwellings and properties catering to individuals rather than traditional family units.”
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