Tag: real estate articles 2018

Interest Rates Rise in the UK

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Given that mortgage rates are set to rise because of the rising interest rates, many buy-to-let investors will be having to pay more on their mortgages as lenders raise their rates to meet the Bank of England’s base rate.

It’s worth noting that although the Bank of England is raising their rates to 5%, mortgage lenders’ rates will be a lot higher than this. Especially with buy-to-let mortgages, rates are often a lot higher than standard residential mortgages due to the higher risk of them not being repaid.

Buy-to-let mortgage repayments cover the accrued interest of the mortgage, so monthly repayments will set to rise.

Because of this, buy-to-let mortgages are expected to become less popular with investors in the immediate future, as many will not want to deal with higher interest rates and would rather invest in property through other means.

If you’re interested in investing in buying to let property, however, don’t let this news deter you. There are alternatives to using a buy to let mortgage when purchasing buy to let property that actually comes with a lot of extra benefits for investors.

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Rising Mortgage Approvals a Sign of Positive Market Growth

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According to the most recent data released by the Bank of England, the number of mortgage approvals rose for the first time in six months between January and February of this year.

This period saw a rise from 39,647 to 43,563, following a sustained decline in the latter half of 2022. Although this signifies a gradual return to previous norms, February approvals remained a third lower than 12 months previous, so there is still quite a way to go to reach last year’s monthly average of 62,700.

Mortgage approval rates increased by a further 18% in March of this year to 52,000, which is good news for those seeking a loan who were previously struggling to get one.

This recent upward trend also appears to be aligning with UK house price forecastswhich predicts a return to growth by the beginning of next year in most areas.

As mortgages again become more accessible and the housing market begins to regain its strength, property investors should start to benefit from capital growth in a healthier and more stable market over the next few years.

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Analysis-Banking crisis scars struggling US real estate stocks

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By Lewis Krauskopf

NEW YORK (Reuters) – US real estate stocks are struggling this year after a rough 2022, as fears that banks will tighten lending standards pile pressure on a sector already hit by higher interest rates.

After slumping 28% last year, the S&P 500 real estate sector has gained about 1% in 2023, lagging an 8% rise for the overall S&P 500. Real estate is the only one of the 11 S&P 500 sectors to underperform the benchmark index in both 2022 and so far in 2023.

Driving this year’s struggles are fears that tumult in the banking sector following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank in March will make it more difficult for real estate companies to access debt, as banks become more stringent on lending. The real estate sector has slumped 2% since SVB’s troubles came to light on March 8, compared to a 4% rise for the S&P 500.

“There is nothing about the current banking situation … that made life easier for real estate companies,” said Peter Tuz, president of Chase Investment Counsel. Because banks have lost deposits, “they will be just more careful who they lend money to,” he said.

With the S&P

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Liverpool Has Been Voted One of The UK’s Top Student Cities

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Considering Liverpool is one of the biggest cities in the UK, prices for both rent and property are very affordable.

The average house price in Liverpool as of December 2022 was £183,512, over £100k below the national average of £295,000. This means Liverpool is one of the most affordable places to buy property in the country, making it an ideal place for student property where lower costs are key.

This affordability translates to the rental market as well. Home.co.uk reports that Liverpool has a median average rent of £745 per calendar month, again below the national average while still being high enough to offer investors attractive rental returns.

For both students and those investing in student property, this affordability is a key selling point for Liverpool. Students want cheaper rents so they don’t have to spend the majority of their student loans on accommodation, and investors want lower costs so they can have higher rental yields.

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Kenny Rogers’s Former Abode Is for Sale, a Richard Neutra Home Hits the Market, and More Real Estate News

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One Wall Street welcomes move-ins

The largest office-to-condo conversion in New York history is about to welcome its first residents, as Macklowe Properties unveiled residential interiors at One Wall Street last week, ahead of expected move-ins this month. The 50-story building began life in 1931 as the Irving Trust Company Headquarters, an Art Deco tower designed by skyscraper pioneer Ralph Walker.

Five years of renovations included completely gutting the building’s interior—removing the existing plumbing, stairs, and even the elevator shafts to open the floors up more for residential use. “The only thing remaining in the building was the exterior, which had been landmarked,” developer Harry Macklowe told Bloomberg.

The building has now been wholly reimagined as a 566-unit luxury condo with 100,000 square feet of amenities, including a tricked-out coworking space, a 75-foot glass-enclosed indoor pool, and a private dining room by AD100 2023 Hall of Fame designer Deborah Berke. New street-level retail includes a Whole Foods and a sprawling Life Time Fitness Resort. (The building’s iconic Red Room will soon play host to French department store Printemps.)

On Thursday, Macklowe and AD PRO Directory listee FrenchCalifornia unveiled One Wall Street’s latest model unit: Residence 3404, part of the

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Toronto Rental Market “A Perfect Storm”

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In a narrative that Torontonians know all too well, rents across the city are soaring. According to the latest national rent report from Rentals.ca, average rent in the city rose to a budget-bruising $2,763 in January, up 20.8% from the year prior. The Toronto rental market continues to be the second-priciest in the country.

Rental affordability challenges have also spilled out of the Toronto core. In fact, Rentals.ca found that some of the highest rents in the country are in mid-sized markets in the Greater Toronto Area, with average monthly rent in Vaughan, Oakville, Etobicoke, Mississauga, Brampton, and Burlington climbing past the $2,400 mark in January.

For renters in and around the city, there’s little reprieve in sight.

Homeownership Still “Out of Reach”

“It’s a perfect storm. I mean, you can’t point to just one thing,” says Karen Chapple, Director of the School of Cities at the University of Toronto. “But number one is the interest rate increases, and how that’s pushed homeowners into the rental market. Homeownership is out of reach for even more people right now.”

She adds, “Incomes have really hardly budged as housing prices have skyrocketed, so that’s a huge problem.”

Karen Chapple, Director of the
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Tucson real estate companies agreed to pay $375K in consumer fraud case

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Two Tucson real estate companies accused of consumer fraud agreed to pay $375,000 in restitution and fees, according to the Arizona Attorney General’s Office.

Of the accused in the 2021 case were companies Deed and Note Traders and 881Home as well as their manager, David Kinas, for hiding or misrepresenting the underlying mortgages for homes they were selling, ultimately trapping consumers into mortgages they never bargained for, according to a Thursday news release.

“David Kinas and his real estate companies sold the promise of home ownership with rent-to-own property sales to Arizona consumers, but the home-buyers instead received homes weighed down with the sellers’ own undisclosed mortgage debts,” Attorney General Kris Mayes said in the statement.

Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, seen here during her ceremonial inauguration Jan. 5, 2023, said David Kinas and his companies decided Arizona consumers, selling them properties with undisclosed mortgage debts.

According to the lawsuit, Kinas had also failed to pay some of the underlying mortgages, even having his companies foreclose on homes after they had already been sold to consumers.

In a breakdown of Kinas’ handling, the attorney general’s office said that consumers were sold homes through a rent-to-own arrangement with owner-provided financing or seller carry-back financing. Kinas’ companies would act as both the seller and the lender, rather than as a bank or other mortgage lender.

Furthermore, consumers weren’t given clear title to

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This city might have the strongest housing market in Canada

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While other centers are seeing steep declines, prices in this city are still rising

As much of Canada endures a housing correction, the market in Alberta, especially Calgary, is bucking the trend.
As much of Canada endures a housing correction, the market in Alberta, especially Calgary, is bucking the trend. Photo by Gavin Young/Postmedia

Good Morning!

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Slow sales, hard scrabble in Toronto real estate

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The Toronto Regional Real Estate Board tallied 75,140 sales through its Multiple Listing Service for all of 2022, 38.2 per cent below the 121,639 transactions seen in 2021.Mitch Fain/Mitch Fain

The real estate market in Toronto, Ottawa and many Ontario cities is off to a slow start in January with thin inventory, jittery buyers and Bay Street predicting another interest-rate hike.

John Lusink, president of Right at Home Realty Inc. and Property.ca, says the market is more balanced between buyers and sellers at the moment but also complicated and unpredictable.

“It’s going to be a tough year,” he says.

The executive says listings are typically low in the first half of January and this year is in line with the trend. In the second week of January, his firm’s inventory stood at 1,884 listings across its 14 offices.

That compares with only 1,100 at the start of January last year when “fear of missing out” among buyers saw properties snapped up quickly.

“We aren’t seeing a surge of inventory,” he says, adding that many of the listings he sees coming on now are properties that did not sell in the fall.

For all of 2022, the Toronto Regional Real

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go once. Go twice. Sold, by Phillip Hopper!

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Phillip Hopper, 33, executive vice president of real estate, Powell Auction and Realty

40 Under 40 Class of 2022 member Phillip Hopper, executive vice president at Real Estate Powell Auction & Realty.

40 Under 40 Class of 2022 member Phillip Hopper, executive vice president at Real Estate Powell Auction & Realty.

Phillip Hopper can create bidding wars with his auctioneering and his philanthropy, helping Powell Auction and Realty grow beyond its original asking price.

Since joining Powell after college, Hopper has made a name for himself over the past 10 years. He’s increased revenue, manages the company’s real estate work and has grown the company since becoming executive vice president of real estate.

He also has his hands in community work including a spot on the founding board of Safe Families for Children and as a member of the golf committee for the Emerald Youth Foundation.

When you reflect on your career so far, which achievement stands out the most?

When I first came to the Powell Auction, I was getting ready to graduate college with a degree in business administration and I was really interested in the auction industry. I cold called them out of the blue, and they didn’t know me from Adam. Thankfully, they gave me a shot, and what started out as basically a part-time,

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