The most expensive suburbs were Langs Beach, Russell (pictured) and Mangawhai Heads.
Northland house prices are finally starting to catch up to the rest of the country, according to a new property report released this week.
The OneRoof Property Report highlighted a range of national property statistics, including the most expensive and cheapest suburbs, the best and worst-performing suburbs and overall latest suburb property values.
Despite a slow start, the report showed Northland was starting to show an upswing in property price growth, similar to what the rest of the country had been experiencing in the last quarter.
OneRoof editor Owen Vaughan said Northland had always had a tendency to lag behind other regions, but the market was on a trajectory heading towards positive growth.
“Northland has traditionally always been slower, but the pace of decline has now slowed considerably,” Vaughan said.
“In the last couple of weeks, Northland has started to feel the benefit the rest of the market has had due to a lack of stock, which is creating upward pressure on prices.
“It won’t be rampant growth like we saw during the boom, though, and that’s mainly because interest rates are still high, so will provide a natural curb in huge growth in values and prices.”
As of Monday morning, Northland’s property prices had risen to 1 per cent- a marked increase from -0.5 per cent on August 20.
According to the report, the top settled sales for 2023 (up until end of October 2023) were in the Far North, Whangārei and Kaipara, with the top house selling for $4.1 million in Russell in January.
The next most expensive was a property in Hihi/Mangōnui in March, which sold for $3.87m, followed by a property at One Tree Point which sold for $3.7m and a Mangawhai Heads property that went for $3.65m in January.
In terms of the most expensive suburbs, these were Langs Beach, Russell and Mangawhai Heads, with the average property values coming in at $2,167,000, $1,478,000 and $1,332,000 respectively.
On the other end of the spectrum, Northland’s cheapest suburbs were Kaikohe, with an average property value of $398,000, followed by Kaitāia at $440,000 and Kawakawa at $500,000.
Despite Mangawhai Heads and Russell achieving high property sales in 2023, they also came in as the region’s weakest-performing suburbs, dropping 7.20 per cent and 6 per cent respectively in the past three months.
Kawakawa also took a knock, sinking 4.20 per cent in house prices between August and October.
Three Whangārei suburbs proved to have the strongest house price growth in the last quarter, with a growth of 2.3 per cent in Morningside and Riverside and 2 per cent in Raumanga.
Valocity Global senior research analyst Wayne Shum confirmed the housing market in most places in New Zealand had now hit (or were close to) the bottom, including Northland.
He said while the region as a whole had dropped around $100,000 from its peak of $925,000 in April 2022, it was still out-performing its pre-Covid average price of $614,000 by more than $100,000 ($827,000).
“In Northland it really depends where you are, because places like Whangārei have their own market which is doing well,” Shum said.
“The Far North is also performing well, but places like Kaipara are still lagging behind.
“The National Government has promised the new highway which will go further north, so the Auckland demand for a bach in Mangawhai or those working in the North Shore commuting once a week to the office will be strong.”
In terms of first-home buyers, Shum said most first-home buyers were already in the market.
He said house price increases plus changes with the incoming Government could make things potentially more difficult.
“The National Government has said they will likely bring back some of their former investment policies, so once investors are back, the market will start to pick up,” Shum said.
“The key issues for Northland is that flooding is definitely still a concern for people, so while there is a sense of a fear of missing out, first-home buyers and buyers in general are being a bit more careful and doing more homework than before.”
Myjanne Jensen is a part-time reporter for the Northern Advocate. She was previously the editor of the Northland Age, joining NZME in 2021 after moving to the region from Australia.
Former office buildings and other commercial properties can be more easily converted to residential use under new initiatives the White House announced Friday.
The U.S. Housing and Urban Development Department and Department of Transportation are offering $45 billion in financing and will streamline the sale of unused, transit-owned properties to help increase the nation’s housing supply.
“We face a longstanding shortfall in affordable housing — one that has been growing for at least the last decade,” National Economic Council Director Lael Brainard said Thursday during a press briefing about the new White House commercial building conversion initiatives.
Following the pandemic, the Council of Economic Advisers said office vacancies hit a 30-year high, hollowing out urban downtowns and rural business districts, while affordable housing has simultaneously languished.
With costs for both owning and renting a place to live becoming harder to afford for more Americans, the White House announced revisions to two funding programs available through the Department of Transportation that will make over $35 billion available for transit-oriented development projects at below-market interest rates. The Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act and Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing programs can be used to finance commercial conversion projects for housing located near public transit.
“Many American cities and towns face a steep housing shortage, and families are struggling to afford housing and transportation,” U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said. “Often the consequences are people live impossibly far away from work so that they can be somewhere they can afford or live somewhere unaffordable so that they can be close enough to work.”
Many commercial buildings that are now sitting vacant are already oriented around public transit, Buttigieg said, “making them a good fit for our department to help support.”
As part of the White House Housing Supply Action Plan, the DOT will also streamline transit agencies’ ability to repurpose their properties for affordable housing projects near public transportation. Under the new rules, transit agencies will be able to transfer land to local governments, nonprofits or for-profit developers that build affordable housing on the properties.
The General Services Administration also announced a plan to work with the Office of Management and Budget to identify surplus federal properties that could be sold for residential development.
“HUD’s mission is to create strong, sustainable and inclusive communities and also quality affordable housing,” Department of Housing and Urban Development Deputy Secretary Adrianne Todman said.
The actions HUD, DOT and other federal agencies are taking to convert commercial properties to housing “supports our mission,” she added. “For a shortage of millions of homes nationwide, we need to utilize every resource at our disposal to increase housing supply, which in turn, given the high demand, will help with rent levels and purchase costs.”
As part of the White House initiative, Housing and Urban Development is revising its Community Development Block Grant fund, allocating $10 billion to acquire, rehabilitate and convert commercial properties for housing and mixed-use developments. HUD says states and localities will be able to access five times their annual block grant allocations in low-cost loan guarantees for commercial conversion projects. In addition, HUD’s $85 million Pathways to Removing Obstacles to Housing program will accept applications for so-called adaptive reuse.
The White House says six federal agencies now have 20 programs that can be used to support commercial property conversions to housing with low-interest loans, grants, loan guarantees and tax incentives. The Department of Energy, for example, is offering various tax credits and deductions for energy efficient systems as part of the Inflation Reduction Act.
If you’re looking to boost the value of your property, consider adding an extension or loft conversion, new research reveals.
The findings by Britain’s biggest building society suggested that an extension or loft conversion could add 25 per cent to the value of your property, while an extra bedroom could add 14 per cent.
An extra bathroom, meanwhile, could add 6 per cent to the value of the typical home in Britain while a 10 per cent increase in floor area could lead to a 5 per cent uplift in a property’s value, Nationwide said.
Nationwide used its own lending data to compare the price paid for a property against various characteristics of a home, including the type, age, number of bedrooms and bathrooms and floor area.
It also factored in Acorn data about the local neighbourhood that the property is in – based on its postcode.
This data was from an organisation called CACI, which divides Britain into 59 categories based on the type of people that live there.
This location data means, for example, that a property located in an area classified as housing ‘wealthy countryside commuters’ would attract a considerable premium relative to a similar property in say a ‘post-war estate’.
Nationwide used the combined data to reveal various price differences. For example, when estimating the value of an extra bedroom, it looked at the difference between a two-bedroom house with an average floor area and a three-bedroom house with an extra 13 square metres of floor space.
This is while keeping all other factors constant – such as the location of the property – allowing Nationwide to isolate the price impact.
Andrew Harvey, of Nationwide, explained: ‘The pandemic period was characterised by a ‘race for space’ as people re-examined their housing needs, although more recently there have been signs that some of these patterns may have unwound, at least partially.
‘Considering this, we’ve taken the opportunity to look at the factors that affect the value of homes, and the potential to add value.
‘Location remains key to house values, but other factors, such as the size of the property – including number of bedrooms -, are also important to homebuyers.
‘Home improvements that increase floor area, such as an extension or loft conversion, remain a compelling way to add value. Indeed, since we last looked at this back in 2016, the value added by such improvements appears to have increased.
‘Ultimately of course, the decision to invest in the home is an individual one, taking into account the costs and hassle involved, as well as potential benefits.
Amongst owner-occupiers considering moving, the most cited reason was for a larger house or flat
‘And, for some households, it’s a choice between move or improve. Amongst owner-occupiers considering moving, the most cited reason was for a larger house or flat.’
Nationwide suggested that having more useable space is generally thought to be consistent with better quality accommodation and people appear to be prepared to pay for it.
Homeowners that add a loft conversion or extension, incorporating a large double bedroom and bathroom, can add as much as 25% to the value of a three-bedroom, one-bathroom house[1]. This has increased from 22% in our 2016 research feature.
Mr Harvey added: ‘Our analysis suggests that, providing the room is useable, adding an extra bedroom can be a good way to increase the value of a property.
‘The table below shows the value added for different property types by increasing floor area to accommodate an extra bedroom.
‘The increase in home working means that some of these spare bedrooms are now more likely to be used as a home office or study.
‘Additionally, many householders buy properties they intend to grow into over time, as their families expand and, probably more significantly given demographic trends, people remain in properties after their children fly the nest.’
Mr Harvey went on to say that as well as extending a property, other ways of making it more attractive include making it more energy efficient.
The cost of living crisis means energy has become a key concern for households.
The Government aims to update as many homes as possible to energy efficiency rating ‘C’ by 2035 ‘where practical, cost effective and affordable’.
It also aims for all fuel poor households, and as many rented homes as possible, to reach the same standard by 2030.
Mr Harvey concluded: ‘During the past ten years energy efficiency has improved significantly due to the higher energy rating of newly-built properties and the improvements carried out on many existing homes, such as loft and cavity wall insulation.’
Nationwide’s analysis does not take into account gardens or features such as interior design, garden landscaping and fitted kitchens. It said such features may add value for some buyers, but not for others.
Catherine Merrett, of estate agency Antony Roberts, said: ‘Many people assume an extension or loft conversion will add value, outweighing the cost of the works but much depends on your location.
‘Check property portals for comparables of similar houses, those which are extended and unextended.
‘In high-value areas, adding lots of space will often also mean an uptick in value but it needs to be a high specification to achieve a premium price when considering resale.
‘The trick is to opt for a good quality specification but not go too high for your area; for example, avoid a Belgravia finish if you are going to get Twickenham prices.
‘With any extensive works, you need the help of a good architect, builder and possibly an interior designer.
‘Checking the planning portals to see what your neighbours have had planning permission for is also a good idea. Unfortunately, the cost of building work and materials’ have increased substantially in the past couple of years so this must be factored in.’
Hotels are becoming more popular for housing conversions, according to a new study from RentCafe.com.
They made up almost a third of commercial space retrofits in 2022, marking a five-year high, according to the rental web site’s analysis of so-called adaptive reuse projects that can help meet the nation’s housing needs.
“The decline of previous hotel markets has emerged as a significant catalyst behind the current wave of hotel makeovers,” the report said. A drop in travel demand at the beginning of the pandemic led hotel owners in tourist cities like New York and San Francisco to sell to redevelopers.
Hotel property sales have increased for eight straight years, according to CoStar Group, and are excellent candidates for housing because they have individual bedrooms and bathrooms.
While office buildings were the most popular commercial space to be converted into apartments last year as workers continued to do their jobs from home, the pace at which they were retrofit declined compared with the previous two years, the study found.
Construction costs and regulations on residential construction are limiting office conversions to smaller, older properties with more easily adaptable floor plans, despite U.S. office vacancies hitting an all-time high this year.
Factories, healthcare buildings and warehouses rounded out the top five most popular commercial spaces for housing retrofits.
Los Angeles led the nation in commercial space-to-housing conversions last year. Of the 10,090 apartments converted from other uses in 2022, 1,292 were in LA. Kissimmee, Fla.; Alexandria, Va.; Baltimore, Md.; and St. Louis, Mo. rounded out the top five cities.
RentCafe projects LA will remain the leader in so-called adaptive reuse in the coming years as the city pushes to develop new housing and address an affordability crisis that has pushed many LA residents into homelessness.
New York, Chicago, Philadelphia and Cleveland, Ohio round out the top five cities for future adaptive reuse apartment conversions, according to RentCafe’s analysis of Yardi Matrix commercial real estate data. It projects more than 4,500 apartments will be converted in the near term from retail stores, offices and hotels as developers look for creative solutions to develop new affordable housing.
Northern Ireland is the only region in the UK where house prices are higher than they were a year ago, new analysis from Nationwide suggests.
The building society put the average house price in the north at £182,740 in the second quarter of 2023.
That was 0.7 per cent higher than the same quarter in 2022.
It left Northern Ireland as the outlier among the 13 regions analysed in the report, where house prices all decreased over the year.
Nationwide said on average, house prices in the UK were 3.1 per cent down compared to the second quarter of last year.
The building society uses a different methodology from the official government endorsed house price index for the north, produced by Land & Property Services (LPS) and the Northern Ireland Statistics & Research Agency (Nisra).
The latest quarterly LPS index, published last month, concluded that house prices in the north fell in both the final quarter of 2022 and the first quarter of 2023.
Read more:
It left the average price of a residential property here at £172,005 in the first quarter.
The official housing market data for the second quarter of 2023 won’t be published until the middle of August.
Nationwide’s analysis does suggest the housing market is nonetheless cooling here. The annual change in house prices recorded for the first quarter of the year was 1.3 per cent.
The building society has also forecast that the sharp rise in interest rates will increasingly impact the housing market in the coming months.
Robert Gardner, Nationwide’s chief economist said mortgage applications have not yet declined, with consumer sentiment still relatively strong.
But he said: “The sharp increase in borrowing costs is likely to exert a significant drag on housing market activity in the near term.”
A 10 per cent deposit on a typical first-time buyer home is equal to around 55 per cent of gross annual income, Nationwide said.
It added that, while this is down from the highs of 59 per cent prevailing in late 2022, it is marginally above the levels prevailing before the financial crisis struck in 2007/8.
Mr Gardner added: “Moreover, despite the higher interest rates available to savers, the sharp rise in rents, together with continued high rates of inflation more generally is continuing to make it difficult for many prospective buyers to save for a deposit.”
He said: “A combination of healthy rates of income growth and modest price declines should improve affordability over time, especially if mortgage rates moderate.”
Mr Gardner said that for people coming off two-year fixed-rate mortgage deals, a new two-year deal could equate to an increase of £385 per month for a typical borrower.
Those coming off five-year deals face an increase equating to around £315 per month for a typical mortgage borrower, he said.
He said lenders will work with borrowers to provide assistance wherever possible.
That puts average prices at £286,532.Kim Kinnaird, director of Halifax Mortgages, said: “Property prices have now fallen by about £3,000 over the last 12 months and are down around £7,500 from the peak in August. But prices are still £5,000 up since the end of last year, and £25,000 above the level of two years ago.
“As expected the brief upturn we saw in the housing market in the first quarter of this year has faded, with the impact of higher interest rates gradually feeding through to household budgets, and in particular those with fixed rate mortgage deals coming to an end.
“With consumer price inflation remaining stubbornly high, markets are pricing in several more rate rises that would take base rate above 5% for the first time since the start of 2008.
“Those expectations have led fixed mortgage rates to start rising again across the market.
“This will inevitably impact confidence in the housing market as both buyers and sellers adjust their expectations, and latest industry figures for both mortgage approvals and completed transactions show demand is cooling.”
Kinnaird said further downward pressure on house prices is still expected, adding: “One continued source of support to house prices is the labour market. While unemployment has recently ticked up from very low levels, brisk wage growth would over time help to improve housing affordability, if sustained.”
Nationwide’s House Price Index for May last week suggested average values fell 0.1% on a monthly basis and slipped 3.4% annually – the sharpest drop in 14 years.
Commenting on the data, Tom Bill, head of UK residential research at Knight Frank, said: “This is unlikely to be the last national house price index to fall into negative territory this year.
“Mortgage rates will keep edging up as wage growth keeps core inflation stubbornly high and we expect prices to fall by around 5% this year.
“However, this isn’t the global financial crisis part two for house prices and any decline will be kept in check by rising wages, low unemployment, cash sales, record-high levels of housing equity, longer mortgages and savings amassed during the pandemic. The UK housing market is coming back down to earth after a strong three years, not falling off a cliff.”
Jason Tebb, chief executive of OnTheMarket, added: “With the first annual decline in prices for over a decade, it is clear that the high cost of living, recent disappointing inflation news and the likelihood of further rate rises will impact what buyers are willing to pay for their next home.
“This news should be taken, however, in the context of the unprecedented post pandemic house price growth, fuelled by a lack of supply and pent up demand – property prices are still, on average, £25,000 above the level of 2 years ago.
“Despite recent mortgage volatility, there will always be buyers who need, or want, to move and are committed to doing so.
“The advice of an expert local estate agent is essential in making sure that property sellers are pricing realistically to ensure that their expectations on timeframes are met – pricing too optimistically could mean lower levels of buyer interest in this price-sensitive market.”
The RICS data shows that demand, agreed sales and short-term sales expectations remained negative, although less downbeat during the month, according to the report.
At the twelve-month time horizon, the sales expectations net balance stands at +2%, while new instructions rose by a net balance of +14% of survey participants during May.
This breaks a run of thirteen successive negative monthly readings and marks the strongest reading for the new listings metric since March 2021.
A net balance of -30% of respondents cited a further fall in national prices in May. Even so, this measure has turned less negative in each of the past three reports, having hit a recent low of -46% in February, the RICS said.
RICS senior economist Tarrant Parsons, said: “The latest RICS UK Residential Survey feedback indicates a modest recovery in the sales market activity during May, with generally less negativity compared to the end of 2022.
“However, it seems storm clouds are gathered, with the UK’s stubbornly high inflation likely undermining the recent improvement in activity by prompting the Bank of England to take further action through interest rate rises, leading to higher mortgage rates and ultimately reducing affordability and buyer demand.
“The banking sector appears to expect this with many banks and building societies already introducing products with higher interest rates.”
THE PRICES of old dwellings in housing companies continued to decline in Finland in March.
Statistics Finland on Wednesday published data indicating that the prices declined by 6.6 year-on-year in the large cities and by 4.2 per cent in other parts of the country, translating to a nationwide decline of 5.8 per cent.
Vantaa and Tampere recorded the most notable drops in house prices, 8.6 and 7.6 per cent, respectively. Prices in Turku, by contrast, fell the least, by only 2.4 per cent from the previous year.
Anu Rämö, a senior statistician at Statistics Finland, pointed out that the price development aligns with that witnessed in January and February: “Prices fell in all regions, more in large cities than other parts of the country,” she summarised in a press release.
Finnish real estate agencies brokered 29 per cent fewer sales in March 2023 than in March 2022, adding up to a drop of 33 per cent in brokered transactions for the period between January and March.
The prices of old dwellings fell by 5.8 per cent year-on-year in large cities and 4.8 per cent in other parts of the country in the three-month period. The development was driven particularly by the capital region, with the prices falling by 7.0 per cent in Vantaa, 6.2 per cent in Helsinki and 5.9 per cent in Espoo.
Rämö stated that one-room flats have been especially affected by the price development. In Helsinki, she highlighted, a studio in a block of flats costs presently about as much as it did four, to five years ago.
The sales of new dwellings in housing companies crashed by 71 per cent year-on-year between January and March. Their prices, however, decreased only moderately from the previous year, by 2.0 per cent.
The Bank of Finland reported that Finnish households drew down 1.2 billion euros worth of housing loans in March. While the total represents a drop of 690 million euros from the previous year, it was higher than in either January or February.
About 100 million euros of the loans were granted for investment purposes. The average interest rate on new housing loans crept up from the previous month to 3.9 per cent.
Juho Keskinen, an economist at the Mortgage Society of Finland (Hypo), described the mood in the real estate market as cautious and real estate sales as unusually sluggish.
“In January to March, sales were at their lowest level since the recession years of the 1990s, and the accelerating decline in prices is not over yet. Higher prices and interest rates are steering residents to cut back on their space needs because the square metres of your home cause a larger dent to your pocketbooks by largely defining interest costs and maintenance charges,” he commented.
Keskinen predicted that the market mood will not improve until interest rates level off toward the end of the year.
Aleksi Teivainen – HT
Robert Gardner, Nationwide’s chief economist, said average prices are now 4% below their August 2022 peak.
He added: “Recent Bank of England data suggests that housing market activity remained subdued in the opening months of 2023, with the number of mortgages approved for house purchase in February nearly 40% below the level prevailing a year ago, and around a third lower than pre-pandemic levels. However, in recent months industry data on mortgage applications point to signs of a pickup.
“This also chimes with the recent shifts in consumer sentiment. While confidence remains subdued by historic standards (as shown in the chart below), people’s views of their own financial position over the next twelve months, and general economic conditions in the year ahead, have both improved markedly in recent months. If inflation falls sharply in the second half of the year, as most analysts expect, this would likely further bolster sentiment, especially if labour market conditions remain strong.
“This, in turn, would also be likely to support a modest recovery in housing market activity.”
Gardner said any upturn is likely to remain “fairly pedestrian”, as it will take time for household finances to recover, since average earnings have been failing to keep pace with inflation, and by a wide margin over the last few years.
He added: “Mortgage interest rates are also likely to act as a headwind. While they are well below the highs seen in the wake of the mini-Budget last year, rates are still more than double the level prevailing a year ago.
“Nevertheless, if gains in nominal incomes remain solid, this, together with weak or declining house prices, will help improve housing affordability over time, especially if mortgage rates continue to trend lower.”
Commenting on the data, Tom Bill, head of UK residential research at Knight Frank, said: “The reverberations from the mini-Budget that shook the UK property market are fading.
“Price declines are bottoming out and many buyers have accepted the new normal for mortgage rates as stability returns to the lending market. Boosted by savings accumulated during the pandemic, record levels of housing equity and a strong jobs market, activity has been solid without being spectacular this year. Supply is rising, which will increase downwards pressure on prices but the market is returning to earth rather than falling off a cliff.
“Properties that tick all the right boxes will hold their value but some of the pandemic froth has disappeared so asking prices will come under pressure.
“After a General Election, successive lockdowns, a Stamp Duty holiday and the mini-Budget, the UK housing market should have its most predictable year since 2018. However, we don’t expect widespread standoffs over price because of lingering economic uncertainty and a growing realisation that next year’s election may shake things up again. Switched-on buyers and sellers are acting now while things are relatively uneventful.”
Nathan Emerson, chief executive of agency trade body Propertymark, added: “Our member agents are reporting transaction levels year on year to be stable as a stream of new properties enter the market with serious buyers still keen to move.
“Sellers are still in a strong position to sell; however, they can no longer test the market at higher prices and align with those achieved last year. Instead, they will need to reduce or be open to offers for a more realistic and efficient sale.”
Average UK house prices were hit by the largest annual decline since July 2009 last month.
Nationwide’s latest House Price Index suggests average values across the UK declined 3.1% annually and 0.8% on a monthly basis to £257,122.
All regions saw a slowing in price growth during the first quarter of the year, with most seeing small year-on-year falls and prices are now 4.6% below their August peak, Nationwide said.
Robert Gardner, Nationwide’s chief economist, added: “The housing market reached a turning point last year as a result of the financial market turbulence which followed the mini-Budget.
“Since then, activity has remained subdued – the number of mortgages approved for house purchase remained weak at 43,500 cases in February, almost 40% below the level prevailing a year ago.
“It will be hard for the market to regain much momentum in the near term since consumer confidence remains weak and household budgets remain under pressure from high inflation. Housing affordability also remains stretched, where mortgage rates remain well above the lows prevailing at this point last year.”
Commeting on the data, Iain McKenzie, chief executive of The Guild of Property Professionals, said homeowners may be worried but added that agents haven’t seen an “aggressive drop-off in transactions”, which he suggests shows the slowdown in prices has “hardly been the crash that was expected.”
McKenzie added: “Sellers are becoming more open to negotiating with buyers on the asking price and that has the potential to skew the data.
“While we are forecasting an overall decrease of around 8% this year, this would only bring house prices in line with levels back in 2021.
“Confidence is returning to the property market following the fallout of the mini-Budget last September and we should expect further improvements, so long as inflation is brought under control this year.
“First-time buyers are being reassured by lenders, as the number of mortgage approvals recently saw the first monthly increase since August last year.
“The high cost of living remains the greatest barrier to home ownership in this country. Inflation levels continue to squeeze households and prospective buyers will need to tighten their purse strings even tighter from next month, as government support on energy bills is withdrawn.”
Tom Bill, head of UK residential research at Knight Frank, added: “The reverberations from the mini-Budget that shook the UK housing market won’t disappear overnight.
“After effectively shutting down for Christmas in September, the property market turned back on in January as stability returned to Westminster and the mortgage market.
“Activity has been solid this year as buyers accept the new normal for mortgage rates. For anyone with memories that stretch further back than 2008, it looks very much like the old normal.
“That said, more financial pain will enter the system as owners move onto higher fixed-rate deals and combined with an increase in supply from the lows of the pandemic, we expect UK prices to fall by a few percent this year.”
The new chief executive at Rolls-Royce, Tufan Erginbilgic, has started to shake up top level management at the world-famous engineer he compared to a “burning platform” shortly after taking up the job.
BP executive Helen McCabe will join and become chief financial officer, replacing Panos Kakoullis, who will stay on at the Derby-based company in the role until the end of August at the earliest.
Insider Rob Watson will step up as president of Rolls-Royce’s civil aerospace division, with immediate effect. His predecessor, Chris Cholerton, will be group president, taking on responsibility for the company’s nuclear operations, including its small modular reactors (SMR )business and its submarines business. Tom Samson is leaving the SMR business “with immediate effect”.
Adam Riddle will head up Rolls’ North American business straight away, a role previously held by Tom Bell.
Erginbilgic said: “With the leadership changes announced today we are acting at pace and gaining the momentum we need to transform Rolls-Royce.”
Richard Branson’s Virgin Orbit is on the brink of collapse after the firm said it would let go of 85% of its staff after being unable to secure enough funding.
Nearly 700 employees are set to leave the firm, whose inaugural rocket launch attempt earlier in the year unexpectedly failed.
“We have no choice but to implement immediate, dramatic and extremely painful changes,” Virgin Orbit chief executive Dan Hart told employees, according to CNBC.
House prices fell by 3.1% in the year to March, the fastest rate of decline since July 2009, according to latest data from Nationwide. It was the ninth consecutive month of price drops, the building society said. London recorded a 1.4% fall to an average price of £511,293
A brighter picture for the UK economy in the final quarter of last year is helping the FTSE 100 head toward its fifth consecutive rise of the week, helping confidence flow back into the market.
Revised numbers from the Office for National Statistics show that the size of the economy grew by 0.1% quarter-on-quarter in the last three months of 2022, rather than holding steady.
The better showing in the updated data is the latest piece of good news for the UK economy, after the Bank of England and OBR both announced earlier this month that they no longer expect a recession this year.
According to opening calls for the stock market from spread betting firm CMC, the FTSE 100 will add 10 points in opening trade to 7,630, setting it on course for its fifth consecutive day of gains.
Get our latest downloads and information first. Complete the form below to subscribe to our weekly newsletter.