8 elm condos.The real estate market in many countries has cooled down. From the United States and Canada in North America, to Italy and Britain in Europe, and then to Singapore in Asia, many countries and regions have shown signs of a slowdown in home sales and a decline in confidence.Please Visit: 8 elm condos to Get Your VVIP Registration Today!
House price growth in the United States slowed in 2018, after the price increase accumulated by rising house prices has exceeded income growth, weakening consumers’ ability to buy homes and dragging down confidence in buying homes. A survey released in January by Fannie Mae, a US mortgage lender, showed that the US home purchase confidence index fell 2.7 points month-on-month to 83.5 points in December 2018 due to rising mortgage rates and rising house prices.
In terms of sales figures, U. S. home sales fell to their lowest level in three years in December. Sales of existing homes in the US fell 6.4 per cent in December, taking into account seasonal factors, to an annualised 4.99 million units, the lowest since November 2015 and a year-on-year drop of 10.3 per cent, according to the National Association of Realtors. For the whole of 2018, home sales fell 3.1% to 5.34 million units, the lowest since 2015.
In Australia, Sydney and Melbourne, prices in the real estate market fell to new lows, bringing confidence in the Australian real estate market to rock bottom. House prices in Sydney are now 11.1% lower than at their peak in 2017, according to the data. A joint survey released this month by the Australian Real Estate Industry Association and ANZ Bank showed that the overall confidence index of the Australian real estate industry fell three points to 123 points in the first quarter of 2019, down 15.5 points from the same period last year and the lowest level since September 2013.
In Europe, the Italian property market has also performed poorly. Compared with real estate prices in other European countries, Italian house prices have clearly stagnated, falling 0.4% year-on-year, a more modest decline. Property prices in the rest of Europe rose by an average of 4.3% over the same period.
The uncertainty of Brexit has led to a decline in the willingness of housing transactions in the London area. The turnover rate in London fell 14 per cent year-on-year in 2018, according to LonRes. The contraction in housing transactions that began in London has gradually affected the periphery, and the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors’ outlook for British house prices has fallen to its lowest level since 1999.
In Asia, housing prices in Singapore fell for the first time in the past six quarters in the fourth quarter of 2018. According to data released by Singapore’s Urban Renewal Authority in early January, private housing prices in Singapore fell 0.1 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2018, while prices in prime urban areas fell 1.5 per cent.
Behind the cooling of the real estate market in many countries, there are some common factors, such as higher lending rates, tighter financing, and signs of economic slowdown.
Reuters reported that the adjustment in the US housing market was affected by higher mortgage rates and land and labour shortages, which led to tight real estate inventories and rising house prices. Although wages rose 3.2 per cent in December 2018, outpacing house prices for the first time since 2012, economists warned that tax reforms in the US at the end of 2017 reduced deductions for mortgage interest and real estate taxes. this reduces the attractiveness of home ownership. At one point, the 30-year fixed lending rate in the United States broke through 5% in October 2018, hitting an eight-year high, according to Mortgage News Daily, making borrowing costs much higher. The index fell in December 2018, from 4.85 per cent at the beginning of the month to 4.61 per cent at the end of the year, but remained high from a year earlier, which was detrimental to the expansion of the property market.
In Australia, Ken Morrison, chief executive of the Australian Real Estate Industry Association, said the real estate sector, a major driver of the Australian economy, was slowing due to tight financing channels and a poor outlook for the economy. Victoria and New South Wales saw the biggest declines in confidence, with expectations of debt financing availability falling 20 index points in the past 12 months, while expectations of housing capital growth fell to-23, the lowest level since the survey began in 2011, according to the survey. Respondents believe that the availability of financing will deteriorate further in the coming year.
The Canadian real estate market has risen sharply since the financial crisis, but it has also led to a sharp increase in real estate-related debt. Since 2008, Canada’s housing debt has risen from 150% of household income to 178% in 2018. The Bank of Canada has raised interest rates five times in the past 18 months, increasing financial pressure on highly indebted buyers, and new home sales are expected to be slower in 2019. At the same time, mortgage stress tests have reduced many residents to riskier private mortgage borrowers.