Turkish residential sales and rents increase

Apartment prices in Riga rise

Australian land sales pick up but still below peak levels

UAE rental prices to bottom out in 2012

Turkish residential sales and rents increase

Sales transactions of residential property in Turkey increased by 0.89% during December 2011, according to recent data from the REIDIN Home Price Index.

The majority of regions in Turkey saw an increase, with prices up by 1.08% in Istanbul, 0.93% in Adana, 0.55% in Ankara, 1.27% in Antalya and 1.14% in Izmir, however prices fell by 0.11% in Bursa but remained steady in Kocaeli.

Rents meanwhile also increased across Turkey during December 2011 with a 0.7% improvement. In Istanbul itself rental prices went up by 1.09% followed by gains in most areas including a 1.54% increase in Adana, 1.69% in Antalya, 0.39% in Izmir and 0.45% in Kocaeli. Not everywhere saw a rise as Bursa again saw a decline at 0.65% whilst in Ankara prices remained constant.

Apartment prices in Riga rise

Apartment prices in Riga, Latvia increased by 0.9% in December 2011 due to growth in the pricing of new apartment projects in the City Center and Old Town according to Ober-Haus.

The average apartment price has also increased in the past 12 months to €969 per sqm, a 5.3% rise. However prices are still a long way below the peak of May 2007 as they have fallen by 58.3% since then.

Australian land sales pick up but still below peak levels

Land sales transactions in Australia increased by 1.3% during Q3 2011, however sales volumes remained 16.8% lower than the same quarter in 2010 according to the HIA-RP Data Residential Land Report provided by the Housing Industry Association.

Andrew Harvey, HIA Senior Economist, said: “It’s a long climb back, but at least we have now seen three consecutive quarters in which land sales volumes have increased, although there is no avoiding the fact that overall levels remain low. Having land sales still at less than half the September 2009 peak, speaks for itself in terms of how far the market has come.”

The weighted median land value in Australia grew by 0.5% in Q3 2011 making it 1.7% higher than Q3 2010. The median value for capital cities rose by 1% in quarter to AUS$213,718 which is 2.5% higher than a year earlier. The median value for Regional Australia fell by 0.7% in the quarter to $154,989, to be up by 0.2% on Q3 2010.

Cameron Kusher, RP Data’s senior research analyst, said: “Following the low point in sales activity in the December 2010 quarter there has been a noticeable improvement in the number of vacant land transactions. It is also important to remember that the improvement commenced at a time when many expected that official interest rates would climb higher. With successive 25 basis point cuts to interest rates in November and again in December 2011, we would expect that a steady improvement in sales activity which commenced in the December 2010 quarter is likely to continue and perhaps gather further pace. However, we believe the market still has a long way to go to return to healthy levels.

“Any improvement in land sales is an encouraging development for the housing construction industry while there are also positive flow-on affects. When people build a new home they typically purchase furniture and homeware, buy new electrical goods and spend money on hardware. Should the improvement in land sales continue it is likely to provide a much needed boost for retailers.”

UAE rental prices to bottom out in 2012

Despite rents for both villas and apartments in the UAE increasing during Q4 2011 by 11% and 3% respectively when compared to Q3 2011, it is expected that property rents will hit rock bottom in 2012 before an increase occurs in 2013, according to a report by Jones Lang LaSalle.

Alan Robertson, CEO, Jones Lang LaSalle MENA said, "2011 was a difficult year for real estate investors with most sectors of the market moving in the favour of tenants, with lower (sales) prices and rentals. While these trends appear likely to continue into 2012, the main trend for this year is likely to be an increasing polarisation within each sector of the market. As the performance of the best quality projects will improve, average prices are expected to decline further in 2012 within this increasingly two tier market.

“As we enter 2012, the real estate sector will inevitably be susceptible to any potential geo-political changes within the region, with the recent escalation of rhetoric between Iran and the West being the major cause of uncertainty. The worsening European debt crises and its impact on the global economy will be the other major external challenge to the UAE real estate market in 2012.”

In comparison with Q4 2010 rental prices for villas were up 16% however apartment rents were marginally down.

In Abu Dhabi however, rents are expected to continue to remain steady and are unlikely to see the gains that rents in Dubai have had, due to the 28,000 units currently scheduled for completion in 2012.

The report stated: “Due to the significant development pipeline, rents will continue to experience downward pressure. This will help decrease the rent premium that Abu Dhabi has maintained over Dubai to date.”