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    <title>OPP Connect</title>  
    <description>View the latest OPP news entries below. For archived news reports and articles or to view all news items, please visit our website</description>  
    <link>http://www.opp-connect.com/</link>  
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              <title>England and Wales rent returns up in all regions</title>  
              <description><![CDATA[For the first time in two years, every region of England and Wales has seen a rise in annual residential property rent rises.

Average rents in England and Wales rose 0.2% in April and are now 3.9% higher than a year ago, while London rents hit a new record of £1,110 per month, up 7.6% on last year, &nbsp;according to the latest data from LSL Property Services.

On current trends, the average return per property over the next 12 months in England and Wales is £9,496 per property, the buy-to-let index shows.

The total annual return on a rental property rose 5.9% in April, totalling £9,679 on average, made up of rental income of £7,807 and a capital gain of £1,872.

Rents have risen 5% a year in Wales and 4.1% in the East Midlands. The South West, which was the only region to see annual falls in March, rose 0.5% in April.

Rent arrears are at £282million, down £2million from March, and equals 8.4% of total rent, says LSL Property Services, which owns the UK’s largest lettings agent network, including the Your Move and Reeds Rains chains.

Its Commercial Director David Brown says, “Rents everywhere are higher than a year ago at a time when pay has crept up at the slowest rate in years. But some regions are suffering even more than others.”

In the month to April, eight out of 10 regions saw rents rise, with the highest total of 0.6% in the East Midlands, followed by the North East and the South West at 0.5%. The biggest falls were in Wales (down 0.3%) and the North West (down 0.2%).

“Landlords across the UK have increased the stock of rental properties by around 10% since 2008 but the more fundamental squeeze is still coming from a lack of new building,” says Mr Brown.

“Further increases in the rental stock will be dependent on sustained improvements in the availability of finance for landlords. However, new buy-to-let lending dropped in the first quarter, just as purchase prices are starting to move up more steadily. Price rises can be a double-edged sword for renters and landlords, not just owner-occupiers,” explains Mr Brown.

“On the one hand, landlords have already responded to mounting demand, and capital accumulation has made up more of many landlords’ total return than rental income in some areas. However, if property is more expensive to buy then in the long run it will always be more expensive to live in. And that affects everyone.”

Schemes like Help to Buy will help first time buyers, but renting continues to prove more flexible than any other part of the housing market.

“Optimism is seeping in to the housing market, but from the top. For many tenants the monthly ebb and flow is still draining. Compared to inflation and expectations before the crisis, wages are still seriously under water; hence slower rent rises in April were a life raft for some.

“But for the tenants still struggling the most, it could be some time before their ship comes in,” he concludes.]]></description>  
              <link>http://www.opp-connect.com</link>  
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              <title>Shanghai among world’s top commercial cities</title>  
              <description><![CDATA[The city of Shanghai in China is among the world’s leading commercial property destinations, according to new research.

Shanghai has risen from the 19th best-performing city in the world to the sixth best during the year to March 2013, show Capital Flows research from global agents Jones Lang LaSalle.

Daniel Odette, Senior Analyst in Jones Lang LaSalle’s research team in Shanghai, says, “Taking into account just cross-border investment, excluding domestic deals, Shanghai’s performance in Quarter One was even more impressive, ranking fifth in the world and surpassing regional rivals Hong Kong and Singapore in total deal volume.

“Shanghai’s strength was underpinned by strong investment demand across Mainland China, which passed Australia and Hong Kong to become the sixth largest investment market in the world in the first quarter.”

At first glance, the flood of international capital into Shanghai seems to come at a strange time after a disappointing economic performance and a reduction in expansion by international businesses caused rental growth in Shanghai’s office and retail markets to slow, says Mr Odette.

Nevertheless, some of the largest and most respected global investors are increasingly favouring Shanghai as a destination for capital and some top private equity firms, including Blackstone and Carlyle, have recently made large purchases in Shanghai.

“My hunch is that most of these investors have looked beyond the short term negativity caused by a slowdown in the pace of China’s growth and are concentrating on the big picture.

“Right now, they have the opportunity to purchase property in the financial and economic centre of what is by far the fastest growing large economy in the world.

“Even if China’s economy slows from eight per cent growth to seven per cent growth in the next few years, seven per cent growth still beats prospects in Europe and North America by a wide margin.”

In addition, Shanghai prime office yields are higher than in New York, London, Tokyo, Paris, and Hong Kong, so investors can lock in strong returns while capitalising on future growth prospects, adds Mr Odette.

For more details, see: http://bit.ly/17FKBdz.]]></description>  
              <link>http://www.opp-connect.com</link>  
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              <title>China’s low-rent home subsidies set at 8billion yuan</title>  
              <description><![CDATA[The Chinese government is reserving more subsidies for low-rent homes, as separate data shows land prices are rocketing.

China's central government has allocated 8 billion yuan (US$1.3 billion) to support low-rent housing in 2013, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) announced Wednesday.

The allocation will be used to subsidise the rental, purchase or rebuilding of low-rent housing units, according to a report on the China Daily news website.

A total of 4.33 billion yuan (54.2%) went to the central region and 3.41 billion yuan (42.7%) went to the western region.

East China, the most developed region, received 253.35 million yuan, the China Daily reports in a separate story.

In 2010, the central government earmarked 80.2 billion yuan for the projects. In early 2011, China vowed to build 36 million affordable homes up until 2015.

At the same time, the average price of land bought by Chinese property developers rocketed 21.1% in the year to April 2013, new data from researchers E-house China R&amp;D Institute shows.

It marked the fastest growth in the past two years, as the supply of high-quality land in major cities promoted fierce competition, said Liu Weiwei, an analyst with E-house China.

The total area of land sold for property development fell 8.6% year-on-year from January to April.]]></description>  
              <link>http://www.opp-connect.com</link>  
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              <title>Face-to-face service vital in Singapore, says lead-generator</title>  
              <description><![CDATA[A top lead-generation company is expecting a huge response as it opens a new office in Singapore.

BuyAssociation says its new office, created through a joint venture, will allow Asian developers and agents to meet clients face-to-face at seminars and presentations.

The joint venture with Singapore-based Panashco Media will help overseas property developers and agents access buyers in key Asian markets.

BuyAssociation Chief Executive Caroline Roberts has told OPP Connect, “Developers and agents need solid leads. This is an essential service - and BuyAssociation has the pedigree in the market to help sell properties. The response is anticipated to be huge.

“The new partnership will cover South East Asia - beginning in Singapore and Hong Kong, with their cash-rich buyers, and then encompassing Indonesia, the world's 16th largest economy, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia and the newly liberated and booming property market in Burma.”

The Orchard Road office can host property investment seminars and events for up to 40 investors – and meetings clients personally is important in Asia.

“In key Asian cities such as Singapore and Hong Kong, the property markets are growing so fast that the local governments have introduced cooling measures. Some locals have been priced out their own markets and are now looking to other countries for their property investments, and we’re delighted to be teaming up with Panashco Media in order to gain access to this expanding market.

“Educating buyers about markets and meeting clients face-to-face is an important addition to the sales process. The more the agent can look the potential investor in the eye, the easier it can be for the sale to go smoothly - especially in Asia where people are rightly conscious of the principle of caveat emptor,” Ms Roberts explains.

Asian buyers are most interested in countries with solid capital growth and reasonable rental yields, coupled with proven legal systems plus stability. “Market security is a very important factor. The UK, Australia, USA and certain parts of Europe are perfect for them.”

The company is conscious that developers and agents need to sell their inventory rapidly - particularly with the stringent rules developers face for keeping empty units.

“BuyAssociation has created an award-winning platform for agents and developers helping them target key markets such as SE Asia, giving them unlimited marketing until a guaranteed volume of leads is delivered.

“The BuyAssociation difference is that we deliver strong leads and our clients return as they get what they are promised.

&nbsp;“The fact that we’re expanding our platform into new key global markets offers even greater scope to clients, giving them a cost-effective method of entering new growth markets which could otherwise prove very challenging.

Alexander Knight, Managing Director of Panashco Media, adds, “I’m delighted with the interest that we’re receiving about the new company. An estate agent's main focus is lead generation and BuyAssociation is the market leader in this field, generating first-class leads for agents and developers all over the world. European sellers, for example, are especially keen to attract Asian buyers and through our new joint-venture company, this is highly achievable.

“In this truly global marketplace, cross-border investments, and even cross-continent investments, are easier than ever before.&nbsp; And these options for foreign real-estate purchases are proving very lucrative, whether as holiday homes, student accommodation packages, or second homes.”

This is the second overseas office for the UK-based company, following its expansion into the Scandinavian market in 2012 through the joint-venture company BuyAssociation Nordic AB. It is currently looking into further expansion opportunities overseas.

BuyAssociation won the Gold award for Best Media at the 2012 Overseas Property Professional (OPP) Awards for Excellence in London.

For more details, see: www.buyassociationgroup.com.
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              <link>http://www.opp-connect.com</link>  
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              <title>Upswing for Australia’s skilled construction trades</title>  
              <description><![CDATA[There are slight signs of improvement in Australia’s residential construction industry.

The latest Housing Industry Association (HIA) Trades Report for the March 2013 quarter showed availability of skilled trades improved slightly from a low base.

HIA Economist, Diwa Hopkins, says “Skilled tradespeople continue to operate in weak conditions – residential construction experienced declining activity in 2012 and while there are signs of a recovery in 2013, it is from a very low starting point.”

HIA Executive Director, Industry Workforce Development, Liz Greenwood adds, “Policy decision-makers are still faced with the pressing need to address business certainty, for without that, building businesses will be reluctant to commit to taking on apprentices.

“One positive message from these figures is for those consumers considering a new home or renovating an existing one – make the most of the current window of opportunity while skilled trades people are in more favourable supply.”

The HIA Trade Availability Index eased slightly from +0.22 at the end of 2012 to +0.19 in the March quarter this year, showing trades were moderately oversupplied (readings greater than 0.0 indicate oversupply).&nbsp; It has been above 0.0 since March 2011.

The HIA Trades Report is a quarterly survey of builders and sub-contractors. It lists 13 trades, including bricklayers, plumbers, general building, carpentry, electrical and ceramic tiling, in Australia’s five largest states.

“An adequate provision of skilled labour will be a crucial ingredient to a recovery in new home building that is of the magnitude required by Australia’s longer term housing needs,” says Diwa Hopkins.

“A prolonged period of inadequate residential construction activity is not conducive to attracting new skilled labour into the industry, and this may undermine the longer term capacity of the industry to meet recovering demand. Improved support now for training will play an important role in mitigating this risk.”]]></description>  
              <link>http://www.opp-connect.com</link>  
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