- The document summarizes recent news and developments in the UK and Asia Pacific property markets. - It reports that UK property prices have grown three times faster than salaries over the past decade, putting homeownership out of reach for many. However, new home sales and prices in the UK have increased despite the slow housing market. - Commercial property investment volumes in Asia Pacific increased 26% year-over-year in Q2 2012, though leasing activity declined, suggesting the region is not completely immune from economic uncertainties.

1. The Brief.
01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 >
Property Investment News that matters
EDITION FOUR

2. 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13
I’m happy to report that our first
one2one event, held last weekend
in Elstree, London, was well received by
nearly all who attended. We have certainly
come away with valuable insight into what
makes our Members tick, and this will all
be incorporated into improving the service
we provide.
Naturally, there were areas that can and will
be improved for future events, and we’ve
found your feedback most useful. For those
unable to make it to London, please keep
your eyes open for forthcoming events to
be held around the UK. We look forward to
meeting more of you in person!
Contents
02 contents
Welcome from our International Sales Manager
03 WORK-LIFE IMBALANCE
UK property price growth outstrips salary rises
04 FULL OF EASTERN PROMISE
Strong investment in Asia Pacific’s commercial
property market in H2
06 GOING GOING GONE!
UK property auction sales take a hammering
07 AGAINST ALL ODDS
New homes market in the UK overcomes adverse
conditions to post price gains
09 ON THE FIDDLE
Fraudulent mortgage applications soar in the UK
10 a CLEAN SLATE
Transparency in global property markets rises
12 one2one – London Elstree, Sept 15-16
Thank you for helping make it a success!
13 SPREAD THE WORD
Share The Brief with others or help us improve it
Mike O’Riordan
International
Sales Manager
The Brief.

3. 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13
UK property price growth outstrips salary rises
Work-life imbalance
The cost of buying a home in England has
increased by more than three times the
rate of the average salary in the space
of a decade, research by the National
Housing Federation (NHF) reveals.
According to the NHF, the typical price
of a residential property in 2001 was
£121,769, while the average salary
was £16,557. A decade later and the
price of a property increased by 94%
to £236,518, compared to 29% wage
growth to £21,330 over the same period.
The widening gap between residential
property prices and wages has made
it significantly more difficult for many
aspiring homebuyers to gain a foot
on the housing ladder, forcing a high
proportion of would-be first-time buyers
into rental accommodation instead,
pushing rental values higher in
the process.
The latest data from lettings network
LSL Property Services shows that
average rents reached an all-time high
average of £725 per month in July in
England and Wales.
In 2001, the ratio between the average
residential property price and salary
was 7.4 across England, but by 2011
that had risen to 11.1, the study said.
David Orr, chief executive of the NHF,
said: “These shocking figures show
that it is getting increasingly harder for
millions of people to buy a home of
their own in the current climate.
“With the gap between income and
house prices growing ever wider, people
can often feel like they have to win
the lottery to be able to buy in their
local area. Unless we start building more
homes people can truly afford to match
the demand, this will only get worse.”
The Brief.

4. 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13
Despite uncertainties in the global economy, the Asia Pacific property market remains
largely resilient due to strong investment volumes, according to Jones Lang LaSalle’s
(JLL) latest Asia Pacific Property Digest (APPD) for Q2 2012.
However, despite high investor appetite, the slowdown in leasing activity suggests
that the region “is not completely immune”.
The Brief.
Strong investment in
Asia Pacific’s commercial
property market in H2
Full of
Eastern
Promise
The Brief.

5. 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13
The strong direct commercial property investment market in the second quarter (Q2) of
this year was reflected by a 26% year-on-year rise in volumes to around £16.3 billion.
As stronger investment volumes came in, capital values also increased across most
major markets.
On the contrary, office leasing activity fell by approximately 10% in Q2 this year
compared to the same period last year, mainly due to “corporate caution and the flow-
on effects of on-going economic uncertainty”.
Dr Jane Murray, head of research at JLL Asia Pacific said: “The Asia Pacific property
markets are holding up relatively well given the global economic backdrop. Leasing
activity levels should continue to trend moderately lower than last year’s record levels,
while we expect investors will continue to search out opportunities, particularly in
prime locations.”
Moving forward, JLL generally expects capital values and rents to increase in most Asian
markets, albeit at a slower rate compared to 2011.
Jeremy Sheldon, managing director for Markets Asia Pacific at JLL, commented: “There
has been a decline in the established financial markets, however we are seeing strong
demand in key South East Asian markets, and certain cities in China. While this pattern
is likely to continue through the remainder of the year, we are optimistic that leasing
will remain largely stable.”
We expect investors will continue to search out
opportunities, particularly in prime locations
The Brief.

6. 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13
UK property auction sales take a hammering
Going, going, gone…
The property auctions market took a
hammering in July, with the volume of
lots offered and sold falling year-on-year,
according to the latest figures from Essential
Information Group.
The auctions specialist said that the volume
of lots offered and lots sold fell by 6.3% and
6.8% respectively, whilst the total amount
of money raised by action companies across
the country dropped by close to 15% to
£373 million.
The fall in activity and amount raised from
property auction sales follow a prolonged
run of positive results in the UK property
auction market over the last 12-18 months,
partly reflecting growing appetite among
property investors seeking to secure high
yielding investments.
The decline in property auction sales is
owed mainly to the London 2012 Olympics,
with more prospective homebuyers opting
to stay home and watch the Games rather
than focus on buying property, according to
David Sandman, managing director at the
Essential Information Group.
Sandeman commented: “There are
a number of factors that could have
contributed to the downturn – not least the
amazing spectacle that was the London
2012 Olympics. As the country geared up to
what I’m sure you’ll agree was a fantastic
two weeks of sport and entertainment, it is
likely that buyers and sellers lessened their
involvement in the market. Elsewhere, the
challenging market conditions continue to
affect the entire property market.”
The Brief.

7. 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13
Against all odds
In spite of the recession and the general
slowdown in the residential property market,
new home sales have increased across much
of the UK pushing prices higher in the process.
The latest data compiled and released by new
homes portal, smartnewhomes.com, reveal
that the average price of a new home in the
UK appreciated by 1.4% in July to £235,579
compared to the previous month and 3.8%
in the last three months. Unsurprisingly, the
greatest price rise was recorded in the South
East of England.
New homes market in the UK overcomes
adverse conditions to post price gains
The Brief.

8. 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13
The rise in new home prices reflects a
general shortage of new homes in relation to
demand, while more homebuyers have been
taking advantage of incentives such
as NewBuy.
According to the Home Builders Federation,
approvals for just 24,872 new homes across
England were granted during the second
quarter of this year, marking a sharp decline
on the previous quarter when 36,761 new
homes were approved.
Planning permissions granted now will, in
the main, be built over the next three or
four years. At a time when fewer homes are
being built in England than at any time since
the 1920s - just over 100,000 new homes
a year compared to a projected household
requirement for 240,000, on top of the
historic shortfall - the figures reveal how the
current position is intensifying the country’s
housing crisis.
But while construction levels fall, demand is
growing, with over 1,300 buyers signing up
to the Government-backed NewBuy initiative
in the past six months. The scheme enables
homebuyers to purchase a brand new home
with as little as 5% deposit.
The NewBuy scheme is proving so popular
that the Scottish and Welsh governments are
developing their own versions. MI New Home
will launch shortly in Scotland, whilst HBF
is working with the Welsh Government to
develop a scheme following its commitment
to do so in a recent White Paper.
Various house builders have reported strong
profits in recent months, on the back of a
surge in new home sales and prices, further
reinforcing the fact that market conditions
in the new homes sector appears to be
rapidly improving.
Steven Lees, director of SmartNewHomes,
said: “Housebuilders have enjoyed an
unseasonal strength in buyer demand at the
start of the summer not seen for five years.
“The government has recognised that the
new homes market can play an important
part in pulling the UK out of recession and
has unveiled plans that include public
funding for new development and relaxing
social housing requirements to stimulate
construction that should make a further
contribution towards the three million new
homes it wants built by 2020. However,
mortgage availability remains the linchpin for
the industry and will ultimately determine
the role house builders can play.”
Market conditions in the new homes
sector appears to be rapidly improving
The Brief.

9. 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13
Fraudulent mortgage applications soar in the UK
The latest Fraud Index by Experian, the global information
services company, shows that a total of 39 in every
10,000 mortgage applications were identified as
fraudulent between April and June 2012, up from 32 in
during the same period in 2011.
Experian’s fraud analysis also revealed that the majority
of attacks on mortgage products continue to come from
first party fraudsters, individuals misrepresenting their
own circumstances. Almost a quarter (24%) of attempted
mortgage fraud was due to individuals hiding adverse
credit information and a further one in five (21%)
applicants providing misleading employment histories.
Nick Mothershaw, director of Identity Fraud Services
at Experian in the UK and Ireland, comments: “Over
the course of the last year, we have seen mortgages
continue to be targeted at a high rate, with more people
trying to misrepresent their personal, employment and
credit information on applications to get properties out
of their reach. At the same time, we have also seen an
increase in the number of properties where the use of
the property is misdeclared, such as applying for a regular
residential mortgage on a buy-to-let property.”
There was a staggering
23% increase in attempted
fraud rates in the mortgage
industry between April
and June 2012, it has
been revealed.
On the
Fiddle
The Brief.

10. 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13
A clean slateTransparency in global property markets rises
Recovering global property markets have prompted renewed
impetus to transparency improvements following a slowdown in
progress during the financial crisis in 2008 and 2009, according
to a biennial index produced by Jones Lang LaSalle and LaSalle
Investment Management.
The Brief.

11. Almost 90% of markets have registered advances in
property transparency during the past two years, driven
by improving market fundamentals data and performance
measurement, combined with better governance of listed
vehicles.
The 2012 Global Real Estate Transparency Index, a
proprietary Jones Lang LaSalle survey that calculates
transparency in 97 real estate markets worldwide by
weighting 83 different factors, provides investors and
corporate occupiers with data and analysis critical to
transacting, owning and operating in global markets.
The Index also assists governments and other industry
organisations interested in improving transparency.
The survey shows that the USA ranks as the world’s most
transparent property market this year, followed closely by
the UK and Australia.
Also in the ‘Highly Transparent’ category are the
Netherlands, New Zealand, Canada, France, Finland,
Sweden and Switzerland.
Among the leading improvers in the survey are the
MIST growth markets (Mexico, Indonesia, South Korea
and Turkey).
Regionally, Latin America has seen the strongest progress
in transparency, thanks particularly to improvements in
Brazil and Mexico.
“While the world economy is still in recovery, the 2012
Index reveals that real estate investors and corporate
occupiers are widening their activity across a broader
range of markets. This cross-border activity encourages
faster rates of transparency improvement in growth
and emerging economies as the markets open up
further to international competition and their real estate
sectors embrace global best practices,” said Jacques
Gordon, global head of strategy for LaSalle Investment
Management, the investment management arm
of Jones Lang LaSalle.
01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13
The USA ranks as the world’s most transparent property
market this year, followed closely by the UK and Australia
The Brief.

12. Thank you for helping make it a success!
The input and feedback we have received from many attendees has made
it clear that our live sessions are to become a permanent feature of
the service we provide.
We’ll be announcing new dates across the UK shortly; in the meantime,
here are just a few of the comments we have received…
15th 16th September,
London Elstree
01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13

13. 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09
Spread the word!Tell us what you think
We value your feedback
We appreciate your thoughts and
comments on The Brief
Follow us…
Keep up to date with everything
IPIN with your preferred Social
Network
Spread the word!
Let others know about The Brief and IPIN’s
Member Only products and resources
01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13
The Brief.