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London | ReNews International Desk News
The market for leasehold flats in England and Wales is facing a serious slowdown, with around 87 percent of properties listed for sale during the final quarter of 2025 still unsold six months later, according to data from property platform Zoopla.
The figure is the highest recorded in five years of comparable data and highlights the growing difficulty faced by owners trying to sell leasehold apartments.
Under the leasehold system, buyers own the flat for a specified period under a lease, while ownership of the land and, in many cases, the wider building remains with a freeholder. Buyers can therefore face additional costs such as service charges and ground rent as well as concerns over the remaining length of the lease.
Zoopla's research shows that leasehold flats are taking considerably longer to attract buyers than many houses. High asking prices, rising ownership costs and uncertainty surrounding leasehold terms are among the factors making potential buyers more cautious.
Service charges have become a particularly important issue. Zoopla has estimated that a typical leaseholder pays around £1,900 annually in service charges and £200 in ground rent, equivalent to a combined cost of roughly £2,100 a year.
London is particularly exposed because leasehold ownership is far more common in the capital. More than a third of London's homes are leasehold, while around 62 percent of flats in the capital were reported as leasehold.
Some London leaseholders also face much higher annual service charges. A London Assembly survey found a median service charge of around £3,912 a year among respondents, while about one in ten reported paying more than £7,000 annually.
Property market experts say there is also a mismatch between what many sellers expect to receive and what buyers are prepared or able to pay. Flats are commonly purchased by first-time buyers, who tend to have tighter budgets, while some sellers, including investors and landlords, may be reluctant to accept lower prices.
The prolonged slowdown is adding pressure for reform of England's leasehold system. Government reforms are already underway, while debate continues over wider use of commonhold ownership, under which apartment owners can hold ownership of their individual units together with a shared interest in communal parts of a building.
For the property market, however, the latest figures indicate that leasehold flats remain one of the weaker parts of the housing sector, particularly in London, where high property prices and additional ownership costs are making buyers increasingly cautious.=

A sustained recovery in the US housing market will depend heavily on mortgage rates easing, according to a survey of real estate agents who say high borrowing costs are discouraging both buyers and sellers.

The Real REMAX Group’s Agent Optimism Index, which measures agents’ 12-month outlook on a scale of 0 to 100, fell to 45.8 in September from 54.3 in August. The decline reflects growing concern that mortgage rates will remain too high to bring more buyers into the market. In the firm’s monthly survey, conducted from October 1 to 9 and released on October 30, 65% of 177 agents said 30-year mortgage rates would need to fall below 6% to meaningfully stimulate buyer demand. More than one-third, or 37%, said rates would need to drop below 5.5%.

High rates are already affecting housing activity. Two-thirds of respondents said buyers were pausing or delaying their home searches. Sellers are also holding back: 39% of agents reported that prospective sellers had postponed plans to list their homes.
Some sellers are responding to the slowdown by becoming more flexible on price and terms. Thirty-five per cent of agents said they had seen sellers reduce asking prices, while 34% reported sellers offering concessions to attract buyers.

The outlook for prices is also weakening. If mortgage rates remain around 7% next year, nearly 60% of survey respondents expect home prices to fall. About 33% anticipate a decline of more than 5%.
“Higher mortgage rates are putting renewed pressure on an already challenging housing market,” Real REMAX Group Chairman and CEO Tamir Poleg said in a statement accompanying the survey. Poleg said buyers had gained more negotiating power, but affordability remained a major barrier, prompting many to delay their searches. He added that a lasting recovery in housing activity would depend substantially on meaningful mortgage rate relief.

The survey’s findings echo Goldman Sachs’ outlook for the US housing market in 2027. The firm’s economists expect existing-home sales and new-home construction to decline. They forecast 3.9 million existing-home sales next year, alongside a modest 0.8% rise in home prices.

Goldman Sachs economists Ronnie Walker and David Mericle said that many homeowners who refinanced at low rates in 2020 and 2021 now face a significant financial cost if they move while current mortgage rates remain high.

Hong Kong’s luxury residential market recorded higher prices and a sharp increase in ultra-luxury transactions in the first nine months of 2026, with mainland Chinese buyers continuing to support demand, according to property consultancy CBRE.

Luxury home prices rose 5.3% year to date and stood 11.3% above the market trough recorded in March 2025. CBRE said the market remained resilient despite greater volatility and uncertainty over interest rates. Activity in the top end of the market accelerated. There were 197 transactions involving properties priced above HK$100 million between January and September, a 109.6% increase from the same period last year. The value of those deals rose 54.9% year on year to HK$28.2 billion.

Mainland Chinese buyers remained a major presence in Q3, accounting for 72% of luxury residential transactions in the primary market and 68% in the secondary market. CBRE said sustained mainland demand and the limited supply of prime residential properties continued to support prices.

Eddie Kwok, the firm’s executive director of valuation and advisory services in Hong Kong, said the luxury market had held up despite interest-rate uncertainty and tighter capital controls. Kwok added that high-net-worth buyers, particularly those from mainland China, continued to drive activity in the ultra-luxury segment, while restricted new supply helped underpin values in prime locations.

Saudi Arabia’s real estate market is drawing investment amid global geopolitical and economic uncertainty, supported by strong domestic demand and efforts to increase housing supply. The Ministry of Municipalities and Housing said more than 15,000 residential plots were made available through the Sakani platform between January and the end of October 2026, alongside projects launched by private developers.

Developer Arada has entered the Saudi market through a partnership with local company XTOPIA, backed by a SAR 50 billion ($13.3 billion) portfolio of land and development opportunities. Their first project is a SAR 14 billion residential development in Riyadh’s Al Rimal district. Separately, Riyadh Region Municipality, the ministry and the National Center for Privatization & PPP have opened the expression-of-interest, prequalification and proposal stages for a joint investment project involving municipal land in northern Riyadh. The 50-year private-sector partnership is the municipality’s first under this model.

More land could help ease price pressures over the medium term if plot locations and sizes match demand. It may also generate work for developers, contractors, engineering firms and building-material suppliers, while supporting homeownership and urban growth beyond major cities.

Real estate developer Ahmed Omar Basoudan told that increasing supply alone would not resolve the market’s challenges. Housing must also be affordable, appropriately located and well serviced, with infrastructure and construction costs kept under control. He said the latest land releases and private projects reflected continued efforts to balance supply and demand as the Kingdom’s population and cities grew.

New Zealand’s housing market stalled in October as uncertainty prompted some sellers to delay listing their properties.
The October market report said new residential listings rose seasonally during the month but were 4.5% lower than in October last year.

Meanwhile, total residential stock advertised on the site increased 11.4% year on year, reaching its highest level since 2014. The report also pointed to weaker auction activity. Just 22.1% of new listings in October were offered by auction, compared with 26.2% a year earlier.

Realestate.co.nz chief executive Sarah Wood said auctions often indicate vendor confidence because they require sellers to commit to a sale date. This October’s auction share was the lowest for the month in seven years, she said. The average asking price nationwide was NZ$840,380, down 2.7% from October 2025. In Auckland, the average fell 5.2% to NZ$984,527, marking the second consecutive month below NZ$1 million.

Some regions recorded steeper annual declines. Gisborne’s average asking price dropped 11% to NZ$691,149, while Hawke’s Bay fell 10.1% to NZ$715,918. Both areas had previously been among the country’s stronger-performing property markets. Wood said the decline in new listings suggested that sellers who were not under pressure to move might be waiting until after the election. She added that people often postpone major decisions such as buying or selling a home during uncertain periods, although waiting for the election may not ultimately affect the outcome.

Realestate.co.nz described the market as having entered a “holding pattern” weeks earlier, as buyers and sellers responded to uncertainty.

The Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) has signed a framework agreement with Homes England’s National Housing Bank (NHB) that could help unlock up to £500 million for housing and regeneration projects across the region.

The agreement creates a route for eligible projects to be considered for investment. Each proposal must align with the NHB’s mandate and will be assessed through the bank’s standard due diligence, governance and approval processes. The funding is therefore not guaranteed for any individual project.
The partnership follows the launch of the Greater Manchester Good Growth Fund last year. The fund aims to direct investment towards communities and places across the region through housing, town-centre regeneration, business growth and job creation. NHB chief executive Simon Century said the agreement combined national and local expertise with finance and regionally led ambitions. He said the bank would work with the mayor, regional leaders, partners and local communities to accelerate new homes and mixed-use regeneration schemes that respond to local needs.

Greater Manchester Mayor Bev Craig said the region had grown faster than anywhere else in the UK over the past decade, but the benefits had not reached every resident or place. She said the Good Growth Fund was established to help spread that growth across the region and prevent communities from being left behind.
Craig said the fund’s first year had supported visible progress, including new homes, town-centre improvements, new businesses and job creation. She added that Greater Manchester wanted to build on that work.
The National Housing Bank was unveiled in June 2025 and opened for business in March 2026. Homes England aims to deploy £16 billion through debt, equity and guarantees to support the development of 500,000 homes.

UK house prices fell at their fastest annual rate in three years in October, as higher borrowing costs and pressure on household finances made prospective buyers more cautious, according to data from mortgage lender Lloyds.

Prices were down 1.2% compared with October 2025, the steepest annual decline since October 2023. The fall was larger than every forecast in a Reuters poll of economists. On monthly basis, prices fell 0.6% in October, following a 0.1% decline in September. Economists had expected prices to rise by 0.1%.

Andrew Asaam, mortgages director at Lloyds, said housing demand was being tested by a difficult economic environment. Renewed inflationary pressures, partly linked to the conflict in the Middle East, were keeping borrowing costs high and tightening household budgets, he said.

UK mortgage rates have risen since the start of the US-Israeli war on Iran, as market borrowing costs for lenders increased and expectations grew that the Bank of England could raise interest rates further. On Thursday, November 5, the central bank raised rates for the first time in more than three years. Investors are also pricing in further increases during 2027. Asaam said he expected the housing market to remain subdued in the coming months, although he did not anticipate a sustained period of falling prices.

Emaar Properties plans to make a voluntary cash offer to acquire the shares in Emaar Development that it does not already own. The potential deal could be worth up to $3.43 billion, according to a company filing reported by Reuters.
Emaar Properties, developer of the Burj Khalifa, owns just over 79% of Emaar Development. It plans to offer 15 dirhams per share for the remaining stake. The proposed price values Emaar Development at about 60 billion dirhams, or $16.34 billion, based on LSEG data.

The offer price is above Emaar Development’s closing share price of 13.9 dirhams on Tuesday. The shares rose 5.3% to 14.64 dirhams by 0630 GMT on Wednesday, nearing the proposed offer price. The stock had fallen more than 8% so far this year. Emaar has not said whether it intends to delist Emaar Development from the Dubai Financial Market following the offer. The construction arm’s shares remain below their record high of 20 dirhams, reached in February before the regional conflict began.

The planned buyout comes amid continued uncertainty for Dubai’s real estate and hospitality sectors. Emaar founder and chair Mohamed Alabbar told Reuters in September that he expected Dubai property prices to fall by an average of 5% this year because of the conflict. He said sales were below pre-war levels but described the market as resilient. Dubai’s tourism activity has largely resumed following war-related disruptions, while the recovery in sectors such as hospitality could take longer. The number of real estate projects completed in Dubai rose 39% in the first half of 2026, the UAE state news agency reported, citing the Dubai Land Department.

The offer also follows a change in Emaar Properties’ shareholding. Dubai Holding, an investment group owned by Dubai’s ruler, became Emaar’s largest shareholder with about a 30% stake after the emirate’s wealth fund, ICD, transferred its entire holding to a Dubai Holding subsidiary. Jefferies analysts said on Tuesday that the transaction could increase Emaar Properties’ exposure to what they described as a premium, cash-rich asset that continues to yield more than 9%.

Qatar’s total real estate sales reached QR 1.5 billion during the 44th week of 2026, from October 25 to 31, according to the latest figures from the Real Estate Regulatory Authority, Aqarat. The value was up 70.3% from the previous week and 48.8% from the same period last year. The number of sales contracts, however, fell to 101, down 24.1% week on week and 22.3% year on year.

Apartment buildings led sales by value, accounting for QR 535.2 million, or 35.3% of the total. Sales of other properties stood at QR 525.1 million (34.6%), followed by villas at QR 330.1 million (21.7%) and residential complexes at QR 127.6 million (8.4%). Doha Municipality recorded the highest sales value at QR 1.136 billion, accounting for 78.8% of the total, according to the figures. Al Daayen recorded QR 235 million (16.3%), while Al Rayyan reported QR 70 million (4.9%).
The mortgage market recorded 11 contracts worth a combined QR 234.2 million.

Mortgage value fell 85.3% week on week and 29.8% year on year. The number of contracts declined 68.6% from the previous week and 50% from a year earlier. Vacant land accounted for QR 206 million, or 88% of total mortgage value. Mortgages on villas amounted to QR 18 million (7.7%), while those on apartment buildings stood at QR 10 million (4.3%). Al Rayyan Municipality led mortgage activity with QR 187 million, representing 84.6% of the total. Doha recorded QR 22 million (10%) and Al Wakrah QR 12 million (5.4%).
Aqarat registered 489 lease contracts during the week, with a combined value of QR 3.79 million. Rental value fell 46.3% week on week and 92% year on year, while the number of contracts declined 45.6% and 88.6%, respectively.
Villas accounted for the largest share of rental value at QR 1.61 million (42.5%), followed by apartments at QR 1.59 million (42%).

Commercial showrooms contributed QR 480,000 (12.7%), while other properties accounted for QR 110,000 (2.9%). Doha recorded QR 1.67 million in rental value, followed by Al Rayyan with QR 1.18 million and Al Wakrah with QR 530,000. The authorities put their respective shares at 49.4%, 34.9% and 15.7%.

Homeownership remains a goal for most US renters, but affordability is leaving many unsure they will ever be able to buy. In the October 2026 CNBC–SurveyMonkey quarterly money survey, 87% of renters said they want to own a home. Among them, 34% said they want to buy but believe they will never be able to afford it. Another 23% were certain they could buy someday, while 29% said they might be able to.

The survey found that 73% of Americans believe buying a home has become more difficult over the past five years. Respondents cited higher home prices, living costs that limit savings and rising mortgage rates as the main reasons. Among renters, 52% said they could not afford a down payment, 47% pointed to insufficient income or credit scores, and 42% said mortgage rates were too high.

The cost pressure is also reflected in housing budgets. One in four renters said they spend at least half of their pre-tax income on housing, compared with 14% of people paying a mortgage. Rent or mortgage payments were the single biggest financial stress for 64% of renters surveyed.

Rental demand has risen as some prospective buyers remain in the rental market. Zillow’s Observed Renter Demand Index increased 19.2% year over year in September. The typical US rent was $1,932 a month, up 2.7% from a year earlier, while Zillow’s estimated monthly payment for a typical new homebuyer reached $3,037, a 5% annual increase. The buyer estimate assumes a 10% down payment and a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, including principal, interest, taxes and insurance.

Demand for single-family rentals grew 21.6% over the year, more than twice the 10.1% increase for multifamily rentals, according to Zillow. The figures point to a growing gap between renters’ aspirations and the cost of buying: the survey found that most still hope to own, while down payments, mortgage qualification and borrowing costs remain major barriers.