The Land Registry have just released their latest set of
figures for the Royal Tunbridge Wells Property market. It makes interesting
reading, as average property values in Royal Tunbridge Wells rose by 0.4% in
May. This leaves average property values 8.3% higher than 12 months ago,
meaning the annual rate of growth in the town fell to its lowest level since May
2014. When we compare Royal Tunbridge Wells against the regional picture, South
East property values rose by 0.9%, leaving them 9.1% higher than a year ago.
Obviously this is a far cry from the price rises we were
experiencing in Royal Tunbridge Wells throughout 2014. At one point (November
2014 to be exact) property values were rising by 11% a year. All the same, even
with the tempering of the Royal Tunbridge Wells property values in 2015,
property values are still higher. This is good news for local homeowners who
had been affected by the downturn after 2007 and still find themselves in
negative equity.
However, the thing that concerns me is that the average number
of properties changing hands (ie selling) has dropped substantially over the
last 12 months in the town. In Mar 2014, 118 properties sold in Royal Tunbridge
Wells but in March 2015, that figure dropped to 87. I have been in the Royal Tunbridge Wells
property market for quite a while now and the one thing I have noticed over the
last few years has been the subtle change in the traditional seasonality of the
Royal Tunbridge Wells property market. It has been particularly noticeable this
year in that the normal post Easter flood of properties coming onto the market was
not seen. This has made an imbalance between supply and demand, with less
houses coming onto the market there is simply not as much choice of properties
to buy in Royal Tunbridge Wells and with the population of Royal Tunbridge
Wells ever increasing, this will generally strengthen house price growth for
the foreseeable future.
So what does all this mean for Royal Tunbridge Wells
landlords or those considering dipping their toe into the buy to let market for
the first time? For many people, buy to
let looks a good investment, providing landlords with a decent income at a time
of low interest rates and stock market unpredictability.
However, if you are thinking
of investing in bricks and mortar in Royal Tunbridge Wells, it is important to
do things correctly. As an investment to provide you with income, for
those with enough savings to raise a big deposit, buy to let looks particularly
good, especially compared to low savings rates and stock market yo-yo’s. I must
also remind readers, landlords have two opportunities to make money from
property, not only is there the rent (income), but with the property market
bouncing back over the last few years, property value increases has spurred on
more investors to buy property in the hope of its value continuing to rise.
Savvy landlords with decent deposits can fix their mortgages
at just over 3% for five years, making many deals stack up. Nevertheless, low
rates cannot stay low forever, because one day they must rise and you need to
know your property can stand that test. I saw some Royal Tunbridge Wells
landlords struggling in the mid noughties, when interest rates rose from 3.5%
in July 2003 to 5.75% in July 2007. That might not sound a lot, but that was
the difference of making a £100 a month profit in 2003 to having to make up a
shortfall in the mortgage payments of £100 per month in 2007.
Its true many landlords were thrown a life raft when the
base rate dropped to 0.5% in March 2009. Whilst interest rates have remained
there since, mark my words, they will rise again in the future. However, even
with the potential for costs to rise, demand for decent rental properties remains
high as there are ever more tenants in the market, driving up demand and thus
rents. The British love of bricks and mortar plus improving mortgage deals also
add up to fuel the buoyant Royal Tunbridge Wells property market.
If you are planning on investing in the Royal Tunbridge
Wells property market, or just want to know more, things to consider for a
successful buy to let investment, one source of information is the Royal
Tunbridge Wells Property Blog
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