Increase in numbers of new tenants
October 8th, 2010
A recent report issued by Countrywide Integrated Solutions, one of the country’s largest Letting agents, has shown that quarter three of this year saw a 19% rise in the number of new tenants looking for rental property. This means that in the three months leading up to October, over61000 new people have registered with them to enter the rental market. During 2010, the demand for residential rental properties has increased by over 40%.
It’s the old story of supply and demand, with mortgage criteria still very tight and with uncertainty in the employment market, more and more people are turning towards the rental sector rather than risking buying their own property. In the Midlands and the North, two bedroom houses are in the greatest demand with almost a quarter of potential tenants looking for this type of property. This means there are usually around 10 tenants applying for each rental as soon as itis advertised.
Some see the private rental market as the only option in the current economic climate, tough mortgage criteria and the Government’s cuts to the Social Housing Budget.
The high demand for rental property means that many landlords are able to maintain a god level of rental income whilst enjoying low mortgage interest payments and so maximising their return on investment.
The Impact of the end of the Stamp Duty holiday
April 2nd, 2010
The end of the Stamp duty holiday had a dramatic effect on the housing market as the Council of Mortgage Lenders reported 49% fewer house purchase mortgages were granted in January than in December. However the 32,000 loans granted was still an increase on the 23,000 for the same time last year. The biggest drop was in first time buyers where the number of loans dropped by 54% compared to the number of mortgages granted in December.
The end of the Stamp Duty Holiday saw an increase of 49% in mortgages granted in December followed by a 71% drop in January.
The Director General of the CML Michael Coogan said, “When the December and January data are taken together, they show little change in the underlying market conditions compared with recent months, with activity still slow but well up on the lows of a year earlier.”
Happy Investing!
Growing confidence in the housing market
January 14th, 2010
World Wide Property Group have release a survey showing the general public’s growing confidence in the housing market.
In November, just 57% thought that house prices would continue to grow in 2010. Asked the same question in December, a huge 68% responded positively with 1 in 5 of these expecting the rise to be as high as 10%.
Kevin Wilkes, Managing Director of the World Wide Property Group said “I it just goes to show that people are getting on with their lives and putting economic fears behind them.”
The survey also stated that 82% of those questioned were quoted as saying that property still offers the best investment potential of any investment.
Happy investing!
New Buy-to-Let Rates
January 13th, 2010
As predicted earlier in the week, at least 5 lenders in the Buy-to-Let market have now reduced the rates in their Buy-To-Let Range whilst also increasing the number of products they can offer their customers.
Ray Boulger from John Charcol, one of the countries leading Independent Mortgage Lenders has stated “Lenders are becoming more comfortable with the wider economy most noticeably the bounce in house prices and the expectation that interest rates will remain low or some time resulting in far less repossessions than initially expected.
Happy investing!
House prices had a mixed December
January 12th, 2010
House prices continued to rise in December but at a slower pace than in either October or November, the latest survey from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) has revealed.
House prices in the North and West Midlands dropped for the first time in 11 months with the East Midlands holding steady.
The survey showed the Christmas break had shown a slowing down of interest from potential buyers, but that they were still out numbering the potential sellers therefore overall we still saw a rise in the average house price to £200k+.
“It is likely that the new year will see more interest and activity in the market as those who held back start to market their property with renewed optimism,” said RICS spokesperson, Jeremy Leaf.
Happy investing!
Great Mortgage Deals Available
January 11th, 2010
The Nationwide has recently announced it has great deals on Fixed Rate mortgages starting at just 3.69% for a 2 year fixed deal. Their tracker rates start at just 2.94% on loans up to 70% loan to value.
Nationwide has made a number of cuts to its House Purchase and Re-mortgage range of products so I am sure it won’t be long before its buy-to-let range follows suit.
Many lenders have begun to increase the number of products they have available for personal borrowers after slashing the number of products earlier in 2009 and this again will help keep the interest rates down.
All this is excellent news for investors, as lower rates always mean a higher return on your investment
Happy investing!