News
'Buoyant' buy-to-let market continues
Buy-t0-let 'grown 30-fold under Blair'
More Property Millionaires
According to Hamptons International the number of UK property millionaires has doubled in the last three years. 12% of homes sold in the first quarter of 2006 were over £1m compared to 21% sold so far in 2008.
A year-on-year comparison across the UK shows that the West Country saw the largest rise in the number of applicants wanting property over £lm this is 2.5 times more than applied in the first quarter of 2007. Somerset has noticeably had the largest rise in new millionaires.
Buy-to-let 'offers 13% returns'
The average total return for a buy-to-let investment property was 13 per cent during the past month, according to new figures.
According to the Birmingham Midshires Buy to Let Review, the figure was a slight increase from June 2006, during which returns stood at 11.9 per cent.
Regionally, buy-to-let returns were revealed to be highest in Northern Ireland, at 35.9 per cent, followed by Scotland and the south-east.
Investors in the east Midlands saw the lowest returns of any region, at 9.6 per cent.
Tim Crawford, group economist at Birmingham Midshires, said that the data reflects a "healthy" market, fuelled by rising rents.
"The fundamentals underpinning the buy-to-let sector remain sound," he explained.
"While house price growth in the sector is expected to be more subdued near term, reflecting the impact of higher interest rates, the potential for further increases in rents should encourage long-term investors."
The current housing climate, in which not enough properties are being built to address demand, could mean that these promising returns continue, he added.
A rise in immigration and a strong student population will also contribute to a good market for investors, he remarked.
Recently, sales director of Incito Property Investments Nick Hopkinson advised landlords to view their investment in the long-term.
Natwest doubles limit
Natwest will now allow buy to let investors to have ten properties in their portfolios.
The move was because of more demand from landlords and the latest statistics, which state 25% of landlords, intend to add more properties to their portfolios in the next five years.
Natwest’s are eager to grow within the buy to let market.
Landlord Prospects Good
Buy to let investors are very optimistic about their prospects in 2008
92% of professional landlords were very sure that 2008 would be a good year but landlords that have just one property were not so sure with only 56% agreeing.
It is considered that the North of England and Scotland will be the areas that will expand rapidly in net growth during the coming year.
Britons 'put their money in houses'
Britons are increasingly keeping their wealth in property rather than financial assets, a new report claims.
The study carried out by Datamonitor revealed that property now accounts for 55 per cent of wealth in the UK - a figure which could rise to 60 per cent by 2009.
In 1996 however, property made up 42 per cent of Britain's household wealth, while 58 per cent was covered by financial assets such as life assurances, pension funds, shares and savings.
People in the south-east hold the largest amount of equity in their homes on average, at £210,077, while those in the north-east, north-west and Scotland have the smallest amount of equity, the survey commissioned by Prudential revealed.
However, the north-east, Wales and Scotland have seen the highest rises in the equity held in homes between 2004 and 2006.
"It is interesting to see how important property has become in constituting our main source of financial wealth," said director for lifetime mortgages at Prudential Ali Crossley.
"House prices have risen significantly over the last 20 years and this is one of the reasons why we have seen such a shift in wealth components."
Nationwide figures put house prices 9.3 per cent higher in March than at the same time the year before.
Landlord Mortgages “We have seen reports that Buy To Let property investment will account for almost 40% of the UK housing stock. We believe the need for flexible living will contribute towards this substantial increase.”
Would-be investors 'missing out on buy-to-let'
Would-be buy-to-let investors are missing out on the opportunity to benefit from house price rises by concentrating on buying one property, it has been claimed.
A survey carried out for The Property Investment Market (TPIM), an online property exchange, found that 72 per cent of those questioned said that a lack of funds was their main reason for not going into buy-to-let.
The firm claimed that first-time buy-to-let investors were overestimating the amount of money they needed to start their portfolio by concentrating on buying just one property with a "sizable" deposit and mortgage.
Chief executive of TPIM Stephen Kenny stated that by spreading an investment across several properties in a wide area with other investors the risk was spread.
He commented: "Novice buy-to-let investors are losing out on their chance to capitalise on house price growth, for fear of taking on a huge financial commitment that will bring them years of hassles, potentially outweighing any gains."
The problems and effort involved in traditional buy-to-let, including upkeep of the property, funding unexpected problems, having void periods in letting and bad tenants, were also cited as hurdles for by more than half of respondents, with TPIM claiming that these could be sidestepped by spreading investments.
However, research from Paragon Mortgages found that 46 per cent of traditional buy-to-let landlords believe that achievable rent levels have increased over the last six months.
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