No. Of Cambridge Rental Properties Set To Rise To 14,800 By 2021

I was having an interesting chat the other day with a couple of solicitors at a Cambridge business networking event, when the subject of a lack of property for first time buyers came into the conversation.  I followed the chat up with an email with my findings, findings that I would like to share with you today.

At the time of the last census in 2011, 3,401,675 properties in England were privately rented, of which it is estimated,  over 1.25 million were owned by private landlords. The rapid growth of buy-to-let is hugely controversial, especially as only ten years before that, there were only 1,798,864 properties under private renting in England. Buy to let landlords have been held responsible for forcing up property prices and preventing our younger generations from being able to buy. There is also growing resentment toward the billions of pounds in tax relief (estimated to be nearly £10 billion) landlords claim on their mortgage interest -tax relief which is not available to homeowners.

They may be asset rich thanks to recently rising property values, but let us not make the landlords the bogiemen they could easily be. Despite all these benefits enjoyed by private landlords, let us not forget the good they have done, especially in Cambridge.

Property values today in Cambridge are still 4.5% below the 2007 property boom levels (2007 being the peak of last property boom before everything dropped in 2008/9), yet inflation has risen by 26% in the same time frame, so in real terms, properties today are 21.5% CHEAPER than they were in 2007. Just think how low they would be without landlords buying all those rental properties in the city. Interest rates are at an all time low and first time buyers only need to save a £8,000 deposit to secure a lovely 1 bed apartment in the Southeast Cambridge area  with a 95% mortgage. Forget what the papers say, first time buyers can borrow money relatively easily on a 95% mortgage and nine times out of ten, it’s cheaper to buy than rent. So why aren’t people buying?

The number of people choosing to rent, either for lifestyle or economic reasons, has grown over the last 15 years. I also believe they will continue to grow for some time to come (as does every report on the subject). In fact I would go as far to predict the number of rental properties in Cambridge will have risen from the 11,170 properties recorded in 2011 to 14,800 by 2021. Sounds fanciful? Well in 2001, there were only 7,295 privately rented properties in Cambridge.

It is a fact that we as a Country are more and more turning into a European model when it comes to homeownership, where the norm is renting for the first ten years, as opposed to the norm from the 1960’s to 1990’s, where first time buyers were encouraged to buy as soon as they got a job.

Tenants, in particular, will also feel the benefit from potential changes in the market. The likelihood of interest rate increases in late 2015, existing economic conditions, combined with the uncertainty of new Government manifestos following the General Election in May will result in low demand for people to buy yet also put a dampening effect on increases in rent. As long as landlords buy the right sort of property, that allows for a reasonable yield, decent capital growth, everyone will be a winner. If want a  chat about what would make the best sort  a property that would offer that in Cambridge, then please email me on cambridge@northwooduk.com 

  

 

Fully Refurbished 1 Bedroom Apartment

 

Offered for sale by our friends "my online estate agent" is this one bedroom apartment that is absolutely stunning inside. It is newly built and has been advertised for students as the location is absolutely on point ! so why not buy it and rent it to those students who want quality but don't have the deposit to buy? Achieving £1100 pcm if you move quickly and get it for the asking price that's a 7.3% yield, before you say it YES you do have lease charges but even after this you still have a great investment.

http://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/36303309

Cambridge Property Values .. the long climb back to 2007 values

 

 Some landlords have been speaking to me recently about stories in the press and their concerns about local property market. They have been concerned that property values seem rather high and were worried about paying too much for their next buy to let property. In the past few years, if you were going to be buying in Cambridge, it was vital to ensure you build in some capital growth by buying cheaply or finding a way to add value.

As my regular readers of the Cambridge Property Blog will note, the most important consideration you will make before investing in property is the balance between annual return/yield and the annual value increase/capital growth. However, what affects those two things (yield and capital growth) in Cambridge are very varied and complex. The quantity of property and whether property is owner occupied, social housing (posh words for council housing) or private renting has a big difference on yield and capital growth. Interestingly, property values in Cambridge have increased by an impressive 10.2% in the last 12 months.  So are properties too expensive?

Looking at the market and looking at every property sale in Cambridge that sold in 2007 and again in the last few months of 2014, property values are on average 29.5% higher today in Cambridge than they were in 2007 (the peak of last property boom), even more impressive when you consider they dropped by 19.4% in 2008/9. On the face of it, a 10.2% increase over the last 12 months in Cambridge property values is notable, especially as those same property values are 29.5% higher than the boom of 2007.  Surely this suggests properties are too expensive in Cambridge?

Well, the answer is both Yes and No.

Yes, the headline sales price that Cambridge property is currently selling for, is 29.5% higher than 2007, yet No, because these headline sales price figures don't take into account inflation. Since 2007, inflation has been around 26.2%. So instead of property values being 29.5% more expensive than the 2007 boom, they are in fact only 3.3% more expensive than the boom in real terms (29.5% house price growth less 26.2% inflation equates to the 3.3%). People think inflation is a bad thing, eating away at the real value of your savings. It can however, be advantageous to property investors. 

 My answer to landlords is get the best advice and opinion you can. Speak to me, speak to others, do your homework and drive a hard bargain when buying, thus ensuring when prices do start to rise again, you are in pole position.

 

 

 

Balsham Investment offering 5.5 % Yield !

A fantastic three bedroom semi detached property on Mays Ave has just came on with Kevin Henry. It is very spacious and you could literally move straight in. There is no chain and has utility room, downstairs toilet and enclosed rear garden. It will rent at £1300and even if you paid full asking price you would have a 5.5% yield, grab a bargain before its gone !!

http://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/36171430

Fen Ditton with a comfortable 5% Yield

 

 

 

A three bedroom character property is on the market with Leaders, it offers huge potential with three double bedrooms and two reception rooms you will not struggle to instantly rent this one. It is located on the outskirts of Fen Ditton and is on the market for £299,995. The rent should achieve £1300 a month giving a comfortable yield of 5%.

http://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/36223240

Auction Properties are worth a look.

 

 

I think nowadays people are under the impression that auction properties are not a great idea, because you could end up in a bidding war and potentially over pay for something, my opinion on it is KNOW YOUR LIMITS.

 

So set yourself a floor and ceiling price and see how it goes, after all what have you got to lose? Your ceiling price still delivers a yield you will be happy with and anything from the ground up is a bonus?

 

Check out the link below, this Studio Flat on Alpha Road is basic don't get me wrong but the location is absolute prime. Returning a yield of 4.7% at my realistic ceiling price within the auction and potential to rise to the sky dependant on how good at negotiating at auctions you are (or how much the other person is willing to pay of course)

 

The market is heating up now and we are going to have lots of deals becoming available so watch this space

 

http://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/36186939

 

 

 

 

 

The way it works is, you have to rent where you want to live, or buy where you don’t want to live

 

 

After the end of the Second World War, just over a Quarter of the UK population owned their own home, the rest rented from private landlords or the local Council. If someone told you in the 1970’s and 1980’s that they rented, they were considered a second class citizen. Everyone wanted to own their own home .. it was the done thing We think that home ownership will inevitably happen, but it won't.

It all changed in the 1970’s, when two things happened. Firstly, the number of people who owned their own home broke through the 50% barrier in 1971 and by 1981 it was at 57%. Tied in with that, the average house prices in Cambridge were doubling at one point every four years in the 1970’s so property and profit started to feed off each other.

 To put that growth in context, if we were to look at the last 85 years in Cambridge, in 1930, the average Cambridge property was worth £725. It took 16 years for Cambridge property values to double, rising to £1,792 by 1946. Another 15 years and the average Cambridge property doubled again to £3,402 in 1961. The next doubling only took 10 years, as by 1971, the average Cambridge property had reached £6,918 in value.

It was (as mentioned above) the 1970’s when things really took off, as by 1975 (ie only four years) they had doubled to £14,478 and they doubled again to £28,982 by 1980. It took another eight years for values to double again, as an average Cambridge property reached £60,622 in 1988. Twelve years had to pass until the doubled again in 2000 (£124,731) and just six years to double again by 2006, when they reached £251,567.  Where are we today? The average property value in Cambridge currently stands at £372,400

 We could blame Maggie Thatcher for making home ownership the ultimate goal, but what we now to need to consider that the country is turning on its head and we need to, as a Country,  love renting again. Some blame the banks, but obtaining a 95% mortgage is hard work, but nowhere near impossible. A typical Cambridge first time buyer would only need to save £12,500 for a deposit and they could buy a very decent 1960’s three up two down in Arbury in Cambridge, and it would be over £100 cheaper a month in mortgage payments (on a 40 year mortgage) than renting.

People might say on the surveys they want to buy, when it comes down to it. If you living been living in a lovely two bed apartment in Trumpington for £1100 per month, or even a lovely Victorian terraced in a hip and trendy area of Cambridge for not much more per month, but the bank will only lend you enough to buy a town house in Arbury, and don’t get me wrong, Arbury has really pulled its socks up over the last ten years, but it isn’t Trumpington, is it? What would you do? Look again the title of the post ... “The way it works is, you have to rent where you want to live, or buy where you don’t want to live,”

 That is why more and more people are getting into buy to let in Cambridge. With the new rules on pensions and the ability to use them to buy residential rental properties from April onwards, this could be the time for you to buy a rental property. You must take advice on your pension from a Independent Financial Advisor (there are plenty in Cambridge) and you must take advice from people who know what to buy (and not to buy) in Cambridge to ensure you get the best from your investment. One place for such advice is the Cambridge Property Blog  http://cambridgeproperty.blogspot.co.uk/

 

 

 

 

A New Breed of Silver Landlord Has Arrived

 

 

Thanks to changes in pension regulations coming into effect in April people aged 55 and over will be able to access part or all of their pension pot.  At a time when stocks remain volatile and interest rates are low, the prospect of owning a rental property that provides both a regular income and appreciates in value has much appeal.

It is no surprise that the upcoming changes in legislation are encouraging a new breed of landlord. Recent research revealed that 1 in 3 people aged 45 to 64 with a pension would consider using some or all of their pension to fund a buy to let property as an alternative to a more traditional pension fund. These potential landlords – popularly labelled as ‘silver landlords’ have quite widely varying reasons for investing in property with nearly 43% interested in a regular income. Some 23% are attracted by the perceived security of the investment and 17% by the expected capital appreciation

The UK private rented sector (PRS) has seen significant growth in the last two decades, having doubled since 1996. There are now an estimated two million private landlords in the UK who own and rent out 4.4 million homes – that’s almost one in five homes across the country.

I have been seeing a lot of interest from potential silver landlords looking for an appropriate Buy to Let investment. In response to the new legislation the opportunity for those approaching retirement to invest in property are opening up in a way that has never been possible before.

Encouraged by both steady gains in capital appreciation of property and increasing tenant demand, it’s easy to understand why Buy to Let is considered an attractive alternative to the more traditional pension funds. However, whilst many potential silver landlords will appreciate the basic concept of investing in bricks and mortar, it is vital to understand that any property purchased for rental purposes needs to be treated as the investment it is.

The key to successfully letting out a property is to find the tenant demand first and then the property that will meet that demand. This is where the expertise of an experienced, knowledgeable local agent is invaluable.  So why not pop in and see me at our office on the Mill Road and I’ll be happy to look over any properties you are considering…… guide you on the locations that are worth investing in, and give you an estimate of the rental income you could achieve.

Cambridge.. good time to buy property?

Ok, a slight turn of phrase there on the classic, an Englishman’s home is his castle but when it comes to the UK  the ‘Brit’s are still a nation of homeowners ‘(although wasn’t it Napoleon who thought we were all shop keepers!). It  is interesting to note that up until the mid to late 1960’s, more people rented their home (albeit mostly from the local council) than owned their own. In fact, I was surprised to read that in 1921, over 75% of homes in England and Wales were privately rented with the remaining 25% being owner occupied. 

 It was only after the Second World War, when the Beatles were rocking, that people started to buy instead of rent .. but instead of owning our property outright, we borrowed money from banks and building society’s to buy them and the roots of the growth of the private rental sector can be drawn back to the late 1970’s early 1980’s, when the council houses began to be sold off under the right to buy scheme. Even though 22,443 households in Cambridge were owner occupied in 2001 and that number had only dropped to 22,171 households by 2011, the percentage of homeowner properties in Cambridge dropped drastically from 52.6% to 47.4%.  Why, because whilst an additional 4,056 properties were built in Cambridge between 2001 and 2011, a lot of them were bought as buy to let investments, thus more than doubling the number of private rental properties in Cambridge. In fact, the number of properties in Cambridge, that were privately rented jumped from 7,295 in 2001 to 11,170 in 2011!

 With stagnation in the number of people who own their home in Cambridge and no more council houses being built, this is increasing the number of people looking to renting, as everyone needs a roof over their head. With the Cambridge City Council house waiting lists being in the 5 to 10 year range for a decent property in a decent location, it shouldn’t be forgotten that it is Cambridge landlords who house tenants waiting for a council house. Cambridge landlords do not receive any subsidies from HMRC and income tax is paid on rent paid by the tenant combined these reduce the cost on the tax payer.

 However, it’s not all doom and gloom in Cambridge, as we have noticed more and more of the younger generation are renting because they can‘t afford to buy (raising a deposit being the sticking point for most), and a high percentage of the expansion in private renting actually from those who need and want temporary accommodation. There are even a few landlords who rent their own Cambridge property out for the short term, for ease, and not necessarily purely for profit.

 Therefore, with every report stating the rental market will continue to grow throughout the rest of this decade, with high demand and limited supply in the Cambridge, if you are considering buying a property for investment in the near future in Cambridge, I am always happy to give you my considered opinion on which property to buy (or not as the case may be) to give you what you want from your investment. If you are a landlord, new or old, I am certainly more than happy for you to pick up the phone or visit the Cambridge Property Blog  www.cambridgepropertyblog.com

1 bedroom in Trumpington with a 9.43% return.

On the market with Tucker Gardner is this rare opportunity to purchase something that has CB in the postcode for less than stamp duty that isn't shared ownership. Perfect for a quick rental as no work required which makes the asking price even more appealing. Grab yourself a bargain and rent it at £800 a month and you will net a 9.43% yield, take out some for lease charges and you will still be quid's in.



                                   http://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/36075125

Apathy In The Cambridge Property Market

 Apathy has hit the Cambridge housing market as sellers await the outcome of the general election and stricter mortgage regulation suppresses buyer demand.  This is mirrored around the UK as Rightmove reported the number of homes registered for sale per estate agent fell to its lowest level for five years in December, with available stock 10% lower than in the same month a year earlier. 

Looking at Cambridge, in the early Autumn of 2014, each estate agent in Cambridge had on average 16.7  properties on its books (as there were a total of 618 properties up for sale in Cambridge at the peak in the early Autumn just gone). Our research shows that number plummeted to 9.8 per agent in December.  While the lack of new properties coming onto the market in the later months of 2014 in Cambridge pushed asking prices up slightly from November to December, traditionally a quiet season for the housing market, property sellers will need to work hard in 2015 to complete a sale.

The length of time a property takes to sell has increased over the last few months. Two bedroom properties in Cambridge are now taking 55 days to sell, three bedroom 53 days, four bedrooms 83 days, but here an interesting figure, one beds are taking on average 70 days to find a buyer

2015 will be the year of the selective mover.  With only 405brand new properties a year being built in Cambridge since the turn of the Millennium, this woefully low and insufficient number of new buildings in the City over the past few decades and a systemic change in the type of properties homeowners want (with families splitting etc so we have too many larger houses and not enough smaller ones), buyers are becoming dissatisfied with, and therefore dismissive of what is up for sale.

I would confirm the heat has gone out of the Cambridge property market and I anticipate a moderate reduction from the high transaction volumes seen in 2014. That might mean Cambridge landlords could bag a bargain during this period of uncertainty, especially if the financial markets do not like the election outcome. Markets and buyers do not like uncertainty, but savvy Buy to let landlords know buy to let is a long term game, and irrespective of short term apathy, reduction in the quality and quantity of stock for homeowners to buy  or the election, if people don’t buy property they rent.  The Council aren’t building anymore properties, the council house waiting list is decades, not years for the better type of property .. the only other place to get a roof over your head .. rent a property!  Good old Bricks and Mortar!

Therefore, if you are considering buying a property for investment in the near future, I am always happy to give you my considered opinion on which property to buy (or not as the case may be) to give you what you want from your investment. Email me on cambridge@northwooduk.com

Scott Stewart

Fen Ditton Bungalow fresh to the market

I don't normally look into bungalows as they have a stigma that young working professionals wouldn't rent them, well guess what....you're wrong. I have friends who have rented and brought bungalows and working in the industry I see it regularly. So this two bedroom bungalow is on with Pocock & Shaw and does need some restoration. I would factor in £5000 for a tidy up new bathroom/kitchen, and don't worry you property investors will know the right people to get the work done at the right price one would assume? However we all know what happens when we assume so I have added and extra £2000 for safe keeping and any tins of worms lying around. This would then rent for £1200 a month showing a yield of 5.5%. I don't think that's a bad deal....do you?

                     http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-48358447.html

Cherry Hinton has one to watch !

 

 

 

On the market with Radcliffe & Rust is this little beauty. It has no work to do what so ever. The location is also spot on for the buy to let Cambridge market. You could pick this up for £172,500 and rent it out at £850 giving a cheeky 6% return. Obviously you will have lease charges to consider but the rental amount may also sit slightly above that.

The market seems to be getting busier now so keep an eye on this blog if you want to make some money this year.

 

 

http://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/35995572

A Cambridge man’s home ..is his semi .. or terrace ... or bungalow!

Ok, a slight turn of phrase there on the classic, an Englishman’s home is his castle but when it comes to the UK  the ‘Brit’s are still a nation of homeowners ‘(although wasn’t it Napoleon who thought we were all shop keepers!). It  is interesting to note that up until the mid to late 1960’s, more people rented their home (albeit mostly from the local council) than owned their own. In fact, I was surprised to read that in 1921, oveer 75% of homes in England and Wales were privately rented with the remaining 25% being owner occupied. 

 It was only after the Second World War, when the Beatles were rocking, that people started to buy instead of rent .. but instead of owning our property outright, we borrowed money from banks and building society’s to buy them and the roots of the growth of the private rental sector can be drawn back to the late 1970’s early 1980’s, when the council houses began to be sold off under the right to buy scheme. Even though 22,443 households in Cambridge were owner occupied in 2001 and that number had only dropped to 22,171 households by 2011, the percentage of homeowner properties in Cambridge dropped drastically from 52.6% to 47.4%.  Why, because whilst an additional 4,056 properties were built in Cambridge between 2001 and 2011, a lot of them were bought as buy to let investments, thus more than doubling the number of private rental properties in Cambridge. In fact, the number of properties in Cambridge, that were privately rented jumped from 7,295 in 2001 to 11,170 in 2011!

 With stagnation in the number of people who own their home in Cambridge and no more council houses being built, this is increasing the number of people looking to renting, as everyone needs a roof over their head. With the Cambridge City Council house waiting lists being in the 5 to 10 year range for a decent property in a decent location, it shouldn’t be forgotten that it is Cambridge landlords who house tenants waiting for a council house. Cambridge landlords do not receive any subsidies from HMRC and income tax is paid on rent paid by the tenant combined these reduce the cost on the tax payer.

 However, it’s not all doom and gloom in Cambridge, as we have noticed more and more of the younger generation are renting because they can‘t afford to buy (raising a deposit being the sticking point for most), and a high percentage of the expansion in private renting actually from those who need and want temporary accommodation. There are even a few landlords who rent their own Cambridge property out for the short term, for ease, and not necessarily purely for profit.

 Therefore, with every report stating the rental market will continue to grow throughout the rest of this decade, with high demand and limited supply in the Cambridge, if you are considering buying a property for investment in the near future in Cambridge, I am always happy to give you my considered opinion on which property to buy (or not as the case may be) to give you what you want from your investment. If you are a landlord, new or old, I am certainly more than happy for you to pick up the phone or visit the Cambridge Property Blog  www.cambridgepropertyblog.com

Bar Hill Potential Investment

Having my morning coffee this morning scrolling through Zoopla as all us property maniacs do every morning this one really caught my eye, now Bar Hill is a little bit further out of the centre of Cambridge and therefore value for money is apparent. This perfect rental three bedroom semi is available to buy from the well known Tucker Gardner and is located on the quiet street of Hill Crest at £225,000. This would rent out for £1200 leaving a comfortable average yield of 4.9%. Apparently prices are rising and deals are becoming harder to find?

http://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/35823830

Why this might not be good time to get into the Cambridge Buy to let market

 

The buy to let sector in Cambridge, in fact the whole of the East Anglia buy to let sector is doing very well at the moment, but it can be a minefield. I could regale you with many stories where investors have got it tremendously wrong in Cambridge, like those charming and well presented 1930's town houses on Brampton Road in Cambridge. One sold in 2007 for £234,000 in 2007, just before the crash. It sold again in November 2014 for £234,000. It is interesting to note that house prices in Cambridge are on average are 25.8% higher today than the 2007 peak (someone got a bargain!).  The thing is, I still see mistakes being made on a  day by day basis in Cambridge, such as some modern one bed apartments  in the City on the market for the price of a decent  two bed apartments (and in my opinion) much more desirable areas. If you make even a small mistake, it could still prove to be very costly.

Mortgage rates on buy to let are really low at the moment and for the right property and person you can get rates below 3.9% if you put down a decent deposit of 25%, but the best rates are for deposits of 40% deposit and, as I type this, you can get a 5 year fixed rate buy to let mortgage from the Post Office for 3.65%.  Also, the deposit will ensure you have plenty of equity in the property, if the property market stagnates in the future. The important thing to remember is the amount you can borrow is driven by the rental income, so it is vital you can identify a property with a decent yield that lets easily.

Finally though, if you are investing so much time and money in building wealth for you and your family, it is equally important for you to identify ways to protect it.  Do not forget, if you spend years building a successful property empire in Cambridge, when you pop your clogs, your family could face an inheritance tax bill of 40 %, which they would have to pay within six months of the death.  In a buoyant market, selling in six months is not an issue, but what if the market was like it was in Cambridge between 2008 and 2012, when things took seasons to sell, not weeks.  Quite apart from losing nearly half of the assets you built for your family to the tax man, if they had to sell some of your portfolio, possibly at a discount because the taxman wanted his money so quick, it might be wise to consider some life insurance that will offer protection against inheritance tax.

There are plenty of good advisors in Cambridge that can help you with the mortgages and life insurance.  However, we are a letting agent, so what we can help with is choosing the right Cambridge property to buy.  It’s in our interest to do so, because if we offer the best advice and opinion, without any conflict of trying to sell you anything, you might consider (although there is no obligation) to trust us to manage the property.  If you want to know what the best deals are in Cambridge, then visit the Cambridge Property Blog www.cambridgepropertyblog.com.

 

Fenstanton offering perfect investment property with great return.

So this morning I saw this little beauty with Ellis Winters. You wouldn't have to do anything to it other than the obvious...BUY IT. The area itself is very sought after so expect it to fly out the window.

I can honestly say for a two bedroom in that area and for that price it will sell extremely quickly. In fact I would click the link below on Monday and weep as you realise you missed out on a yield you could only dream of. On the market for £229,995 you could rent this with for £1200 achieving nearly 6%.

Need I say more.....

http://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/35344564

What properties are actually selling in Cambridge?

Prices up, prices down, prices stable.....  the newspapers are full of good news, bad news and indifferent news about the Brit’s favourite subject after the weather.....  the property market. The thing is the UK does not have one housing market. Instead, it is a patchwork of mini property markets all performing in a different way.  At one end of scale is London, which has seen average prices grow in the last twelve months by a shade under 19% (and again that is an average because some Borough’s in London have risen by 26%) whilst in the land of Daffodils, by contrast, Wales only saw a 2% increase in property values (although in the Merthyr Valleys they dropped by over 11%).

Well we can’t ignore the rest of the UK, and we can’t forget that the Chancellor’s Stamp Duty reforms have polarised the London property markets above £1,000,000 because at the top end of the market, punitive Stamp Duty charges will dampen demand further. While the Bank of England warned of the growing London property price bubble in the Spring of 2014, even talk of a recovery in some areas was premature. In 2015, irrespective of where you are in the UK, one story will unite the patchwork quilt of markets – really slow property value growth.

But what about Cambridge? Well, we haven’t had the December figures from the Land Registry yet but the last few months’ activity and prices achieved would suggest neither house price growth nor drops.  In fact, most sellers are buyers anyway, so if you need to take less for yours, you won’t have to pay as much for the one you want to buy ... and that is good news for everyone as most move up market when they move. This is even better for landlord investors, as they can bag a bargain as well.

The question you should be asking though is, not only what’s happening to property prices, but which price band exactly is selling? I like to keep an eye on the property market in Cambridge on a daily basis because it enables me to give the best advice and opinion on what (or not) to buy in Cambridge. 

Over the last two months (62 days to be precise), 79 properties with asking prices under £300k have come onto the market in Cambridge  and 53.1% of them (42 properties) have a buyer and sold stc. Between £300k and £450k, of the 120 properties that come on to the market, an almost identical proportion (54.1%) of them (65 properties) have a buyer. The £450k to £600k price range has seen 42 properties come on to the market, and 30.9% have a buyer (13 properties).  Finally, the £600k+ range has been slower, with only 13.7% (8 properties) of the 58 that have come on to the market in the last 62 days finding buyers.

The next three months’ activity will be crucial in understanding which way the market will go this year and I honestly believe we will not see any house price growth or drops this side of the election. Election or no election, people will always need a roof over their head and that is why the property market has rode the storms of the Oil crisis in the 1970’s, the 1980’s depression, Black Monday in the 1990’s, and latterly the Credit Crunch together with the various house price crashes of 1973, 1987 and 2008.

And why? Because of Britain’s (and especially Cambridge’s) chronic lack of housing will prop up house prices and prevent a post spike crash..... there is always a silver lining when it comes to the property market!

Another Cambridge investment not to be missed.

I saw this property on Zoopla this morning so thought I’d share it with you as it has potential to achieve an annual yield of 5.9%.

Being relatively cheap to buy at £180,000, this sort of property would easily achieve around £900.00 pcm in rent.

With the market the way it is at the moment, Tucker Gardner have it on the market and say they do not anticipate it being available for long and I have to agree, this type of property will fly out of the door so get down there and speak to them!

 

 

 

 

 

http://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/35823824

Ideal investment oppertunity with a 4.8% Yield

This ideal investment opportunity is on the market with Belvoir for £250,000.
Located on the popular development of Orchard Park, convenient for Cambridge Science Park, A14 and the City Centre. This immaculate property comprises 2 double bedrooms, large lounge/diner and fitted kitchen with built in appliances, gas central heating and boasts allocated Parking which is a great selling point for tenants in Cambridge.

Looking at the pictures and reading into this property it appears as though it is in great order meaning that it is ready to let straight away and looking into the local market rental value this apartment should reach £995 pcm giving you an annual yield of 4.8%

Being a low maintenance property means that this one wont be on the market for long so make sure you grab it fast!

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-50310902.html