January News

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19th January 2012

2011 was a mixed bag for the residential property investor. Here is our take on last year:

House Values

Regions varied from +1.4% in London to -5.8% in the North East. A double edged sword; good news for the landlord with finance wanting to expand, bad for any of us with already high loan to value mortgages. To view 2011 regional property price changes click here, for London price changes click here.

Rental Demand

Lack of mortgages drove buyers into rental properties, the collective attitude became more accepting to renting and so demand increased, dramatically in our case. As we look back comparing 2010 with 2011 our enquiries for renting doubled. As the rent increased over 2011 many landlords who had aggressively expanded before the credit crunch through high gearing were able to breathe a sigh of relief as they moved in to positive cash flow for the first time since 2008.

Mortgage Lending

The amount of mortgage lending in 2010 was £136bn. The expected amount in 2011 when all figures are in; £136 to £138bn. A dramatic decrease from the high of £363bn in 2007 yet there is something to feel good about – this is the first time since 2007 that lending has not gone down!

For more mortgage information on what's available click here.

Are you looking forward to 2012?

We are! Yes, there will be challenges ahead, mortgage finance still looks hard to get, values are still shaky and unemployment could affect rents but the wealth creation opportunities, we believe are abundant. This year in our blog and in these news features we will be explaining what these opportunities are and how to take advantage of them while making sure you know of the threats and how to avoid them.