The holiday has finished, that’s the Christmas Holiday and the stamp duty Holiday and it looks like every body has the post holiday blues. Well at least first time buyers, it is the first time buyers and mortgagees that are the key to stimulating the UK housing market but it seems now the holiday is over they have other things on their minds.
The Council of mortgage lenders figures are showing an incredible fall in the number of new mortgages their figures find that new mortgage lending has fallen by 49%. This figure brings back memories of the end of the mortgage tax relief of the late 90’s when the UK housing market ramped up before it was removed and came down once it had been revoked. With slightly improving loan to value ratios there will come a time when the mortgage market balances with the property market. The cash rich property investors and developers who have been quietly buying up land, property, land options and deals will be in a very envious position.
March 12, 2010
Is the party or holiday over for house prices?
March 9, 2010
Investors look to land deals for higher investment returns
Some of the big names in house building and property development are thought to be assembling land banks using a mixture of private and bank financing. Many insiders in the property sector believe that although house prices may be fairly volatile throughout 2010 with prices bouncing along the bottom they will remain relatively constant on a year on year basis. So when the market turns those brave souls in the industry who have had the for thought to buy while the heard are selling, will be very well placed to ramp up the build phase and get the maximum profits when the upturns comes.
March 8, 2010
High yielding investment funds?
Has the commercial property boom of recent years been fueled by fund managers? This is the question being asked, has the demand for higher yielding investment funds driven property fund investment managers to pay too much for secondary locations and shorter leases? Now that the bubble has burst and the heard have turned, are there opportunities for investors to make the higher returns that inflated this asset bubble?
Questions like these are causing investors to question the motives of some I.F.A’s and fund managers who profit from the cash going into a fund more than the performance of the funds they recommend or manage.
March 6, 2010
Buying my first home
The most coveted of prizes for all estate agents, property developers, and house builders is the “first time buyer”. It looks like this increasing rare breed has been almost hunted to extinction, the use of a devastating weapon is the main reason for the high numbers culled in their infancy. This most effective weapon is of course “tighter lending criteria”, when in the hands of a well trained banker this weapon can devastate a huge number of first time buyers before they even make it to the estate agents window.
This is probably why we now have the lowest level of home ownership in the UK since 1991, so where have all the houses gone? Don’t worry they are still there but many have changed hands, the fall in the owner occupier market has been compensated by an increase in the private rented sector. Private landlords are now providing accommodation for those first time buyers who have been unable to obtain the mortgage funding they desperately need to obtain their first home.
Renovating ex-local authority houses
What can be done by way of improvements / modernisation / upgrading to the latest property regulations, and decor, progressed by private investors to ex-local authority properties was outlined in an article in a national newspaper last weekend (Sunday 28th February). The national Sunday newspaper article concerned highlighted what had been achieved in the Midlands.
Ex-local authority houses usually have a lot going for them in that more often than not they are located in an area which has easy access to local amenities :- shops, doctors, dentists, buses, and schools.
Such ex-local authority properties are also usually well built, have reasonably large sized rooms, have been maintained well by the local authority concerned. They also often have a good sized garden with space to have a shed or other outbuildings. Some of these properties can be adapted so that off road parking can be provided, if not already provided.
After the builder has done the necessary work it can be hard to imagine what the house looked like originally, but builders can make such properties into lovely modern homes.
March 4, 2010
Institutional investors look to fund residential investment developments
Some of the UK’s biggest property companies and investment funds are lobbying the treasury for alterations to the stamp duty regulations. It makes investors purchasing multiple residential property investments and residential investment property portfolios suffer a disadvantage in comparison with property investors who purchase single investment properties.
They are lobbying for a “residential property Reit”, as a special purpose investment vehicle in which to buy and hold residential investment properties. These “residential property Reit’s”, will be far more tax efficient than traditional investment property companies. The government is keen to encourage private investment funding for residential investment property developments. So should it make the efforts to adjust the tax system in favor of instructional property investors which will in turn increase the availability of social housing?
February 24, 2010
Opportunities in Commercial property Investment
A recent report has outlined the situation of empty shops in various city centres. Wolverhampton, Bradford, and Sheffield were named among places where there is more than the normal concern. The 2008 / 2009 recession may be one factor to blame as part of the reason for shop closures/ empty shops, but it has also to be considered what affect our shopping patterns that we all now undertake may have on the shops that are now closed.
In Peterborough a fairly large modern enclosed shopping centre known as Queensgate exists, and has been in existence for some years and therefore the long term presence of such can be considered on the area. Queensgate is not only close to the city centre but is also just outside the train station with connections to the North / South / Lincolnshire / the Anglia Region and the Midlands. Queensgate also houses the bus station providing bus services locally, and apart from a good road network in and around Peterborough the city is also close to the A1 Road providing major road access to Peterborough. Queensgate and shopping centres like it and the recession is bound to have an effect on surrounding properties / shops, and part of the solution may be action as outlined for Stoke on Trent below.
The Stoke on Trent area suffered in the second half of the 20th century with the decline of the potteries and coal mining but more recently has seen regeneration, including small but nevertheless valuable property improvements and development schemes including developing empty shops into projects to fit local demands as for example a hairdressing salon with flats being provided above. These projects thus providing much wanted rented accommodation, and providing a mixed use asset for landlords and tenants. No doubt this kind of approach does and can help everyone in many a village, town and city that have vacant and run- down buildings and makes full use of valuable space.
Now with building developments generally in Britain progressing at a less hectic pace than say in 2006/7 it may be a good time to grab the opportunity to carry out work on empty shops/ pubs etc in a village, town, or city near to you to utilise the space by providing flats and commercial premises to meet present day needs. You may be interested in a developing a site/ building in your locality and local people are probably best to choose the right kind of development for site concerned for the area they know well.
February 21, 2010
Investors making money in property development as commercial property yields are compressed
Private investors are looking to various property backed investments such as speculative mezzanine funding to give them greater returns and higher yields. Many believe that the commercial property market has hit the bottom as investors return to sensible attitudes to the balance of risk and return.
The recent gains in capital values for commercial property are attributed to the market simple reflecting more sensible levels of yield buying from various private investors and instructional commercial property investors.
February 20, 2010
Heavy hitters in buy-to-let return to the ring
Some of the so called heavy hitters including ex-boxer Andreas Panayiotou are starting their first major residential property purchases for years. Many of the “clever players” sold out in late 2006 early 2007 when they grew increasingly concerned with the very low yields being achieved from both commercial and residential property investments.
There is always a demand for buy to let as many use this investment vehicle to provide a passive income for their retirement. Interestingly there is increasing speculation that some large instructional investors are looking to residential investment property to supply them with higher yielding investments.
February 18, 2010
The future of commercial property investment in 2010
Recent data suggests that the market in leases for office space outside of the capital will improve in 2010. Many within the property sector believe this is mainly because companies are not as motivated to cut costs or close offices. This has lead to a less fluid supply of suitable rental offices and in turn should have a positive upward effect of commercial property yields for this sector.