Colour Investments Property Investment

Property asking prices in the UK went up by an average of £7,137 in February and average asking prices in London are now at a record high of £427,987.

The increase of 3.2% was the largest monthly climb in asking prices since the property boom-times of April 2007 and search activity on Rightmove has been at a record high in the past month.

source: Rightmove newsletter

So 2009 was an interesting year with the credit crunch still lingering… will 2010 bring even more positive news to the property sector in the form on stable, sensible growth? What do you think? (please comment below…)

Personally I think it will stay stable and growth for the next couple of years will be relatively small and sensible. Then I see larger growth starting to happen, nothing crazy but sustainable, solid economic growth. I don’t think there will be a “double bounce” that some doom and gloomers predict which is why I’m personally buying more property this year as I think any serious investor should be!

I’ve so far bought a 1 bed apartment in Makadi, Egypt (available on our website here: www.colourinvestments.com/makadi/introduction) and also a 7 bedroom HMO property in Reading, Berkshire UK. What have you bought if anything? (again please comment below and share you views with us)

Good luck in 2010 and I hope we can help you achieve some of your investment goals in 2010

Take care
Nick

House prices rose by 1.6% during September, the third successive monthly increase, according to Halifax.

The mortgage lender says typical values are still down by 7.4% compared to this time last year, though they are up 2.8% over the previous three months. The average home now costs £163,533.

Halifax’s figures contrast with the recent Land Registry index which showed a 0.1% drop in August. The official body said house prices are now flat.
Mortgage lender Nationwide reported a 0.9% rise in typical property values during September, the fifth successive rise.

The Land Registry data lags behind both lenders, yet is seen by a number of people as more representative as it takes into consideration all property sales.
Nationwide and Halifax just measure their latest lending data.

Do you think property prices will increase by much this year and if not when do you think they’ll start moving again?

thanks for reading
Nick

Figures released by Nationwide today show that UK property prices have risen for the 5th consecutive month.  This means prices have now recovered to the same level as they were in September 2008.

As usual everyone (or at least most people) are still predicting doom and gloom but it is difficult to argue against the fact that the worst times are over and property is back on the up.  Properties with a real discount from RICS are being snapped up at an incredible rate when they come to market, and normal properties are also moving quickly when they come on for sale.  Hold on to your hats we could be on the verge of some incredible price lifts over the comking 12  months!

“The number of new mortgages for home purchases rose in July for the first time in over two years.

Data released today by the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) show the first annual growth in lending to home buyers since early 2007.

A total of 56,000 homebuyer mortgages went through in July – a rise of 19 per cent on a year ago and 24 per cent on June.” – Source: The Times

We have seen a pick up in the housing market over the past few months and a pick up in some sectors of the economy but due to supply and demand the housing market is the strongest sector and most likely to bounce back. Some people claim it is just a blip on the continued downward spiral but I am currently house hunting and that does not seem the case to me as I can’t find any bargains!  Prices in my area (Surrey) have increased since last year and the year before.

Obviously this could be a blip but do you want to take the chance and miss out if it isn’t??  Thats what most people did after the last recession…  Only time will tell, but I for one, will be snapping up any bargains I see from now on.

Seems to me that we still have the same problem that we have experienced for about as long as I can remember….   Huge demand and under supply….  Unfortunately this is now exacerbated by the fact that people believe they can pick up a bargain as it is a ‘buyers market’, therefore prospective sellers are reluctant to place their properties on the market for fear of having to take a hit on the price.  And the result is less stock, huge demand and virtually no movement.  So if buyers realise that they cannot obtain hugely discounted property, and sellers realise that we are not in a buyers market then we will be well on the way to recovery….  Here’s hoping!

Residential UK property prices look like they’ll end the year higher than they started, but will still face challenges during 2010, according to the latest analysis of real estate trends by RICS.

At the start of the year RICS (The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors) predicted that prices would fall by 10% in 2009 but now due to a substantial shift in sentiment in the uk housing market over the past few months which has seen prices starting to pick-up in some areas, it now predicts a much more positive outlook.

Isn’t it nice to start seeing some positivity back in the market – not just property but all areas of business… caution still needs to be taken of course and certainly lessons learned from the credit mistakes a lot of people made in the last decade. But hopefully we’ll learn from this and move forward at a steady pace…? Do you think that’s possible?

So it now looks like the average house price in the 4th quarter of 2009 could be slightly higher than the same period in 2008, RICS says in its latest uk property market survey. However this does not indicate a quick return to the boom time, as activity remains very weak by historical standards, the report points out. Although mortgage approvals have gradually improved recently even if they continue to do so, transaction levels would still be well below the long-run average as a significant increase in approvals is still being hampered by the limited availability of mortgage finance.

It seems mortages are still very hard to get which I think will hold the market back a lot for the rest of 2009… any IFA’s wish to comment please let us know your thoughts…

- Nick

Hi all,

Welcome to our property investment blog! Over the coming weeks, months and years we’ll be posting interesting news, updates and random thoughts on property related topics!

Please check back soon, enjoy listening to us and comment on our posts whenever you can!

Kind regards
Nick

MD Colour Group