March 21, 2008
If You Want To Buy Property, London Continues To Be A Sound Investment
When it comes to property, UK house prices are starting to slow down and some experts are saying they have reached their peak. However for investors who still want to buy property london has always had the highest growth rates and best returns, so how has the capital faired in the slowdown? Surprisingly for those investors still looking to purchase property london still has many excellent opportunities.
We will show you in this article that contrary to many experts opinion, the London flat and housing market continues to provide an excellent opportunity for investors and will probably carry on doing so for a long time.
The first factor to consider is that there is a large difference in prices and growth in different areas of London. While some areas have reached a plateau in terms of growth, others are nowhere near their peak. In fact on the contrary, due to regeneration, many areas of London are going to see a lot of growth over the next decade. Therefore if you are seeking to purchase property, London presents a huge opportunity.
Take Notting Hill as an example. This represents one of best investment opportunities due to it’s high growth rate. This is a very fashionable area, however prices recently dropped. This has created an opportunity to buy property to let in a very trendy area as prices are now starting to rise again.
The enormous regeneration scheme in London’s East end due to the 2012 Olympics has created a superb opportunity in Stratford. Over the next five years this part of London is going to undergo rapid transformation. Buying property for sale in this area could prove to be a very lucrative investment. A third area to consider is Peckham. In the past this was considered one of the most run down areas in England. However it recently became the recipient of a £300 million investment and regeneration package and has now even won a tourism award! So London still has many superb investment opportunities, even if you are seeking to buy cheap property.
Surprisingly overseas buyers are significantly affecting the growth of property prices in the capital. To see just how much effect these buyers are having on property for sale, consider that over 60% of all properties over £4 million bought in central London are purchased by foreign buyers. Usually these are high paid executives and brokers working in the city
Previously property purchased for the duration of a job contract in the capital would be sold when the employment ended. However due to the price rises of London property many are now retaining ownership of the properties and looking on them as a capital investment while earning income from property rental. This has resulted in property values further increasing because there are less houses, apartment and flats on the market.
This is a contributing factor which makes London such an amazing opportunity for property investment. In fact within the next ten years the number of people living in London will skyrocket by eight hundred thousand. Due to the population increase, the demand for property won’t even be met even by the large number of new houses, flats and apartments that are planned to be built. This means that there is going to be a housing shortage in London for many years to come.
In spite of the incredible speed at which additional properties are being constructed, they still won’t being able to match the housing requirements … finding people looking for rental accommodation will always be easy as long as housing demand exceeds the supply of available property to rent.
So there are still very lucrative investment opportunities in London for buying property to let.
The huge variation in house prices in different boroughs, combined with regeneration investment, overseas buying, the demand for new housing and property for rent, will ensure that for those who want to buy property london will remain a sound investment for many years to come.
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