Is It A Good Time For Property Investment

Is Now A Good Time To Invest In Property

In todays economic conditions the word investment is not used as freely as it was a year ago. Combine this with the word property or house and its even fewer.

So why does property investment seem such as scary proportion at this point in time.

All investment opportunities in all industries have ideal conditions. When prices are low - this is the time buy.

The problem with the property and housing market is that the residential home buyer is obviously connected to this market.

Property sales involving ordinary home buyers in the UK has fallen by 53% in the past year, according to the latest government figures.

Are You A Property Investor

In September nearly 60,000 homes were sold, over twice as many were sold the same month last year.

That was also a 62% fall from the recent peak in sales, of 154,000, seen in December 2006.

Currently the credit crunch has plunged the housing market into its sharpest slowdown for many years.

Housing Market Decline

Despite a recent cut in interest rates, attempts by the government to assist the banking system, and a reduction in the burden of stamp duty, there is no sign yet of the property market coming out of its worrying decline.

Providers of mortgage products such as the Halifax and Nationwide have reported that prices are still in decline around a tenth of what they were this time last last year.

A recent survey by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) found that estate agents were having problems trying to sell a property a week.

In addition, the best leading indicator of future activity - the number of new mortgages approved for house purchase but not yet lent - is down by 70% on a year ago. This indicates that prices still have not reached a low point.

Lack Of Money

The key factor in the sales slump has been the lack of funds in the past year available to banks and building societies to lend to borrowers, especially first-time buyers.

With house prices falling, lenders have been demanding that borrowers put down deposits that are much larger than normal, to protect themselves if someone becomes unemployed and the home is subsequently repossessed and sold at auction.

At the start of the year, mortgages worth 100% or even more of a property’s value disappeared. Now even the traditional 95% mortgage is in danger of disappearing.

Many lenders now ask borrowers to put down at least 10% of the purchase price of a new home. The most favourable deals, at the lowest interest rates, are generally available only to those who can put down 25%, or sometimes even 40%, of their purchase price.

“There are some signals that housing market activity could be close to hitting a floor but there is a danger that a sharp rise in unemployment could precipitate a further round of fear on the part of buyers,” said Simon Rubinsohn, chief economist at the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics).

Is Now A good Time To Invest In the Housing Market

Despite the unhealthy conditions if property were any other commodity - the time for investing is fast approaching.

Once the market is on the floor the only way is inevitably up.

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Are House Prices Still Falling

UK Housing Market Still In Decline

The UK housing market and house prices suffered further decline with 1.3% fall in September, according to the Halifax.

Halifax said the decline meant the annual fall was now around  12.5%, with the average cost of residential property the UK now at £172,108.

Halifax, together with Nationwide claims that the rate of decline was starting to bottom out when looking at quarterly comparison figures.

But continued to say that the state of the property market would remain “challenging” as mortgage availability was still far from the heights of a few years ago.

The yearly rate is calculated using a comparison of the past quarter in comparison with the same three months back in 2007, aiming to cut out any short-term volatility.

When comparing prices in just September with the same month the previous year, the drop in prices reaches 13.3%, the biggest recorded by the Halifax.

House prices have fallen every month since the beginning of 2007.

The average price of a UK home is close to that seen in January 2006.

“The ongoing pressures on householders’ income, combined with the reduction in the availability of mortgage finance mean that market conditions will remain challenging,” said Martin Ellis, chief economist at the Halifax.

But he welcomed the move by the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee to cut interest rates by half a percentage point to 4.5% on Wednesday.

“Lower interest rates will help mortgage borrowers faced with increasing pressures on their finances and provide a valuable support to the housing market,” Mr Ellis said.

Could House Prices Stabalise Soon

Property Prices declined by 5.2% in the third quarter of this year, close to the 5.1% fall of the previous three months. This was evidence that the pace of decline was stabilising, Mr Ellis said.

But with food and fuel prices having risen over the last year, and wages failing to keep up with the increase, households had less discretionary income.

“The resulting pinch on incomes, combined with the high level of average house prices ratio to earnings, has made it hard for potential house buyers to gain a foothold on the first rung of the property ladder.” he continued.

Other analysts were in agreement that the rate of decline could stabilise soon and start to bottom out.

The anual falls in house prices should hit a maximum of 15% next month and fall no further, according to Ray Boulger, of mortgage brokers John Charcol.

Prices were increasing up until October 2007, before the effect of the credit crunch hit. As a result the year-on-year comparisons have been striking in recent months, he said. He said the Halifax figures were “not surprising”.

But Howard Archer, chief UK and European economist at Global Insight, said he expected house prices to decline still further.

“Faster rising unemployment, heightened concerns over the economic outlook and widespread expectations that house prices will continue to fall markedly seem set to depress housing market activity and prices for some considerable time to come,” he said.

Despite hopes that Wednesday’s rate cut will spur lending and boost the housing market, banks have been slow to pass on previous rate cuts to new and existing borrowers, as they continue to scale back lending.

The latest Bank of England figures show the average mortgage rate paid by new borrowers rose from 5.88% in August 2007 to 6.1% in August 2008 despite a three-quarters of a percentage drop in the Bank rate over the same period.

The average mortgage rate for those with existing mortgages has dropped from 5.91% in August 2007 to 5.83% to August 2008, although it has fluctuated during the year.

These cuts made by the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee have benefited existing borrowers, mainly those on tracker mortgages and tracker rates.

Earlier this month, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors reported that completed property sales in August were 47% lower than in the same month a year ago.

Source bbc.co.uk

Have you an interest in property investment - in the current conditions the property market is ideal for potential investors - if you would like to train to become a property investor please click here

Unemployed - Become A Property Investor

Property Investment On A Shoestring

The unemployment figures published in the press at time of writing do not make good reading. Record high unemployment figures of 5.5% are set to increase even further.

Estimations for recovery look bleak with experts predicting 2 million people will be unemployed by 2009.

The Office of National Statistics (ONS) say the number of people claiming job seeker allowance has risen from 32,000 to 900,00 since July. Nearly 30,000 people are applying for job seekers allowance a day.

What Has This Got To Do With Property Investment

In times of economic troubles all forms of investment seem at first glance a very risky proposition. The stock market certainly is a gamble in the present climate. But what of property.

The UK has one big advantage where property and a potential investor is concerned - the UK is an island and so demand will always outstrip supply. There are not enough houses built or being built to meet the demand.

This may seem total nonsense after what you are no doubting reading and listen via the media. Any kind of investment opportunity in the housing market may appear foolhardy. This is a wrong perception.

Currently, property can be purchased at well below market value - this is an ideal scenario for a potential investor. The problem lies with borrowing from a lender - it has been much discussed that UK mortgage companies and lenders are tightening the criteria and cutting back on mortgage products.

The buy to let market is fairly unaffected - with a majority of mortgage lenders approving buy to let mortgages over and above the typical mortgage for the individual or family to buy to live in. The reason for this is the the buy to let mortgage is considered less of a risk. In times such as the one we are currently experiencing will always fuel the need for tenants.

How To Buy Property For Practically Nothing

If you are currently unemployed what better way to join the workforce again than by employing yourself - as a property investor.

Property investment is not complicated and does not require huge some of money to start. Property investment is not property development

The chances are you probably did not realise that it is possible to acquire a property with a No Money Down Deal - you could recieve a 100% loan from a bank or lender that requires no deposit. All that is needed is a tenant or proof that a potential tenant can cover the cost of the monthly repayments.

Property Investment is not just for the cash rich but does require training and knowledge - if you would like to find out more about property investment on a shoestring - click here

Make Money From Property Investment

Invest In Property To Make Money

As the credit crunch is starting to bite more people are looking into other means to help aid their financial situation and boost their incomes.

Unfortunately in times of economic doom and gloom the most explored avenues are the most hazardous and prone to failure, disaster or both.

Gambling on a national basis usually increases as people uncharacteristically try to luck themselves out of their predicament only to fall into greater debt.

Get Rich Quickly

The get rich quick schemes appear more and more attractive - desperation fuels the fire that burns within the question “maybe this one is for real.” The reality is though that most if not all of the get rich quick schemes that are in abundance on the internet at best will not make you rich and at worse may alleviate you of any money you had to start with.

Its a tired old cliche but very true - if something is too good to be true it usually is.

Get Rich Slowly

An under utilised method of earning additional income is to invest either your time or any surplus savings (or a combination of both) into something that has the potential of returning a high yield.

The stock market is an obvious candidate - but without constant attention, expertise and money (lots of it) higher and a safer returns are more likely from a savings account at a high street bank.

Get rich slowly is a generic term and doesn’t sound as appealing as get rich quick.

Make Money From The Property Market

The property market appears at first glance to be out of reach to the vast majority. Most rule themselves out of the opportunity straight away but considering the obvious components; and average house cost £200K (at time of writing) therefore I would need a mortgage, I already have a mortgage that I am struggling to pay, therefore this is not for me.

A sensible approach in one respect but an uninformed one.

Property Investment is not a gamble nor is it out of reach to the majority once the principles are fully understood. Investment is scary word is not associated soley with the word money. Your time is the biggest investment.

Investing in property, using the example of an average house priced at £200K, is not a £200K risk.

Mortgage lenders have drastically reduced the amount of products available to potential customers but there are still plenty of products available to the property investor.

A Buy To Let mortgage is not considered as risky as there are more potential tenants than properties in the UK. Buy To Let mortgage options range from a standard deposit to the other of the scale, a No Money Down mortgage - where a property can be acquired without any initial spend.

The possibilities for earning additional and passive income from the property market are very real and not out of reach

If you would like to learn more about making money from property investment - FREE training courses and seminars are being held across the UK.

Free Property Investment Training

Property Investment In London

London Property Investment

There are certain areas in and around the London region that are hot spots for property investment and property investors. At time of writing the property market is unstable with even the most courageous investors holding back on new investment projects and opportunities.

Investing in property across the UK has always paid dividend provided the investor understands the market conditions and focuses on either profiting from monthly rental earnings or the more longer term equity increase.

The London property market, traditionally has always been the premier or prime target for a majority of investors as London is the business capital of the UK and even in times of economic downturn tends to suffer less in terms of wide scale profit.

Attend A FREE Property Investment Training Course - Click here

The obvious area of interest at the moment is Stratford - with plans to regenerate the area into the third most important part of London in time for the Olympic Games in 2012. Read more about Property in Stratford

What Areas Of London Are Best For Property Investment

Non specifically, the best areas in and around London are those that currently have good road, rail and tube links. These areas will more likely sprawl in time.

The current market value of properties in London with good transport links are usually highly priced - but in today’s market bargains are there to be had if you know where to look.

Looking forward, if an area is just out of your budget follow the tube stops in directions heading out of Central London until you find and area that is within realistic budget.

As an example if Stratford is an area for potential investment but not affordable follow the tube stations north - this brings Leyton and Leytonstone into the equation.

Which Areas of London Are Most Popular For Property Investment

Currently the most desirable and popular London property investment targets are:

Hampstead	Limehouse	East Dulwich
Walthamstow	Shoreditch	Chingford
Maida Vale	Finchley	Brockley
Finsbury Park	Palmers Green	Norwood
Battersea	Leyton	Balham
Ealing	Peckham	Rotherhithe
Cricklewood	Lewisham	Willesden Green

These areas are in no particular order and some of the obvious candidates have been omitted such as Mayfair and Cheslea.