UK Property investment – what of the future?
For the past ten years UK property has been a certified blue chip investment in the UK. Anybody who put their money into property ten years ago has seen their investment gain in value beyond expectations – until now.
The financial crash that has swept the world in the past few months has exerted an influence on the housing market to an already notable effect as the doom and gloom of predictions in the daily press have risen. Forecasts of a fall in prices over the next two years up to 30% have been popular and has cast a dark cloud over the UK housing market
What is then the truth about the prospects of property investing in the UK – is the market in terminal decline or is there a future in speculation?
While prices are no doubt set to continue to fall, there has to come a point where things level out – bricks and mortar can never be worth nothing after all. Potential investors in the market continue to closely read and follow the property news and analysis in order to determine just when this is likely to happen.
Predicting the trends in the housing market is considered by many to be something of a dark art but that need not be the case. Keeping a close eye on the press and housing prices in the area intended for investment, should give the interested observer an indicator of the severity of the fall to come.
For instance, one can keep an eye on the estate agents adverts in the local newspapers and would have often witnessed the price of an average three bedroom semi detached house fall from around £125,000 in the summer to around £115,000 as we stand. This gives an indication of a sustained fall and taking the nationwide forecasts into account, one could expect another £10,000 – £20,000 to be slashed from that figure in the next coming year.
However, that may not necessarily be the case in your area as we are seeing regional differences and fluctuations. Some areas as we have reported previously are maintaining their prices and continue to sell, granted at a slower pace.
Even if every house in the country was to lose the predicted 30% that is reported in some places it is unlikely that values for instance will fall to levels they were at ten years ago when the mentioned £115,000 house would have cost the buyer a mere £65,000.
Should one be investing in the UK property market right now? If you have the means to see out the next couple of years of potentially falling prices there are likely to be bargains to be had from builders looking to offload stagnant stock. By getting a foot in the door now may prove to be lucrative in a few years time. Time will tell and no one can truly answer this question with certainty.
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