The orthodox way of classifying property in the UK is to look at the number of bedrooms rather than its size in square metres (although now we are leaving the EU – I wonder if we can go back to feet and inches?).
It seems that homeowners and tenants are happy to pay for more space. It’s quite obvious, the more bedrooms a house or apartment has, the bigger it is likely to be. The reason being not only the actual additional bedroom space, but the properties with more bedrooms tend to have larger / more reception (living) rooms. However, if you think about it, this isn’t so astonishing given that properties with more bedrooms would typically accommodate more people and therefore require larger reception rooms.
In today’s Dundee property market, the Dundee homeowners and Dundee landlords I talk to are always asking me which attributes and features are likely to make their property comparatively more attractive and which ones may detract from the price. Over time, buyers’ and tenants’ wants and needs have changed. In Dundee, location is still the No. 1 factor affecting the value of property, and a property in the best neighbourhoods, say Clearwater Park, Monifieth or Broughty Ferry can command a price nearly 50% higher than a similar house in an ‘average’ area. However, after location, the next characteristic that has a significant influence on the desirability, and thus price, of property is the number of bedrooms and the type (i.e. Detached/ Semi/Terraced/Flat).
Over the last year, the number of properties on the market in Dundee has risen. You see, it might interest the homeowners and landlords of Dundee, that there has been a change in the numbers of properties on the market and the split in bedrooms on the market over the last 12 months
- 12 months ago, 107 one bed properties were for sale in Dundee, today 122, a rise of 14%
- 12 months ago, 292 two bed properties were for sale in Dundee, today 307, a rise of 5%
- 12 months ago, 182 three bed properties were for sale in Dundee, today 183, a rise of 1%
- 12 months ago, 83 four bed properties were for sale in Dundee, today 102, a rise of 23%
- 12 months ago, 39 five + bed properties were for sale in Dundee, today 39, no change
It can quite clearly be seen more Dundee properties have become available, which can only be good news for Dundee second time movers, as the amount of supply of the larger 4 beds has risen (meaning the price you will have to pay wont be so great (simple supply and demand economics) ,and in turn first time buyers and Dundee buy to let landlords might find the sellers of those starter homes (that those second time movers will be selling to move up market), a little more amenable to accepting a reasonable offer if the one they want to buy is a bargain. This is especially true following Brexit, as property prices have stopped rising at the silly rates they were 12/18 months ago.
For several years Dundee buy-to-let investors have been the only buyers at the lower end (starter homes) of the market, as they have been enticed by high tenant demand and attractive returns. Some Dundee landlords believe their window of opportunity has started to close with the new tax regime for landlords, whilst it already appears to be opening wider for first-time buyers. This is great news for first time buyers … but one final note for Dundee landlords … all is not lost … you can still pick up bargains, you just need to be a lot more savvy and do your homework … one source of such information with articles like this is the Dundee property market Blog www.dundeepropertyblog.co.uk
