Belvoir Dunstable are the local Lettings Specialist, but this doesn’t mean that we do not keep an eye on the sales market. Many of our landlords will ask us for advice and research in the local market before they buy and to ensure that they are achieving the correct rental value for their investment.
Here is an update of the recent winners and losers in the housing market in the LU5,LU6 & LU7 postcodes covering Dunstable, Houghton Regis and Leighton Buzzard. Research such as this by Belvoir Dunstable will help landlords to purchase an investment that will achieve capital yield as well as rental yield.
National market summary
The latest House Price Index from Land Registry shows that house prices rose by 0.4 per cent in May. The annual change in England and Wales stands at 6.7 per cent and unsurprisingly the number of property sales has increased over the last 12 months.
Taking a look at each postcode performance we can see that even in the same locality the property market can be quite volatile with mixed fortunes.
Starting with the LU5/LU6 Dunstable/Houghton Regis postcodes, 42 Longbrooke in Houghton Regis sold in April 2014 for £152,500. It was previously bought for £125,000 in February 2012. This 22.0 per cent change works out to an annual equivalent change of 9.5 per cent.
The low is the sale of 45 Fareham Way in March 2014 for £104,000. It was previously bought for £125,000 in August 2007. This -16.8 per cent change works out to an annual equivalent change of -2.8 per cent.
In the LU7 Leighton Buzzard postcode, 11 Rannoch Gardens sold in February 2014 for £250,000. It was previously bought for £210,000 in August 2012. This 19.1 per cent change works out to an annual equivalent change of 12.0 per cent
The low is the sale of Town Bridge Mill Flat 8 Leighton Road in March 2014 for £119,000. It was previously bought for £155,000 in September 2007. This -23.2 per cent change works out to an annual equivalent change of -4.0 per cent.
Are there any bargains available at the moment?
Well if you look carefully at the advertised property descriptions you can pick out the ones that are repossessions. Quite often they are overlooked as the main advert will still show the guide price but the description will list the ‘Offered’ price which is often a much reduced price. Here is an example. A 2 bed apartment with a guide price showing on Rightmove at just under £100,000, but read the description and there is currently an offer of £87,000 for a property that should rent for £650pcm giving a rental yield of nearly 9%. http://bit.ly/1klOhmV
