It’s now commonly agreed amongst economists and the general public that the dramatic rise in Loughborough property prices of the last six years has come to an end. Read the National newspapers, and they talk of doom and gloom in the British housing market with such things as strained buyer affordability (as property prices have increased over the past six years at a far faster pace than average salaries); a lack of new properties being built; and the Brexit uncertainties over the last two and half years being blamed for the slow down. Yet in the last 12 months, people have still been moving, buying and selling in Loughborough at levels similar to the last six years – something tells me we have a case of ‘bad news selling newspapers’.
So instead, let me share with you what exactly is happening in the Loughborough property market, and more specifically, who is moving and why in Loughborough. Most of the sales in Loughborough over the past twelve months were semi-detached properties, which on average sold for £194,300. Terraced properties had an average sold price of £155,600 and detached properties sold for approximately £305,900.
In Loughborough, in the homeowner sector in 2018 i.e owner occupation, 761 households moved within the tenure (sold the home they owned and bought another one) and 148 new households were created (they moved from living with family or friends and bought their first home without privately renting).
Loughborough Home Movers in 2018 | |
Moved from Owner Occupation to Private Rented | 279 |
Moved from Private Rented to Owner Occupation | 354 |
Owner Occupation to Social Housing | 38 |
Straight to Owner Occupation | 148 |
Left Owner Occupation (i.e. Household Ended) | 183 |
Owner Occupation to Owner Occupation | 761 |
What does this mean for Loughborough buy to let landlords? Well looking at the graph, it appears bad news for landlords. There were 354 households that moved into the home owning (owner occupation) tenure from the private rented sector, whilst on the other side of the coin, 279 Loughborough households moved to the private rented sector from owner occupation … which appears on the face of it, a reduction in the private sector.
My research has calculated that in 2018, an additional 369 new households in the Loughborough private rental sector were created.…and it will continue to grow at those levels for the foreseeable future.
I have one final thought and opportunity for Loughborough property investors. 183 owner occupied households in Loughborough sold in last year where the homeowners had passed away. These properties can be a potential goldmine and offer great returns. The reason being is some members of the older generation who have owned these homes for decades have spent money on high capital items like double glazing and central heating, but not spent money on more superficial low-ticket items such as up to date carpets, kitchen, bathroom and decorating which is vital if you want to sell your property for top dollar. These properties can often be bought cheaply because most buyers can’t see past the avocado or brown bathroom suite from the 1970’s or the dated decor. So if you were to buy wisely and do the works, you could sell it on for a healthy profit.
So, whatever is happening in the world with Brexit, Trump, China, and the Stock Market … the Loughborough housing market is in decent shape for the medium to long term. If we do have small corrections in values in the next 12 to 18 months, in the long term house prices have always returned and usually return with vengeance.
Like I say to anyone buying a property, be they a first time buyer, landlord or homeowner, property is a long game … and if you play the long game, you will always win. Although isn’t that true in most aspects of life?
If you are interested in talking about this, or potential investments, or would like a second opinion on any other properties you have seen, please feel free to call me on 01509 260777 or email me.
