Apathy in the Bingham Property market

Apathy has hit the Bingham housing market as sellers await the outcome of the general election and stricter mortgage regulation suppresses buyer demand.  This is mirrored around the UK as Rightmove reported the number of homes registered for sale per estate agent fell to its lowest level for five years in December, with available stock 10% lower than in the same month a year earlier.

Looking at Bingham (NG13), in the Summer of 2014, each estate agent in Bingham had on average 34.8 properties on its books (as there were a total of 244 properties up for sale in Bingham at the peak in the Summer just gone). Our research shows that number plummeted to 22.5 per agent in December.  While the lack of new properties coming onto the market in the later months of 2014 in Bingham pushed asking prices up slightly from November to December, traditionally a quiet season for the housing market, property sellers will need to work hard in 2015 to complete a sale.

The length of time a property takes to sell has increased over the last few months. Two bedroom properties in Bingham are now taking 84 days to sell, three bedroom 81 days and four bedrooms 156 days.

2015 will be the year of the selective mover.  With only 20 brand new properties a year being built in Bingham since the turn of the Millennium, this woefully low and insufficient number of new buildings in the town over the past few decades and a systemic change in the type of properties homeowners want (with families splitting etc so we have too many larger houses and not enough smaller ones), buyers are becoming dissatisfied with, and therefore dismissive of what is up for sale.

I would confirm the heat has gone out of the Bingham property market and I anticipate a moderate reduction from the high transaction volumes seen in 2014. That might mean Bingham landlords could bag a bargain during this period of uncertainty, especially if the financial markets do not like the election outcome. Markets and buyers do not like uncertainty, but savvy buy to let landlords know buy to let is a long term game, and irrespective of short term apathy, reduction in the quality and quantity of stock for homeowners to buy  or the election, if people don’t buy property they rent.  The Council aren't building anymore properties, the council house waiting list is decades, not years for the better type of property .. the only other place to get a roof over your head .. rent a property!  Good old Bricks and Mortar!

Therefore, if you are considering buying a property for investment in the near future, I am always happy to give you my considered opinion on which property to buy (or not as the case may be) to give you what you want from your investment. Pop into our office 18a Market Street, Bingham or email me at katie.archer@belvoirlettings.com

Smart investment property - Calverton - great yield

This bargain 2 bed town house, on the market for sale with Gascoines of Calverton, is a buy to let dream property.  Modern and with no maintenance work necessary to bring the house to let, it needs to be snapped up by an investment landlord quickly! 

Believe me, this will not be around for long.  

On the market for £115,000, this property will bring in a yield of over 6%.

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-33592455.html?showcase=true


  

Brand New 2 Bed Coach House - Calverton

The next phase at The Brambles development in Calverton has just been released.  These 2 bed coach house style homes are amazing as rental investments, as they offer the convenience of an apartment with the privacy of a house.  
Being new builds they have the builder's warranty for 2 years, plus of course their NHBC guarantee of 10 years, so they are pretty much maintenance-free.  

Currently being advertised at an asking price of £142,995, as with all new builds I imagine there are deals to be had! 

I would expect to achieve £650 on the 2 bed Dovedale house type with a garage.

Give the lovely Emma a call at The Brambles on 0115 9654044 to secure your next rental investment. 

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/new-homes-for-sale/property-33679239.html

Bingham .. good time to buy property?

Following last week’s article, I had an interesting chat with a chap who lives in East Bridgford, who popped into our office opposite the Market Place. He is thinking of buying his first buy to let property and he wanted my opinion on the state of the market and if it was a good time to invest.

He was particularly worried that with all the newspaper headlines of a booming housing market, there wouldn’t be any demand from tenants. One of the best pieces of advice I can give to those looking to invest in property is a simple trick of the trade. You can judge the affordability of an area’s property market (and thus how much demand there could be) by simply finding the ratio of the average property price to the average salary. The lower the ratio, the more affordable property is.

When we put this to the test, as we talked about a few weeks ago, we found that Bingham currently has an average property value of around £206,800. The average salary of someone living in Bingham is £24,744. This is a ratio of 8.35 to 1. Most lenders will only lend up to 4.5 times income, so to buy an average house in Bingham, a first time buyer would need to be on a joint salary of £45,955 and even then, would need to raise the 5% deposit, which when you take into account buying fees, will be in the order of £12,500.  

Tenants’ inability to raise that sort of money for the deposit is driving demand for rental property. If you would like some advice about buying to let, be you a landlord with a portfolio or someone thinking of investing in the rental market for the first time, please pop in and see me at our office in Market Place, Bingham.

Great investment - Dakota Road, Newton - good yield

This would make a great little investment property.  Great transport links as the village of Newton lies ext to the A46, next door to the market town of Bingham and still less than 10 miles from Nottingham.

This property requires little / no maintenance to let and at just under 2 years old, still benefits from the builders warranty, plus the 10 year NHBC guarantee.

On the market for £130,000, a landlord could see a 5.5% return on their investment.

Snap it up - before someone else does!

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-46817476.html

    

Interesting Investment Property - Newton

Newton is a village just outside of Bingham, which is about to double in size due to more planned housing developments.  A great location for tenants, with good transport links into Nottingham, Leicester and Newark.  Prices in Newton remain slightly lower than its larger neighbour Bingham, so now is a great time to invest in this area.

This tidy 2 bed is on the market for £129995; will bring in a return of over 5%.

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-48090451.html

               

Property in Carnarvon Place has outperformed the Mallow Way area by 49%

I had a conversation with a landlord, who lives in the Mallow Way area of Bingham, who took me up on the offer of an informal chat about the Bingham property market the other week after he read the ‘Bingham Property Blog’.  

We got talking about investing in Bingham property and how different areas performed against other areas. Investing in Bingham property is a balancing act between capital growth and yield. Going for strong capital growth seems an obvious choice because of the potential to generate long term capital profit, especially with inflation eating away at our savings. However, rental yields on high capital growth properties tend to be low meaning if you are taking a high percentage mortgage, the rent doesn't pay the mortgage payments.

It became really interesting when we compared his area of Mallow Way area against Carnarvon Place, where he was brought up in the 1970’s. The average value of those larger four bed detached properties in the Mallow Way area is £348,600 and an average rent in this Road is £1,086 per month (again for those larger four bed properties). This would give our landlord a yield of 3.73% per year .. quite reasonable. Until you consider those apartments in Carnarvon Place, which sell for around £96,300 and let, depending upon condition for around £448 per month, a yield of 5.55% per year, which is a 49.6% proportionally higher yield.


However, yields are not everything in property investment. Another is how the value of the property goes up over time. Better properties in better locations don’t have the best yields, but their property values tend to go up quicker over the long term. The average value of an apartment on Carnarvon Place in 2000 was £40,700 in 2000, a rise of 136.6%. So, one would expect Mallow Way area property values to risen a lot more. 

Well they have, but not at the same rate, as average values in the Mallow Way area have only risen by 128.2% since 2000. However, percentages don’t tell the whole story. Whilst an average homeowner, if they sold their property today in the Carnarvon Place would make around £55,600 gain, a home owner in the Mallow Way area would, on average, have made and impressive £195,900 gain.

Now I know there aren’t many landlords that would buy a large property in the Mallow Way area to rent out. If you wanted to buy in the Mallow Way area, as many landlords do, they are achieving yields of nearer to 4%-5% on the smaller semi detached houses.

However, it’s just that looking at the Bingham property market in more depth enables me to give you the best advice and opinion to help you find the best investment property. It is in our interest that you buy a property which will rent well, and for long periods of time. If you would like any advice on choosing properties, please come and see me at our office in Market Place in Bingham 

3 Bed Semi Musters Road Bingham

These 3 bed semi detached properties make excellent buy to let investments.  Appealing to many different types of tenant, it would let very easily.  With excellent schools close by, a lovely community and good transport links it will not be on the market for long. Unfortunately there is no photo of the kitchen, which may mean it is in need of some attention!  There is however a brand new bathroom.

The good news is that it is being advertised for £159,950 and could produce a monthly yield of 5.2 %.

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-50485073.html

Brand New 3 Bed in Calverton

New build properties make great buy to let investments.  You benefit from the 10 year NHBC guarantee and 2 year builder's warranty, the property will be ready to let as soon as the sale is completed and tenants like new build rentals as they have not been lived in, so they let quickly.  Plus, purchase your investment at the right time and there will be bargains to be had, ask the builder to throw in carpets, appliances etc... Why would they say no?!

This is a great new development in Calverton: The Brambles by Taylor Wimpey.  There is just one remaining plot of this type and so I think the builder will snap off the hand of a landlord looking to invest.  I have been told that the builder would accept £175,000 but I would advise landlords to go lower still.  Carpets and appliances are to be included.

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/new-homes-for-sale/property-47176532.html

** LOOK OUT FOR FURTHER INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES WITHIN THIS POPULAR DEVELOPMENT - NEXT PHASE TO BE RELEASED SOON **

Property values rise by £284 per week in Bingham

Last week, a landlord who lives in Wymeswold, came in to our office to discuss the rising property values in the A46 corridor between Leicester and Bingham. He owns a varied portfolio of rental properties, primarily in Bingham and Loughborough with one in Leicester, so it is interesting to compare the increase in property values around the area.

Over the last 12 months in Bingham average property values have risen from £192,000 to £206,800, a rise of £14,800 or £284 per week. When I looked at some of the surrounding areas, Loughborough has had a lower than average increase in property values, at around £205 per week, whilst Leicester has had a slightly lower rise of around £194 per week.

When one looks at the percentages, Bingham has performed the best, rising by 7.7% in the last 12 months, compared to Loughborough at 6.1% and  Leicester’s at 5.7%! It is, nonetheless, a rise in all the town’s average property values which suggests the market is increasing steadily in our area, but especially Bingham– good news for home owners and landlords alike. 

When considering this landlord’s buy to let portfolio, yields can be in the order of an average 4% to 6% per year, depending where you buy, so combine that with steady rental growth, excellent increases in capital values of the properties themselves and it could be a good time to invest in the property market in Bingham.

If you would like some advice about buying to let, be you a landlord with a portfolio or someone thinking of investing in the rental market, please come and see me at our office on 18a Market Street, Bingham or email me at katie.archer@belvoirlettings.com

Hassle-Free BTL Apartment in Bingham

Apartments are always popular with tenants, and this one in Bingham, is immaculate.  It will require no work so would be a good choice for investment landlords who want a more hands-off approach.  It will not be around for long, and will let very quickly.

At an asking price of £125,000 it will attract a return of 5-6%.

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-47953906.html