Despite the UK economy heading in the right direction, with record low mortgage rates and unemployment figures dropping, the rate of property prices rising in London has tempered since the start of the year.
This slow but sure downward trend in the rate of growth has been evident since mid-2014, and as leading letting agents in London we’ve monitored this ongoing trend.
Property value increases in London continue to outpace the growth in salaries, although the gap is closing – helped by a lift in salaries over the last six months. Our London-based letting agencies continue to experience a strong demand from both tenants and private landlords.
Property values in the South West region as a whole are 3.6% higher than a year ago.
Compare this to the neighbouring regions of the West Midlands at 3.5% higher and the South East at 9.1%, and we can see that the majority of the country continues to see annual house price increases – the exception being Wales, which recorded a slight decline of -0.6%.
Even with the tempering in house price inflation, it does not necessarily change my outlook that property prices are likely to be firmer over the second half of 2023 amid heightening activity in the London property market.
As stated in a previous article, there is a current shortage of properties on the market, restricting supply, which in turn provides stability and support to London property prices.
Therefore, my overall opinion is that London property prices will rise by 5% over 2023 and the same level in 2024. The demand for our property management services and landlord services in London will continue to grow at an exponential rate in line with this prediction.
Property investment in London is a long-term business. Buying the right sort of property is vital. I have been speaking with a number of London investors and buy-to-let landlords across the city about the importance of a balanced portfolio when buying and renting property.
The balance between buying properties that offer good monthly returns (high yields) but quite often offer poor capital growth (i.e. they don’t increase in value that much over the years compared with the average) verses properties that do go up in value quicker but often offer a lower yield. We keep our private landlords in London up-to-date with trends.
So, what type of properties have performed best over the last few years in London, especially in terms of their capital growth?
When comparing what the average price of detached, semi detached, terraced, and flats were selling for in London back at the start of the Millennium to the present, the results are quite different – almost like a bag of Liquorice Allsorts, as the different types of property have performed poles apart over the last 15 years:
* Detached Houses in 2000 were selling on average for £150,536 and so far in 2023 they have been selling on average in London for £388,270 – a rise of 158%
* Semi-Detached Houses in 2000 were selling on average for £100,848 and so far in 2023 they have been selling on average in London for £264,349 – a rise of 162%
* Terraced Houses in 2000 were selling on average for £77,562 and so far in 2023 they have been selling on average in London for £228,389 – a rise of 194%
* Flats and Apartments in 2000 were selling on average for £86,819 and so far in 2023 they have been selling on average in London for £194,300 – a rise of 124%
Moving forward, what should new investors in London and existing buy-to-let landlords across the city do with this information? Well, the questions I seem to be asked on a daily basis are:
“Should I sell my property in London?”
“Is the time right to buy another buy-to-let property in London and if not London, where?”
“Are there any property bargains out there in London to be had?”
Many other London landlords, who are with both us and other London letting agents, like to pop in for a coffee, pick up the phone or email us to discuss the London property market, how London compares with its closest rivals (Stroud, Swindon and Manchester), and hopefully answer the above three questions.