Reading; UK’s Fastest Growing Economy

According to a study by consultants EY Reading is forecast to be the fastest growing city economy in the UK until 2021.

Reading’s dominant information and communications sector gives rise to its favorable outlook. Major companies such as Huawei, Oracle and Microsoft have a significant presence in the city. The sector is forecast to expand by 3.5% annually over the next three years which, combined with the fact that this sector employs mostly skilled workers, the outlook for rental affordability in some of the attractive real estate projects that are currently being developed looks good. In addition, the new railway station nearing completion will further support these projects.

Posted by: Kelvin Tayfield, Sun, Nov 17th 2019

Case Study – Liverpool Investment

A recent study of the top twenty UK cities showed that average house price growth year on year was 2.4% with Leicester, Manchester and Liverpool the top performers. Liverpool was the only city of the three to register higher growth in 2019 than 2018, increasing from 4% to 4.3%.

By investing in a Liverpool development now, with a 30% down payment and similar growth, investors are effectively getting a 14% per annum return on their money! Not a bad return whilst one waits for completion and looks forward to healthy guaranteed rental returns that some developers are offering.

Posted by: Kelvin Tayfield, Sat, Nov 9th 2019

UK house prices keep rising despite Brexit turmoil

Property prices rose 0.2% in October at a time when many investors are still sitting on the sidelines. This pent-up demand is expected to push growth in the near future. In addition, given the weak worldwide economic growth, there is likely to be downward pressure on interest rates making home ownership cheaper.

This scenario, together with the positive outlook for Sterling signals a good time to invest in UK property.

Posted by: Kelvin Tayfield, Thu, Oct 31st 2019

Pound is in an upward trend from here

Now that a no deal Brexit is off the table, analysts seem to agree that although the pound might see some short-term dips, the long-term view is sufficiently positive to ensure support in these dips. The below chart supports showing the recent gains supports this view.

As far as the outlook for UK property goes, the EU’s recent softer stance appears to have reduced the risk of difficult trade negotiations. This bodes well for the economy and investment and should see support for real estate.

Posted by: Kelvin Tayfield, Fri, Oct 25th 2019

Buyers are back in London’s Prime Property Market!

Both Londoners and foreign investors are becoming more active in the London market as a Brexit deal becomes more likely. Third quarter transactions rose month on month in all price categories except those above £5M. This is explained by the fact that there is an expectation of stamp duty cuts for these high value properties in the upcoming budget speech.

Given the price reduction and currency depreciation over the last three years, it seems buyers are seeing the bottom of the market.

Source; FT.com 17 October 2019

Posted by: Kelvin Tayfield, Fri, Oct 18th 2019