Now the trees have turned from green to hues of red and
brown, it is worth reflecting on how the Maidenhead Property market has also cooled
as we enter the Winter season. With the underlying fundamentals of a continued lack
of properties being built and low mortgage interest rates demand for Maidenhead
properties has certainly cooled off over the past 6 months….
There may also be a few potential hurdles coming towards us
in the coming months that could affect the Maidenhead (and UK) property market.
Mrs. May has yet to get her teeth into Brexit negotiations and we don’t know
what the result of the US Presidential elections might do to the money markets
around the world, meaning that on the run up to Christmas, some savvy buyers
may take advantage of the lack of certainty by making cheeky offers, but I
don’t believe these will have a huge impact on property values (like the 2008
Credit Crunch).
You see, property ownership, whether it’s for yourself as a
homeowner or buy to let landlord, is a long term investment. In fact, focusing
on buy to let, a number of landlords who own property in Maidenhead have made
contact with me recently asking for my thoughts on the future of the buy to let
market in Maidenhead. Well, as the Politician
Edmund Burke said in the 18th century, "Those who don't know history are
destined to repeat it." .. in other words, to see the future you must look
into the past.
Since the Millennium, the housing market has had everything
thrown at it. The recent Brexit, last year’s General Election, the near melt down
of the World Economy with the Credit Crunch, The Dot Com boom and bust, the
housing market crisis in 2008, the housing boom of 2001 to 2004 .. the list
goes on. In fact here is a graph (courtesy of the Land Registry) of average
Property values since the Millennium in the Royal Borough of Windsor and
Maidenhead Council area.
Even though we had the Dot Com bubble burst in 2000, two
years later in January 2002, property values in the Royal Borough of Windsor
and Maidenhead Council area have risen from £167,300 (in Jan 2000) to £213,300
.. and kept rising to January 2008, when they peaked at £356,300. Then we had
the Credit Crunch and property prices continued to fall until January 2009,
where they averaged £270,000 .. but look where they are now… £489,200.
The point I am trying to get across is long term future property
values are more helpful to landlord investors than the month by month headline
grabbing micro movements in the property market. Look at the graph and you will see the growth
in property values is an upward trend BUT, the average darts about as each
month goes by. So don’t watch the
property indexes and panic if values drop next month or the month afterwards,
because even in the glory days of 2001 to 2004 and 2012 to 2014, without fail,
values always dropped slightly around Christmas, but people will always need a
roof over their heads, and if they can’t buy and the council aren’t building
anymore .. only buy to let landlords can
meet that demand.
Maidenhead landlords are being hit in the pocket with the
new up and coming taxation rules and yes we might have a bumpy ride on the run
up to Christmas (because of the points raised earlier), Brexit or no Brexit, but
the trend will be a slow and steady upward momentum of property values, demand
for rental properties and yields in the Maidenhead property market into 2017
and beyond.
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