Property Investing

As someone who takes the time to research statistics before I invest in property, one of the main factors I take into account are regional trends in house prices in the UK.  If you are considering UK property investment it is vital that you have a look at the various regional price indices, particularly if you are looking for a location where you are likely to benefit from short to medium term price rises.

People often ask me where they think I should invest.  That is always a difficult question because UK property investment is as much about how you know a particular areas than it is about national trends.  However, taking the last few months information into account there are one or two places that I would encourage investors to consider if they are looking for discount investment property.

London property investment has always been popular, even taking into account the higher base prices for property.  London tends to lead the way in house prices – any falls in values begin in London first but any rises tend also to start in the capital before spreading out to provincial parts of the UK.  According to Rightmove, prices in London have risen by 2.7% in the twelve months to November 2009 and so with prices on the way up I would expect average prices in London to recover more quickly.  I’d also expect to see values for London property investment increase faster than other parts of the UK in the short term – at least until the other areas catch up in the next year or two.

Another area that has seen a really good recovery in prices over recent months has been East Anglia, with a 3.5% annual price rise to November 2009.  It’s a little more difficult to understand why this would be but I would suggest it is because the base prices of property in East Anglia are lower than other places in a similar commuting distance to the capital. Additionally, more and more people are looking to move to more rural areas and this will help drive the prices of property in areas such as Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire.

I would still be a little unsure of investing in the north of England yet as the figures show that prices may well still be falling in both the North East and North West.  Clearly if you are looking to buy a property at the bottom of the cycle you may be well positioned to do so, but I would prefer to see evidence that prices had recovered before being confident to invest in property in the North.