Capital Growth - Oxford's Top 3

So!

Many of you may recall me publishing my findings a couple of weeks ago on Oxford's Top 3 locations to purchase for investment and in particular I looked at average property price Vs yield return.

'It's no good having a decent yield if my house ain't appreciating Richard'!!......................

Put to me so eloquently by a client after my recent post. And they are of course absolutely spot on, so here they are folks:

5 year growth period

1.     OX1 average price - £427,000. OX1 Captial Growth - 22%

2.     OX2 average price - £531,000. OX2 Captial Growth - 20.5%

3.     OX3 average price - £343,000. OX3 Captial Growth - 23%

4.     OX4 average price - £244,000. OX4 Captial Growth - 23.1%

5.     OX5 average price - £325,000. OX5 Captial Growth - 21.5%

Cowley strikes again then! This location offers both a positive capital growth and an average 6.6% yield. That said the growth and yields on offer are good for most Oxford locations so landlords will rest easy knowing that Oxford offers no general restrictions when buying for investment. Proof of this?

Oxford's 5 year capital growth and yield breakdown.........

• Capital Growth  ... 22%
• Yield Growth  .... 5.8%

If you would like to talk to us about your potential investment, please come into our office on 31 Woodins Way, Paradise Street, Oxford or just give me a call. 

Safe bet - modern town house Littlemore

Connells have this very nice 2 bed town house on the market in Littlemore .. bargain at £220,000, especially considering the condition.

She will rent at £900 per month until the cow come home.

Freehold yield of 5% ... decent capital growth of just over 30% in the last 4 years

Dont hang around with this one! Link to the property on Rightmove below.

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-45859598.html

Oxford Property prices. Can you afford to wait?

Whether we are homeowners or investment buyers there is one question that continually resonates with us all which is of course; How much is my property worth?

Although this offers a brief insight for both parties I find my attention swaying slightly to investment purchasers (hmmmm, strange that!) and how this information may serve them best when plotting their next move. So, picking an area to look at I chose good old OX1 and focused my attention solely on flats/apartments for my research and here are my findings:

The average price of property in this area currently sits at £304,000. Using the tardis I decided to revisit the last 5 years to see how prices have changed in this location for these properties.

• 5 years ago - £227,000
• 4 years ago - £260,000
• 3 years ago - £263,000
• 2 years ago - £270,000
• 1 year ago - £280,000
• 6 months ago - £300,500

From 2009 to present day the housing market has seen some tricky moments. Even now we find ourselves in 'recovery'. One thing that does appear certain is that some areas, notably OX1 just keep on going and from a capital growth perspective still represent a fantastic return for investment.

If you would like to compare capital growth on your property and its location or yield % I would welcome your call. Maybe you would just like some general investment advice which I'd also be happy to help with. Alternatively you can visit me in my office at 31 Woodins Way, Paradise Street, Oxford, OX1 1HD

Charming 2 bedroom period home with views of the spires. 12% return a year!

My friend Christopher cant believe the price of property in Oxford. However, you get what you pay for and this charming 2 bed terraced is on the market with Breckon and Breckon at £300,000. It came on the market a couple of days ago and will rent for £1075, which gives a reasonable yield of 4.2% per year.

Its gone up in value by 40.2% since 2009, so this property has seen between between 7% and 8% growth a year.

Add in the return from the yield and we have a very nice and safe investment.

Wont be on the market for long me thinks

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-43944016.html

Oxford's Top 3 Property Spots

Whilst sat pondering my next move for property market domination in Oxford I stumbled upon a question that I probably get asked more than any other in my day to day life. In fact just 2 hours ago one of my current landlords came into my office (free coffee of course) and asked me that very same question, which got me thinking; What are Oxford's top 3 places for yield returns?? 

I took the 5 main areas of Oxford, and using the average price for each location this is what I found out: 

1.     OX1 average price - £427,000. OX1 average yield - 5.1%

2.     OX2 average price - £531,000. OX2 average yield - 6.2%

3.     OX3 average price - £343,000. OX3 average yield - 5.3%

4.     OX4 average price - £244,000. OX4 average yield - 6.6%

5.     OX5 average price - £325,000. OX5 average yield - 4.9%

Rental yield in the property industry is a very important thing. It can mean the difference between having a successful, thriving portfolio and holding property that is as fragile as a pack of cards. The most obvious description of 'yield' I could find was this one:

'the income produced by a financial investment, usually shown as a percentage of cost'.

And what is that golden figure ladies and gents?? 5% and above is generally accepted as the pot of gold, so as you can see, whilst Oxford shows a clear winner in Cowley for investment purchasing all 5 locations represent fantastic returns on your investment.

Next week................................ Capital Growth Top 3 

How Affordable Are Oxford Properties?

I got chatting with my client the other day who has just bought a property for investment in Manchester and he was talking about the cost effectiveness of purchasing for investment in this area. Not being one to stray from my roots it got me thinking, how affordable are properties in Oxford?

Price to earnings ratios are effective measures of the relative affordability of property in a given area. So I looked at Oxford Vs the national average.

Oxford's price to earnings ratio stands at 13% based on the average purchase price. The national average shows a 9% ratio against the average. This shows Oxford as being 40% less affordable than the national average. Even when you consider the governments help to buy scheme, first time buyers still have to front up 5% which could still prove too costly in this area.

So what does this mean? Well for all you landlords out there the message is clear. The rental market remains strong and growth looks sustainable for the long term. We have plenty of budding first time buyers out there but securing a first home is not easy which in turn continues to drive the rented sector.

Taking all this into account now could be a brilliant time to consider investing in the Oxford property market.

If you fancy a chat or would like to know more feel free to pop into my office on 31 Woodins Way, Oxford or call me for a chat. 

Central Oxford Vs Summertown

I was talking to a couple last week, who are considering becoming landlords for the first time, and they were looking for advice as to whether a property in central Oxford or Summertown would make a better Buy-to-Let investment. They were interested in which area would offer a better return/yield in addition to potential capital growth, and whilst properties in both areas can let and sell very well, I wanted to do a bit more research to help them with their decision.

Over the last 12 months, the average value of a property in OX1 has been around £429,000 at 8.7% growth; while in Summertown the average price in this period was £390,000 at 8.2% growth for the same period. To better understand the investment opportunities available, we considered the rents of the same three year period. The average rent achieved in OX1 was in the region of £1850 pcm, giving an average yield/return of approx 5.1%. In Summertown the average rent was slightly lower, at around £1800 pcm, with a corresponding yield/return of 5.5%.

However, one must also consider capital growth and how the value could change over time. In 2009, a property in OX1 would have cost approximately £354,000 and in Summertown the average value was £320,000. This shows that the average property value in OX1 has risen by 21% since 2009, and in Summertown it has risen by 22%. Ultimately, I found both areas to be equally good investments, but as you can see there is hardly any difference in the yields/returns or the increase in values, which we would not have been identified without that extra investigation. In this case, it depends on the best available property to buy on the day.

If you are a landlord, new or old, feel free to call into our office on Woodins Way, Oxford to ask my opinion on which property investment is best for you.