Morning all,
Last Saturday I had a visit from a current landlord regarding his 2 bed apartment in the centre 'Whats going on in the centre of Oxford this year Richard'? he said. Approximately 2 hours later I had a visit from another landlord looking to invest in OX1 who asked 'what has the market being doing in the last year'? It got me to thinking exactly how has the OX1 market been performing in the last 12 months..................
Comparing Oct 2014 to Oct 2015 the average rent in OX1 was £1500. For the same period to Oct 2016 this average has risen to £1550. Admittedly this was a comparison for OX1 1HD and a 1/4 of a mile surrounding it which brings in a number of apartments as you can imagine.
Concentrating my efforts on 'pure city centre accommodation', that being Empress Court, Lion Brewery, Oxford Castle and Stream Edge, the averages are slightly higher, but have always historically demonstrated an upwardly trend year on year. Whilst this is the case for rentals it is certainly not by as much as we would normally expect to see and the sales numbers (sold prices) in the centre seem to suggest things have plateaued a little.
In July 2015 we had 3, 2 bedroom apartments available for rent. One more was added in August 2015 totalling 4 properties. For the same period this year we had 23 available, 2 bedroom apartments to rent. On no less than 18 occasions there was a reduction in rent from asking price during this period before they were let and presently there are 22 available 2 bedroom apartments for rent in the city centre. Compared with the same time last year there were only 6 properties showing on Rightmove for OX1.
Why?
Opinions vary. Some would suggest that the rental market has levelled off a little and that the rental prices have hit their peak. Others would have you believe Brexit has played a part in things slowing down in the centre. Or was it just a coincidence that so many city centre apartments have become available this summer?
All of the above (in some small way) is the answer I tend to lean towards. It is too soon to make any firm predictions. In particular I do think that Brexit is holding people's attention which has had an effect, but I do not view this as long term. Things did slow down a little in the centre of Oxford but there is certainly not a changing of the guard. There may well have been 23 apartments available but we did manage to successfully negotiate tenancies for all of them.
City centre 2 bedroom apartments have always been high on the agenda for students looking to secure accommodation. I don't see this changing anytime soon but what this summer has taught me and our clients is to adapt to the market quickly where it demands it to ensure your investment is protected at all times.
For a review of your property please feel free to call me.
Best
Richard
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