Predicted property price rises: Confidence or Wishful Thinking?

A recent home owner study conducted by a leading property search website, has concluded that the majority of home owners expect house prices in their area to rise by September. Of the 4,000 people polled, 74% expected this rise, with the average increase falling at just over 4 per cent of market value. Both of these figures are the highest values recorded for three years by the study, which has run four times a year since 2009.

The confidence is not universal however, with not one of the home owners surveyed in Northern Ireland predicting an increase of any kind. This serves as a sharp contrast with London, where 89% of the survey expected prices to rise with only one in twenty-five expecting a fall.

The question remains however, of how much stock can be placed in these statistics, home owners have a vested interest in their house prices going up and a recent study has revealed that house prices actually dropped last month, though they remain higher than they were at the same time last year.

With the difficulty rising prices place on first time buyers, it is likely that if house prices do rise, home owners will have difficulty offloading their property, and if they fall they will be unlikely to want to sell their property to avoid making a loss. This is fine if the property in question is your main residence but for a second property bought to turn a quick profit this may be more problematic.

One solution to the problem is to let your property out as one of Britain’s many “accidental landlords”, as the same market forces preventing people from buying your home means there are a dearth of people looking to rent.

 It is important to remember however, that there is a lot more to being a landlord than sticking a “To Let” sign in the front garden. One of the most important things to consider is the landlord insurance policy you have protecting your property. The right policy can make the difference between your investment paying off and one of the many horror stories on landlord forums across the web.

If you’re planning on using your home as a residential let property head over to Discount Landlord for a competitive landlord insurance quote.

Nathan Ruan

www.discountlandlord.co.uk