Potential landlords often ask us, is now
a good time to buy an investment property in Exeter?
When buying something as valuable as a property in a changing market, it
is worth checking the facts and figures very carefully.
Last week I had an interesting
discussion with a potential landlord who lives in Exwick. He is thinking of
purchasing his first buy-to-let property and he wanted my opinion on the state of
the Exeter property market and if it was a good time to invest.
He was particularly worried that with all the newspaper
headlines of a booming housing market, there wouldn’t be any demand by tenants.
To put things into perspective I thought it would be
worth looking at earnings compared to property values to see how affordable
properties in Exeter actually are. I
found that properties in Exeter currently have an average value of around
£252,499 with the average salary in 2012 being £23,155. This is a ratio of
around 1 to 10.9, which is a wider gap when compared to the UK National average of 1
to 9.46.
It seems the issue is becoming both affordability and the
raising of the 5% or 10% deposit, which when you take into account fees, will
be in the order of £15,000-£30,000. The good news for landlords and this
gentleman is while buyers can’t get on the housing ladder, they will have to
stay in rented accommodation.
If you are considering buying
a property to let in the Exeter area, come and see us at our Martin & Co office on South
Street.
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