Walsall Property Market

Comment on the Walsall property market

Walsall Unemployment Rates Drop to 7.3%! What Does This Mean for Walsall’s Property Owners?

Head of Juicing @Ashmore Lettings & Sales Ltd Walsall Property Market , , , , , , , ,
Walsall Unemployment Rates Drop to 7.3%! What Does This Mean for Walsall’s Property Owners?
Walsall Unemployment Rates Drop to 7.3%! What Does This Mean for Walsall’s Property Owners?

It was late May 2016, The Right Hon. Member for Tatton, Mr George Osborne, published an official HM Treasury analysis stating UK house prices would be lower by at least 10% (and up to 18%) by the middle of 2018 compared with what is expected if the UK remained in the European Union.  So, eight months on from the Referendum, are we beginning to show signs of that prophecy?

The simple answer is yes and no.

Good barometers of the housing market are the share prices of the big UK builders. Much was made of Barratt’s share price dropping by 42.5% in the two weeks after Brexit, along with Taylor Wimpey’s equally eye watering drop in the same two weeks by 37.9%. Looking at the most recent set of data from the Land Registry, property values in Walsall are 5.75% up month on month (however, the month before that, they had seen decrease of 0.1%) – so is this the time to panic and shout?

Doom and Gloom then?  Well, let me consider the other side of the coin.

Continue reading →

Is the Walsall Buy to Let Market Over-Saturated?

Head of Juicing @Ashmore Lettings & Sales Ltd Walsall Property Market , , , , , , , , ,
Is the Walsall Buy to Let Market Over-Saturated?
Is the Walsall Buy to Let Market Over-Saturated?

If I were a buy to let landlord in Walsall today, I might feel a little bruised by the assault made on my wallet after being (and continuing to be) ransacked over the last 12 months by HM Treasury’s tax changes on buy to let.

To add insult to injury, Brexit has caused a tempering of the Walsall property market with property prices not increasing by the levels we have seen in the last few years.  There is even a possibility we might even see a very slight drop in property prices this year and, if Walsall property prices do drop, the downside to that is that first time buyers could be attracted back into the Walsall property market; meaning less demand for renting ( ie rents will go down).

Before we all run for the hills, all these things could be serendipitous to every Walsall landlord, almost a blessing in disguise.

Continue reading →

Walsall Properties…”How Much to Buy Them All?!”

Head of Juicing @Ashmore Lettings & Sales Ltd Walsall Property Market , , , , , , , ,
Walsall Properties…”How Much to Buy Them All?!”
Walsall Properties…”How Much to Buy Them All?!”

My 14 year-old has started his GCSE’s this year. He wants to be a Chartered Surveyor as he loves buildings and anything to do with cars. He posed the fascinating question last week which got me thinking…

So this weekend, I sat down and calculated what the total value of all the properties in Walsall are worth … and just for fun, worked out how much they have gone up in value since he was born back in the summer of 2002! I used information from the latest census, land registry and the ONS.

So, here you are…

In the last 14 years, since the autumn of 2002, the total value of Walsall property has increased by 95% or £8.3 billion to a total of £16.1 billion. Interesting, when you consider the FTSE100 has risen by 68.9% and inflation (i.e. the UK Retail Price Index) rose by 38.7% during the same 14 years.

Continue reading →

Walsall’s ‘Baby Boomers’ Vs Walsall’s ‘Millennials’

Head of Juicing @Ashmore Lettings & Sales Ltd Walsall Property Market , , , , , , , ,
Walsall’s ‘Baby Boomers’ Vs Walsall’s ‘Millennials’ Walsall’s ‘Baby Boomers’ Vs Walsall’s ‘Millennials’

I was talking to my financial advisor friend the other day. He is an Independent Financial Advisor (IFA) who does both residential and commercial mortgages. Recently we completed a property portfolio review for a Walsall Landlord. We got talking about the current mortgage market and why Walsall youngsters were choosing to rent.  It was fascinating listening to a different point of view which I thought my blog reading friends on here may be interested in.

Some property experts are directing the current crisis towards the 55 to 70-year-old Walsall citizens.

Also known as the ‘Baby Boomers Generation’, these Walsall people were born after the end of the Second World War when the country saw a massive rise in births as they slowly recovered from the economic hardships experienced during wartime.

Throughout the 1970’s and 1980’s, they experienced (whilst in their 20’s, 30’s and 40’s) an unparalleled level of economic growth and prosperity throughout their working lifetime on the back of improved education, government subsidies, escalating property prices and technological developments, they have emerged as a successful and prosperous generation.

Continue reading →

Are Walsall Landlords Exploiting Walsall Property?

Head of Juicing @Ashmore Lettings & Sales Ltd Walsall Property Market , , , , , , , , ,
Are Walsall Landlords Exploiting Walsall Property?
Are Walsall Landlords Exploiting Walsall Property?

I can’t remember who coined it first but the first time I heard it was when Mrs Thatcher said it…“An Englishman’s home is his castle-and everyone should own their own home”.

In 1971, around 50% of people owned their own home and, as the baby-boomers got better jobs and pay, that proportion of homeowners rose to 69% by 2001.  Homeownership was here to stay as many baby boomers assumed it’s very much a cultural thing here in Britain to own your own home.

But on the back of TV programmes like Homes Under the Hammer, these same baby boomers started to jump on the band wagon of Walsall buy to let properties as an investment. Walsall first time buyers were in competition with Walsall landlords to buy these smaller starter homes… pushing house prices up in the 2000’s beyond the reach of first time buyers. Alas, it is not as simple as that. Many factors come into play, such as economics, the banks and government policy. But are Walsall landlords fanning the flames of the Walsall housing crisis by adding to the bonfire?

Continue reading →

Predictions for Walsall Property 2017

Head of Juicing @Ashmore Lettings & Sales Ltd Walsall Property Market , , , , , ,
Predictions for Walsall Property 2017
Predictions for Walsall Property 2017

January 2017 is almost over and finally I feel like the dust has settled allowing me the opportunity to catch my breath to reflect on the past year.

2016 was certainly eventful. The ongoing saga that is Brexit, the Queen’s 90th , Andy Murray winning Wimbledon, Trump, Bake Off to Channel 4, the Autumn Statement and something close to the hearts of every buy to let landlord and homeowner in Walsall… the changes in the local property market.

So, let’s look at the headlines for the Walsall property market in 2016…

In the last month, Walsall property values rose by 0.48%, leaving them, year on year 4.34% higher, whilst interestingly, Walsall asking prices are down 0.7% month on month. All three statistics go to show the Walsall property market has recovered well after the summer lull, which was worsened by the uncertainty surrounding the EU vote back in June. Irrespective of all the issues, the average value of a Walsall home now stands at £176,085.

Continue reading →

Are Walsall Pensioners ‘Trapped’ in their Homes?!

Head of Juicing @Ashmore Lettings & Sales Ltd Walsall Property Market , , , , , , , ,
Are Walsall Pensioners ‘Trapped’ in their Homes?!
Are Walsall Pensioners ‘Trapped’ in their Homes?!

During a site visit last week I was approached by a mature, friendly gentleman who lives next door to one of the properties I manage in Pelsall. He lives in a Bungalow, which is one of my favourite property types that he owns outright (mortgage free). We got talking about the Walsall property market and then he mentioned something which piqued my curiosity. How many other Walsall pensioners are in a similar situation?!

Walsall people aged over 65 currently hold more housing wealth in their homes than the annual GDP of the whole of Northumberland (strictly speaking a county can’t have a GDP, but as everyone knows the phrase, it works for comparison purposes!)

This is a problem for everyone in Walsall!

Many retiree’s want to move but cannot, as there is a shortage of such homes for mature people to downsize into. Due to the shortage, bungalows command a 10% to 20% premium per square foot over houses of the same size with stairs. To add to the woes, in 2014, just 1% of new builds in the UK were bungalows, according to the National House Building Council – down from 7% in 1996.

Continue reading →

How Much Rent Can I Get For My Walsall Property?

Head of Juicing @Ashmore Lettings & Sales Ltd Walsall Property Market , , , , , , , , , ,
How Much Rent Can I Get For My Walsall Property
How Much Rent Can I Get For My Walsall Property

Welcome back to the first Walsall Property Market blog article of the New Year! I hope you enjoyed a well deserved break over the holidays?

Over the weekend I received a call from a newbie landlord living in the south who was purchasing his first buy to let Walsall property.  He said he had been following my blog for a while and wanted to ask a few questions. His first question was “How much rent can I achieve for my property?”  A question I get asked once or twice a year…!!

I thought it was only fair to explain the thoughts behind an appraisal and how I arrive at the appraisal level when I go out to a property.  Below are the key points of that conversation and my thoughts…

Continue reading →

WALSALL LANDLORDS – THREE THINGS I’LL BE DOING OVER CHRISTMAS

Head of Juicing @Ashmore Lettings & Sales Ltd Walsall Property Market , , , , , , , ,
WALSALL LANDLORDS - THREE THINGS I’LL BE DOING OVER CHRISTMAS
WALSALL LANDLORDS – THREE THINGS I’LL BE DOING OVER CHRISTMAS

I don’t know about you but at some point over the Christmas break I get fed up of all the eating, drinking and partying.  “Bah! Humbug!” I hear you say…but in reality I think it’s simply that as a busy business owner, my mind and body can’t take the change in pace from mad and hectic to practically a vegetative like state.

So when I hit that point and I need to re-engage my brain, this is what I plan to do…

Continue reading →

Pace Yourself with Walsall Property…!!

Head of Juicing @Ashmore Lettings & Sales Ltd Walsall Property Market , , , , , , , ,
Pace Yourself with Walsall Property…!!
Pace Yourself with Walsall Property…!!

With the fast approaching Christmas holidays soon upon us some prayers are being offered by the local bob sleighing enthusiasts for snow although, we are more likely to see it between January to March than December.  However, the Walsall property market has a pretty confident feel to it.

With the underlying fundamentals of a continued lack of properties being built, a shortage of properties – both in terms of quantity and quality -coming to the market and the continued low mortgage rate environment, enquiries from first time buyers and buy-to-let landlords is strong and motivation is even stronger, given those inexpensive lending rates and general demand caused by under supply.

Continue reading →