Walsall Property Market

Comment on the Walsall property market

Rents in Walsall Will Increase More Than Walsall Property Prices By 21%!

Head of Juicing @Ashmore Lettings & Sales Ltd Walsall Property Market , , , , , , , , , ,
Rents in Walsall Will Increase More Than Walsall Property Prices In Next 5 Years!
Rents in Walsall Will Increase More Than Walsall Property Prices In Next 5 Years!

Last weekend I had a meeting with a professional landlord who has an extensive portfolio of properties.  By his own admission, he confirmed that he has somewhat neglected the portfolio which he has kind of left to look after itself.  In recent years his focus was his family-run business so the portfolio wasn’t a priority.  He wanted to change this attitude and become more aggressive with his Walsall property ambitions by expanding on a healthy and varied portfolio.

During our meeting he asked me where in Walsall and what type of property he should purchase to create the best capital growth and great rental yields.  This got me thinking about our property market in Walsall and what has actually happened to rents and property prices..and more importantly for him..projections for the future.

Some fascinating changes are in the air in the Walsall property market.  Just to give you a flavour of the full article below, upon conclusion of my research I found that the rent private tenants pay will rise faster than property prices over the next five years. Creating further issues to Walsall’s growing multitude of renters.  In fact, my examination of statistical forecasts found that –

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Walsall Property Owners and Selling Values..

Head of Juicing @Ashmore Lettings & Sales Ltd Walsall Property Market , , , , , , , , ,
Walsall Property Owners and Selling Values..
Walsall Property Owners and Selling Values..

A local property investor/ landlord contacted me last week with a million questions which I really enjoy.  Those of you that know me personally know I love to talk about Walsall property to anyone who would lend me an ear (at this point I wish I had some emoticons to add a couple of smiley faces)! Now, our investor was a shrewd individual it seemed and informed me how he had several properties achieving, what seems like from the outset, some great rental values..which got me thinking..what is actually happening with current property values and rents over the past year? What is the route to getting more ‘bang for your buck’?

The new year started with some positive interest in the Walsall property market. Taking a snap shot of the Walsall property market for the first quarter of 2017, the picture suggests some interesting trends when it comes to the asking prices for property and what prices properties are actually selling for.  This is really important to understand as everything connected to these two factors has a ripple effect which ultimately affects your final numbers whether you decide to flip (re-sell) or rent it out.

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Walsall Property Values Increase by £15.84 a Day!

Head of Juicing @Ashmore Lettings & Sales Ltd Walsall Property Market , , , , , , , , , ,
Walsall Property Values Increase by £15.84 a Day!
Walsall Property Values Increase by £15.84 a Day!

Investing in Walsall buy to let property is a little different to investing in the stock market and arguably more rewarding than the latter. Or you could of course pledge your hard-earned cash in the Building Society. When you invest your money in the Building Society, this is considered by many as the safe option but the returns you can achieve are, in my opinion, miserably low (the best 2-year bond rate from Nationwide is a whopping 0.75% a year!). The Stock Market can give good returns, but unless you are a city whizz kid or on the phone every day to your Stockbroker it is difficult to make positive returns. The masses usually invest in stock market funds, making the investment quite hands off and one always has the feeling of not being in control.

However, with buy to let, things can be more hands on. One of the things many landlords like is the physical nature of property – the fact that you can touch the bricks and mortar. It is exactly this which attracts many of Walsall’s landlords – they feel they are making their own decisions rather than assigning them to city whizz kids in Canary Wharf playing Russian roulette with their savings.

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Humongous Change of Walsall’s Shared Households!!

Head of Juicing @Ashmore Lettings & Sales Ltd Walsall Property Market , , , , , , , ,
Humongous Change of Walsall’s Shared Households!!
Humongous Change of Walsall’s Shared Households!!

A day in the life of a Property Manager is never dull. One of the joys of my profession is meeting interesting people every day. If I had to choose who I enjoying meeting the most (landlords, tenants, contractors, developers, solicitors, other fellow professionals) then, I would have to say…landlords! The cogs of a landlord have always intrigued me and they can come up with some of the most interesting topics/ thoughts/ questions ever!!

The other day I met with a Walsall landlord who told me that he had been chatting with an architect friend of his who informed him that back in the mid 2000’s, the developments he was asked to draw up were a balance of one and two bed properties, compared to today where the majority of the buildings he is designing are more towards two and sometimes three bedrooms. Now of course, this was all subjective but it made me think if there was any truth in that and how this affected the Walsall property market?

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Walsall Property and the Housing White Paper..Back to the Future Part 2 (2037)!!

Head of Juicing @Ashmore Lettings & Sales Ltd Walsall Property Market , , , , , , , ,
Walsall Property and the Housing White Paper..Back to the Future Part 2 (2037)!!
Walsall Property and the Housing White Paper..Back to the Future Part 2 (2037)!!

I had an interesting conversation with a landlord who called me last week.  He manages his own portfolio and seemed well versed with the lettings industry.  He kept himself updated of the constant and fast changing world of housing and all the happenings in the Walsall Property Market.  He said he had been receiving my newsletters for some time now and followed my Blog with interest and wanted to pick my brain on the much awaited housing White Paper.  A summary of my thoughts and discussion with the landlord follows…

In case you didn’t know, a few weeks ago, the Government released a White Paper on housing.  It was interesting to note that the Private Rental Sector (PRS) played a key part in the future plans for housing. This is especially important for our increasing Walsall population.  It follows nicely from the article I wrote last week regarding Walsall property since 1981 where we looked back at what has happened since then.  In today’s article we can marry both the White Paper impact on Walsall’s Property Market, together with projections for the future and how they both tie in.

In 1981, the population of Walsall stood at 255,509…

…and today it stands at 278,902.

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Walsall Property – Back To The Future 1981!

Head of Juicing @Ashmore Lettings & Sales Ltd Walsall Property Market , , , , , , ,
Walsall Property – Back To The Future 1981!
Walsall Property – Back To The Future 1981!

Oddly, for some reason, as a 5 year old back in 1981, I remember some things quiet vividly and others not so much thankfully!  I can remember there was a lot of snow and black ice everywhere which had me and my father playing games such as taking a running slide to see who can ski the furthest!  In other parts of the living world I was happily oblivious to the fact that; Mrs. T was in power, we had a Royal Wedding, England won the Ashes, Walsall FC were managed by Alan Buckley and Bucks Fizz won Eurovision!!

So what has happened to property prices since then I thought?  How have things transformed?  The number of homeowners and property investors who wished they had in hindsight, purchased up every house in Walsall all those years ago, particularly when you consider what has happened to Walsall property prices since…

…Walsall Property Values since 1981 have risen by 646%!

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Walsall And The Next Generation Of Households.

Head of Juicing @Ashmore Lettings & Sales Ltd Walsall Property Market , , , , , , , , ,
Walsall And The Next Generation Of Households
Walsall And The Next Generation Of Households

Do you remember the good old days of the 1970’s and 1980’s? The new generation may be surprised to learn certain facts such as the days when we had 24% inflation, 17% interest rates, a 3 day working week, 13% unemployment and power cuts! But hey…at least people could afford to buy their own home! So why aren’t the 20 and 30 year old’s buying in the same volume as they were 30 or 40 years ago?

A number of people blame the credit crunch and global recession of 2008, which had an enormous impact on the Walsall (and UK) housing market. For the most part, the 20-something first-time buyers who, faced with a tricky mortgage market, the perceived need for big deposits, reduced job security and diminishing disposable income, discovered it simply too challenging to get on to the Walsall property ladder.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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