Where is the best place to buy a property and what sort of home should you go for? There have been some useful surveys around recently that could give prospective house buyers some clues.
For example, a recent survey from Nationwide highlights the most affordable sub-regions in each English region. So, if you want to live in the North, your money will go furthest in Cumbria. If you need to commute into London to work, house prices in the Medway region comes out top of the Outer Metropolitan affordability stakes.
Property size will also have a role to play in the decision making process. Demand for smaller properties is increasing as the number of one-person households rises and this trend is set to continue over the next 20 years. Asking prices for one-bedroom flats and studio apartments rose by 1.5% last year. On the other hand, the asking price for larger properties decreased. The average three bedroom flat fell by 4.7%.
If you’re looking for a real bargain, take a look at the recently repossessed properties up for auction. The CML expects there to be about 40,000 repossessions this year.
Of course, even if you find your dream home at a bargain price, you still have to secure a contractor mortgage. The CML expects mortgage lending in 2011 will remain the same as last year, at just £135 billion. Because of this lack of funding, it expects to see just 860,000 property transactions during the year. In a normally functioning housing market, the figure would be more like 1,290,000.
It’s also worth remembering that the days of making a fast buck on property transactions are long gone. People now stay in one home for an extended period of time, not just a couple of years.
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