© 2025 News On The Block. All rights reserved.
News on the Block is a trading name of Premier Property Media Ltd.
© 2025 News On The Block. All rights reserved.
News on the Block is a trading name of Premier Property Media Ltd.
According to the fourth quarter ARLA survey, achievable rent levels have increased in central London and throughout the country away from the southeast. The return on property investment has stayed static at 5.1% for apartments. However a mood swing is apparent with significantly more investment landlords buying rather than selling their property holdings than last quarter. Average weekly rents for flats in prime central London are now £406. This compares with £112 (Midlands) and £157 (Northwest).
Average house prices are forecast to rise by just 1% over 2006 and by an average of just 2.1% per annum over the next three years, if a new research report from Hometrack proves accurate. Whilst activity levels may have improved over the autumn on the back of more realistic pricing it does not automatically follow that prices will start to rise. The report foresees the best prospects for growth to be in London, the southeast and Scotland over the next three years – these are the regions where affordability constraints are least pronounced.
Both buyers and sellers appear to have reached a consensus on the outlook for housing prices for 2006. Research carried out by Propertyfinder.com - the UK’s first property portal - provides evidence that the number of homes being bought and sold will grow strongly in the New Year and that prices will rise modestly, by an average of 1.4% over the next 12 months.
Apartments continued to dominate new-build homes for sale, with a majority of 55% compared with 30% for detached homes. However, apartments have seen the biggest price falls over the last two years whilst other types have remained broadly stable.