Volumes of buy to let investment transactions have fallen as remortgage deals begin to rise, according to the latest LendInvest BTL Index.
The buy to let index surveys 105 postcode areas around England and Wales based on a combination of factors including capital value growth, transaction volumes, rental yield and rental price growth. The index for July 2018 found that Luton came out on top for the first time since December 2016 as offering the UK’s best property investment opportunity.
Birmingham was also singled out as a top investment opportunity, with the Midlands city pulling ahead in front of Manchester to take fourth place.
Cambridge and Bristol were also marked out as regional capitals, pushing their way into the top ten and claiming 6th and 8th places respectively.
Finally, a year on from a sharp decline, certain London postcodes are showing recovery. South East London climbed from number 79, where it placed in June 2017, to number 33.
Sales Director at LendInvest, Ian Boden, said: ‘It’d be so easy to look at the underlying data that tells us transactions volumes are down and make dire predictions about the health and wealth of the rental market. Instead, what our Index proves once again is that looking at one metric in the housing market is never enough. One metric on its own can’t clearly define the performance of a city’s property market.’
He continued: ‘Each of the very top performing BTL locations this quarter is experiencing a slowdown in transactions – substantial falls in places, dips in others. But, the best places this quarter continue to outperform the competition well thanks to strong performances on other, equally important metrics like rental yield, capital gains and rental price growth. Data from the BTL Index, UK Finance and our own experience as a mortgage lender strongly suggests that right now a ‘buy, hold and remortgage’ strategy is some investors’ preference while the market works through a possible slowdown.’
Source: Residential Landlord