Last updated: 28th February 2020
Is the London property market calling? Shall we still be swerving property investment opportunities here or is there light, luring us back to the capital?
Investors have been turning their backs on London for a few years now – the anti-London brigade some might say. Prices overheated, competition got fierce and many were priced out of the market.
But…activity is starting to happen here once again.
London as an investment location will always be strong, because it’ll always perform well in the long-term. So regardless of where we are in the cycle, if you spot an investment opportunity, it’ll always be worth an evaluation. You never know what you’re likely to find.
The London property market was flying before the last correction – we’re talking double-digit growth! But things got far too heated around 2008-2009. Property prices here suffered badly and the growth came crashing quicker than anywhere else in the UK.
Then in 2010, London went through a recovery phase and has continued to grow slowly ever-since, for the most part.
Not really.
Affordability is still an issue for many. Average prices in the capital are 14 times the average London wage. And far higher than the rest of the UK.
So if you thought you’d be the only one looking for opportunity here, you’d be massively mistaken.
But we’re a positive bunch, and we like to balance our points out with positives too.
London is a global city with huge employment opportunities and lots going on. The market might not do anything particularly exciting for a few years, but this is fine because it allows for wages to increase and affordability to improve. This alone will help London bounce back.
If you’re looking to be slap bang in the middle of the action, you’d be wasting your time – unless you have massive pockets.
But if you’re looking for relative value and short term growth, you’ll find the best property investment opportunities just outside of London, for example, in places like Hackney and Kings Cross.
We know…these places haven’t had great reputations in days gone by, but this is the ripple effect in action. Well…that and a boat load of regeneration efforts which have helped to transform these locations.
They might not be prime London, but they’re well connected – which makes them an incredibly valuable investment. Working professionals and families are in-tune with moving further afield and paying less for property as long as they’re still well-connected – it’s a win-win.
Focus on finding the right property investment opportunity with the right fundamentals and you could be looking at a very worthwhile investment indeed.
If you’d like to learn more about investing in London property, we’ve done a few podcasts on London property and covered what’s happening to the London property market here.