House Prices in Morley Increase Year on Year

Property is the single biggest investment most of us will make in our lifetime, for the majority of people it’s the home they live in, for quite a few it’s also in buy to let properties.  For some enterprising young people wanting to get on the property ladder, it’s an investment in a property they can afford in an area they don’t want to live, which they then let out whilst they continue to rent a home to live in which is located in an area they want to live, but can’t afford to buy.

Naturally this makes the majority of us curious about how this investment performs.  We want to know if our own property has increased in value, by how much and how this compares to other properties and other areas.

Property Asking Prices in Morley

So I thought I’d look at house prices in Morley and how they have changed over the last year between May 2015 and May 2016.  On average, property asking prices increased by 5% in Morley from £149,724 to £157,495 which is pretty healthy, especially when compared with neighbouring Batley where they dropped by 1% in the same period from £152,897 to £151,864.

As you might expect, detached and semi-detached properties had a very healthy increase of 10%, £250,453 to £274,397 and £140,518 to £154,513 respectively, (In Batley detached properties actually decreased by 2% whilst semi-detached increased by 1%).  The average asking price of a terrace house in Morley fell by 4% from £123,681 to £118,957, whilst they increased by 1% in Batley.  But the most surprising change was for flats in Morley with the average asking price rising by a whopping 16% in Morley over the last 12 months from £88,396 to £102,488 (in Batley they increased by 2%).

Number of Properties For Sale in Morley

Of course, like anything, supply and demand is likely to play a part in this.  There are currently 24% less properties for sale in Morley than the same time last year (128 compared to 168 in May 2015), there are 13% more terrace houses (51 compared to 41 last year) 30% less detached, 20% less semi detached and almost half the number of flats available, down from 33 to 17, a decrease of 48%.

The big decrease in availability of flats, likely fuelled by the surge in buy to let purchases in the first quarter of the year to beat stamp duty increases, is pushing up prices.  So if you are thinking of selling a flat, now would be a good time to do it!

House prices in Morley remain strong and investing in Morley property continues to be a positive thing to do, whether you are investing as a landlord or in your own home.  As always, if you would like to discuss your property investment plans, I'm always happy to talk property.

The Future of the Morley Lettings Market

‘An Englishman’s Home is his Castle’ is the phrase that was coined in Victorian times as the UK has a reputation for being a country of home owners  .. but the truth could be further from the point, because in a league of the top 46 economic nations of the world, where owning your property is permissible, the UK is only ranked no.37.

Home Ownership History

At the end of the First World War, 77% of people rented their home (the vast majority renting from a private landlord as Council Housing was still very much in its infancy). Homeownership rose very slowly in the 1920’s and started to grow as the economy grew after the Great Depression. However, after the Luftwaffe had flattened huge swathes of housing in the early 40’s, the priority was to get people into clean and decent accommodation .. so Local Authority’s (Councils) took up the baton and they built large council estates in the 1950’s and 1960’s.

"An eye watering 33.4% of 30 to 34 year olds privately rent."

As the UK economy got back on its feet in the middle part of the 20^th Century and wages rose, people decided they wanted to own their own home instead of renting. Throughout the post war decades, it became easier to secure a mortgage. Interestingly, by 1977, 61.6% of 30 to 34 year olds were owner occupiers with a mortgage compared to 8.7% of 30 to 34 year olds being in private rented accommodation (the remaining either being in council housing or living with friends or family). Ten years later, in 1987, we saw some significant growth in homeownership, as 68.2% of 30 to 34 year olds had a mortgage and only 4.6% of people privately rented. A decade later and there wasn’t much change as, in 1997, the homeownership figure was 68.3% but private renting had jumped to 12.1% in the same 30 to 34 year old age group.

Move on another ten years to the 2007 figures, and this showed a slight drop in homeownership to 65.8% but renting had continued to increase to 18.7% (in the 30 to 34 year old age group). The latest set of figures is for 2014, and only 47.2% of 30 to 34 year olds had a mortgage and  an eye watering 33.4% of 30 to 34 year olds privately rent.

Morley Lettings Market

When we look at the Morley figures of homeownership, looking back to 1991, 71.81% of Morley households were owned by the homeowner, whilst 6.08% of Morley households were privately rented, whilst the 2011 census showed home ownership in Morley had dropped to 67.54% and private rented had increased to 16.37%.

"Unless the council start building council houses by the acre, and hundreds of acres, private renting will continue to grow in Morley."

Much of the recent rise in the occurrence of private renting in Morley since the turn of the Millennium is not because property has become more expensive, but the fact these 30 somethings haven’t got a council house to move into (because they were all sold off) – so they have to rent. The selling of council housing in the 1980’s artificially grew homeownership in the 1980’s, but as these people have got older, the younger generation didn’t have the same opportunity to buy their council house in the 1990’s, 2000’s or 2010’s. That is why, unless the council start building council houses by the acre, and hundreds of acres, private renting will continue to grow in Morley.

So if you are a tenant I am sorry but things are not about to change any time soon. Supply will continue to be limited and as a result prices will remain high and competition for the good/desirable properties will remain strong.

If you are a landlord you can be reassured that there will continue to be a ready market at strong prices for your stock and with the sales market continuing in strength you will see sensible levels of capital growth if you have bought the right property in the right location.

Howden Clough Road – 8.25% Buy-to-let deal

I mentioned in a recent blog how Morley makes a great place to invest with yields comparing very favourably with neighbouring areas. 

A good example of this is this two bedroom terrace situated on Howden Clough Road For Sale with Manning Stainton.  It caught my eye as it looks really well presented with a modern kitchen and neutral décor throughout and is on the market for £80,000.

It’s a little bit out of the town centre but in a great location for accessing the Junction 29 retail park at Birstall and the motorway networks so should rent fairly easily and from what I can see of its condition would expect it to achieve £550 PCM which would give a very healthy yield of 8.25%.

Well worth a look in my opinion, the Rightmove link is below.  I'm always happy to talk property, so if you would like to discuss this or any other potential investment give me a call on 0113 436 4360.

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-33559785.html