Value of St Neots Property Market rises £35.4m

The combined value of St Neots’ housing market has risen by £35,358,259 in the last 6 months, meaning the average value of a St Neots property has increased in value by an average of £3,287.

In addition to this, this is great news for St Neots homeowners and St Neots buy to let landlords, as property prices have risen despite a slight hesitation in the market because of the uncertainty over Brexit. As I have always said, investing in St Neots property, be it for you to live in or as a buy to let investment, is a long-term game.

The RICS’s latest survey of its Chartered Surveyor members showed that nationally the number of properties actually selling has dropped for the 16th month in a row. Locally in St Neots, certain sectors of the market are matching that trend, yet others aren’t. It really depends which price band and type of property you are looking for, as to whether it’s a buyers or sellers market.

The RICS also said its member’s lettings data showed a lower number of rental properties coming on to the market. Furthermore, evidence suggests that St Neots tenants over the last few years are stopping in their rental properties longer, meaning less are coming onto the market for rent. I have noticed locally, that where the landlord has gone the extra mile in terms of decoration and standard of finish, this has certainly helped push rents up. Despite the tenant’s pickiness. So much so, I believe there will be a cumulative rise of around 14-16% over the course of the next five years in private rents for the best properties on the market.

Back to the St Neots Property Values though …

The fact is that over the last 6 months 230 properties have sold for a combined value of £71,877,990. 6 months ago, the total value of St Neots property stood at £3,271,827,606 (£3.27bn), and today it stands at £3,307,185,865 (£3.31bn).

In the short term, say over the next six months and assuming nothing silly happens in Korea, the Middle East or Brexit negotiations, it will be more of the same until the end of the year. In the meantime, the on-going challenges ensuring we as a Country build more homes makes me think that St Neots (and Nationally) property value is likely to maintain an upward trajectory as we go into 2019.

Two final thoughts, firstly for all the buy to let landlords in St Neots (and indirectly this does affect all you St Neots homeowners too). I do hope the recent tax changes towards buy to let landlords don’t bite as deep as it is possibly starting to with certain landlords I know. We talked about this in an article a few weeks ago and I know why the Government wanted to change the balance by taxing landlords and providing a lift for first time buyers .. however, this may well come at the expense of higher rents for those St Neots tenants that don’t become first time buyers, as the appeal of buy to let potentially weakens. Secondly, even though values have increased, realistic pricing (i.e. the asking price) is still the key to achieving these figures… so if you are considering selling in the next 6 months – please bear that in mind.