Warrington Flats Out-Perform Property Market Average by 33%

According to the Land Registry's latest House Price Index for Warrington and the surrounding locality, the value of apartments/flats are rising at a faster rate than terraced/town houses, semi-detached properties and even detached property.

The values of apartments in Warrington have increased by 10.14% over the past year, which is 33% more than the average rise in Warrington of 7.65%. The last time flats/apartments in Warrington out-performed all the other types of property by such a gulf, was back in the spring of 2003.

How do other types of property compare?

For comparison, the other property types performed as follows:

·         Detached homes rose by 8.2%

·         Semi-detached homes rose by 7.24%

·         Terraced/Town-Houses rose by 6.8%

This moderately increasing rate of property value growth is opportune – but no one should confuse it with a strong and vigorous healthy Warrington property market. Instead, it is somewhat an indicator of the long-lasting lack of property on the market. In fact, I have spoken about the lack of homes for sale in Warrington on a number of occasions in my Warrington Property Blog and whilst it isn’t as bad as it was 12 months ago, choice is quite limited for buyers.

The average property value in Warrington now stands at £201,200.

When split down into property types:

·         Warrington Apartments at £125,300

·         Warrington Detached Homes at £320,800

·         Warrington Semi-Detached Homes at £176,100

·         Warrington Terraced/Town-Houses at £126,500

Is it just a Warrington thing?

So why have Warrington apartments performed so well? Is it just a Warrington thing?

When I scrutinised the figures for the rest of the UK, it appears that apartments are pacemakers in the clear majority of the country. Of the 379 local authority areas in the UK, the value of apartments is rising faster than detached, semi-detached and terraced houses in 320 of them.

So, should Warrington apartment owners be getting out the champagne? Well, I would keep it on ice as the Land Registry figures are notorious for short term fluctuations. It’s hard to have faith in the fact that Warrington house values rose rapidly last month given that, in the last six months, the Land Registry has frequently made downward revisions to their first published House Price Index figures.

Thankfully, the bigger picture from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) stated that home buying activity last month was up 2% over the same month in 2016. That’s not bad as we have had autumn, winter and now spring since Brexit. The CML stated first time buyer’s levels of affordability was being squeezed and that the average amount borrowed by those first-time buyers dropped slightly last month, but the overall amount borrowed (by all buyers) was an impressive 12% higher than the same month in 2016.

So, what next for the Warrington Property market?

I believe the uplift in the values of apartments is a short-term blip. The real issue is with the way wage growth might not keep up with inflation as the effects of 2016 exchange rate sucks in inflation (meaning real wage growth stagnates). This will mean buyer demand growth will be curtailed and with property values already so full, I believe a renewed hastening in house price growth is unlikely.

I believe we are starting to return to the housing market we saw in the mid 1990’s, Steady demand, steady supply – nothing silly when it comes to house price growth. Therefore, I believe, with what is happening around us – this isn’t a bad thing at all.

HMS Warrington Property Market, “Nice and steady as she goes”, says the Captain.

You can always keep an eye on my blog for any properties I feel will make a good buy to let opportunity, or if you are after a second opinion then email over the property details or pop into my office for a chat, or even find out how we can get the best out of your investment property.

Email me on manoj@hamletwarrington.co.uk or call on 01925 235338. If you are in the area, feel free to pop into the office – we are based on 6 Bankside, Crosfield St, WA1 1UP. There is plenty of free parking and the kettle is always on.

Don't forget to visit the links below to view back dated deals and Warrington Property News.

Follow The Buy-To-Let Property Investment Market in Warrington

Warrington Property Market LinkedIn Page

Hamlet Homes Letting Agents Warrington Facebook Page

Hamlet Homes Letting Agents Warrington Twitter Page

Warrington Investment Property Specialist Hamlet Homes Website