As per usual, the best one can say about the “news” as to whether now is a good time to invest in real estate is at best confusing, at worst deliberately so. But there are some indicators giving an idea as to when and at what price is a good time to consider re-investing in property. Ignoring the obviously “spun” headlines from the government press release farms such as The Times, these are a few recent, factual articles that might be of interest as it would appear that the commercial real estate bubble is now starting to burst – and as predicted will have an impact on the credit availability in the residential sector.
The Citi Private Bank report commissioned by Knight Frank shows that the largest drops in residential property prices were in Hong Kong (-26.8%), the Home Counties (-19.4%), London (-16.9%) and Dubai (-19.1%).
More on Property Crash Hot Spots – London Dubai and Hong Kong
However one chooses to look at the current financial situation, there are winners and losers. The current losers, to our minds, are developers with excess stock to move in a slow market. The winners are well-funded buyers in a good bargaining position. Prices are being reduced on property around the world, and any developer worth his salt knows that it is far better to take a drop in price and move the stock rather than sit on it until the market picks up.
More on Buyers in stronger position to bargain over property prices
London based property developer, MInerva, lost more than half it’s already reduced value on Friday after the Dubai government withdrew its takeover offer. The offer was made through a wholly-owned government subsidiary, Limitless. Limitless made an offer of 160p a share for the company before the summer, but talks broke down on Thursday night after an agreement could not be reached
According to the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, London is the only region in their monthly survey of house prices and listings around the UK to experience an increase in the amount of listings. The largest price falls were in East Anglia, Wales and the Midlands. Smaller falls were seen in the South East, South West , Yorkshire & Humberside and the North West.
