Archive for November, 2010
The Isle of Anglesey – property values
Surfers on Broad Beach, Rhosneigr, Anglesey
Just a week after Clarence House announced that Prince William and Kate Middleton are engaged and due to marry in 2011, the Isle of Anglesey or Ynys Môn, as referred to by the locals, is having its moment of glory and has been branded the ‘Island of Love’.
Flight lieutenant Wales is based on the island at RAF Valley as a search and rescue pilot and is set to remain there for another three years. So, he’ll start married life on Anglesey…will he buy a property or rent a property?
If he rents, he won’t be short of choice but if he bought a property, he may find himself with a nice little nest egg after a few years…not that he exactly needs it!
The island is well known to those based in the North West and is home to many second homes, holiday homes and property that is passed down through generations of families who use the property as a seasonal getaway. But with its new found glory, spectacular coastline and stunning award-winning beaches perhaps it’s set to attract those from further a field?
Property values on Anglesey
| Area | Av. property value November 2010 | Av. property value November 2009 | Value change £ | Value change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anglesey | £157,954 | £155,776 | £2,178 | 1.40% |
| Beaumaris | £216,382 | £212,544 | £3,838 | 1.81% |
| Rhosneigr | £203,516 | £200,031 | £3,485 | 1.74% |
| Ty Croes | £148,511 | £146,067 | £2,444 | 1.67% |
| Gaerwen | £140,318 | £138,050 | £2,268 | 1.64% |
| Cemaes Bay | £149,737 | £147,388 | £2,349 | 1.59% |
| Amlwch | £135,115 | £133,172 | £1,943 | 1.46% |
| Llanerchymedd | £146,978 | £144,892 | £2,086 | 1.44% |
| Llangefni | £153,346 | £151,176 | £2,170 | 1.44% |
| Menai Bridge | £194,160 | £191,426 | £2,734 | 1.43% |
| Pentraeth | £168,763 | £166,502 | £2,261 | 1.36% |
| Llanfairpwllgwyngyll | £168,964 | £167,028 | £1,936 | 1.16% |
| Penysarn | £136,128 | £134,652 | £1,476 | 1.10% |
| Bodorgan | £175,212 | £173,337 | £1,875 | 1.08% |
| Llanbedrgoch | £190,021 | £188,050 | £1,971 | 1.05% |
| Marianglas | £243,297 | £240,922 | £2,375 | 0.99% |
| Tyn-Y-Gongl | £181,497 | £179,832 | £1,665 | 0.93% |
| Moelfre | £176,045 | £174,673 | £1,372 | 0.79% |
| Holyhead | £132,311 | £131,520 | £791 | 0.59% |
| Brynteg | £187,456 | £186,559 | £897 | 0.48% |
| Rhosgoch | £203,177 | £202,422 | £755 | 0.37% |
| Dulas | £218,563 | £217,880 | £683 | 0.31% |
Source: Zoopla.co.uk
Property for sale on Anglesey / Market overview for Anglesey
1. £2,350,000, Plas Rhianfa, Menai Bridge - 16 bedroom house for sale
2. £695,000 Bryngwran, Holyhead – 5 bedroom detached house for sale
3. £430,000 The Drive, Bodorgan - 3 bedroom bungalow for sale
4. £375,000, Llanddona, Beaumaris – 2 bedroom detached house for sale
5. £299,950 Yr Uncorn, Llanfairpwllgwyngyll - 4 bedroom detached house for sale
As always, please feel free to share and use this information, all we ask is that you credit the source as Zoopla.co.uk and link to either Zoopla.co.uk or blog.zoopla.co.uk. Thank you.
Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg, rents
Mark Zuckerberg, founder of social networking giant Facebook, recently revealed he actually rents his property and doesn’t own it. Whilst, in the early days of Facebook, his money may have been tied up with his business, surely he’s now in a position to buy? According to Forbes his personal wealth stands at $6.9bn…
If ‘Zuck’ was based here in the UK, he may find our latest research of interest…
It shows that the cost of renting has risen further, compared to home ownership in Britain across 50 towns and cities in Britain. Renting a home is now more expensive than buying across 80% of Britain. The figure is up from 74% in July as asking prices have come down and rents have increased.
- Average renter pays 9.9% more than an owner with a 5% mortgage
- York most expensive to rent vs. buy
- Aberdeen cheapest to rent vs. buy
Buying has always been somewhat cheaper than renting, but we’re now seeing a real insider-outsider divide in the housing market. For those who are able to buy a home, costs are low, but for those who can’t, costs are much higher – and the doorway to entry into the housing market is narrower than ever. The freezing up of credit has put home-ownership beyond the reach of many renters, and it’s driving a larger and larger wedge between them and owner-occupiers.
In some locations, the extra cost of renting is staggering. In York rents exceed mortgage payments by 39% – with average monthly rents at £978 York renters are left £3,270 a year worse off. A further thirteen of the largest 50 cities and towns saw rents exceed mortgage payments by more than 20%.
Even in London, which has the highest asking prices in the country, buying is still the most cost-effective option. The average rent of £2,121 per month is still high compared to the average asking price of £444,553, and buyers stand to save 14% annually compared to renters.
We should point out however that, while buying wins over renting today, the impact of a rise in interest rates cannot be ignored. If interest rates were to increase by 1% and rents to remain the same, renting would become more cost-effective in 72% of the locations studied.
Top 10 locations where buying beats renting
| Rank | Location | Avg. Asking Price* | Avg. Monthly Rent* | Rental Premium |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | York | £169,181 | £978 | 39% |
| 2 | Birmingham | £132,352 | £765 | 36% |
| 3 | Derby | £105,475 | £598 | 36% |
| 4 | Reading | £185,917 | £1,053 | 34% |
| 5 | Milton Keynes | £130,767 | £732 | 32% |
| 6 | Walsall | £91,324 | £502 | 32% |
| 7 | Hull | £116,716 | £641 | 24% |
| 8 | Dundee | £104,106 | £539 | 24% |
| 9 | Norwich | £130,031 | £673 | 23% |
| 10 | Bradford | £98,387 | £506 | 22% |
Top 10 locations where renting beats buying
| Rank | Location | Avg.Asking Price* | Avg. Monthly Rent* | Rental Discount |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aberdeen | £254,618 | £833 | 22% |
| 2 | Swansea | £190,709 | £705 | 11% |
| 3 | Huddersfield | £130,465 | £510 | 6% |
| 4 | Edinburgh | £178,609 | £705 | 5% |
| 5 | Plymouth | £150,225 | £593 | 5% |
| 6 | Bristol | £188,135 | £753 | 4% |
| 7 | Bournemouth | £186,490 | £751 | 3% |
| 8 | Stockport | £124,142 | £584 | 3% |
| 9 | Oldham | £134,925 | £556 | 1% |
| 10 | Newcastle | £133,920 | £554 | 1% |
The full list of 50 towns and cities can be found here
*The research compares current asking prices to average rents for two-bedroom flats in the 50 largest cities and towns around the country. Mortgage payments were calculated assuming an interest-only mortgage at 5% p.a.
As always, please feel free to share and use this information, all we ask is that you credit the source as Zoopla.co.uk and link to either Zoopla.co.uk or blog.zoopla.co.uk. Thank you.
Londoners do the most virtual curtain twitching say Zoopla
We’re a little bit curious here at Zoopla and we believe the key to buying, selling or renting a home is having the right property related information. Not just general information, but specific, detailed and contextual information.
Even if you’re just looking; it’s the facts that matter. Being in the know, doing your research and gathering as much information as possible is the smart thing to do.
The constant stream of conflicting house price reports makes it hard for property owners to make sense of what is really happening in their local housing markets. Monitoring the value of an individual property as well as staying on top of local market statistics and recent sold prices is easy with Zoopla.co.uk. Whether buying, selling or staying put, it pays to do your research and gather as much information as possible before making any property-related decision.
So, we did a little research of our own which reveals London as the curtain twitching capital of Britain. In London more residents monitor the value of their neighbour’s homes online than anywhere else in the country. Meanwhile, Bournemouth comes out on top for having the highest proportion of informed homeowners, regularly tracking the value of their own properties online.
Here are the top ten most and least ‘knowsey’ neighbours. In other words, those most (and least) informed about the values of their neighbour’s homes…perhaps the British should be regarded as ‘knowsey’ rather than ‘nosey’?”
BRITAIN’S KNOWSIEST NEIGHBOURS
| Rank | Town | Avg. property value | Knowsiness Index* |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | London | £412,448 | 157.7 |
| 2 | Reading | £277,103 | 145.3 |
| 3 | Milton Keynes | £203,029 | 128.8 |
| 4 | Aberdeen | £208,105 | 120.1 |
| 5 | Cambridge | £292,512 | 113.6 |
| 6 | Bristol | £215,539 | 110.8 |
| 7 | York | £220,180 | 109.8 |
| 8 | Southampton | £213,960 | 105.9 |
| 9 | Stockport | £188,623 | 104.3 |
| 10 | Northampton | £183,431 | 103.7 |
BRITAIN’S LEAST KNOWSEY NEIGHBOURS
| Rank | Town | Avg. property value | Knowsiness Index* |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liverpool | £142,079 | 55.8 |
| 2 | Hull | £110,803 | 56.5 |
| 3 | Wolverhampton | £155,752 | 62.7 |
| 4 | Rotherham | £121,737 | 64.5 |
| 5 | Manchester | £138,371 | 69.7 |
| 6 | Doncaster | £129,021 | 72.0 |
| 7 | Newcastle | £173,043 | 73.4 |
| 8 | Wigan | £135,698 | 74.0 |
| 9 | Leicester | £165,931 | 74.9 |
| 10 | Nottingham | £150,947 | 75.1 |
Source: Zoopla.co.uk - *100 is UK average knosiness based on valuations run relative to number of homes
As always, please feel free to share and use this information, all we ask is that you credit the source as Zoopla.co.uk and link to either Zoopla.co.uk or blog.zoopla.co.uk. Thank you.
Zoopla Poll: Users suggest offering 10% below asking price
Related links: Asking prices reduced in the run up to Christmas
Are you a registered user of Zoopla? Are you a little bit curious when it comes to property matters? Then why not suggest a poll for us to run live on the Zoopla.co.uk website?
As a registered user of Zoopla you can suggest any property related poll to test the market, find out what those active in the property market are currently thinking or research a specific topic you’re curious about.
Suggest a poll here (right hand side) and we’ll consider making it live on Zoopla today.
As always, please feel free to share and use this information, all we ask is that you credit the source as Zoopla.co.uk and link to either Zoopla.co.uk or blog.zoopla.co.uk. Thank you.
Is Rooney to blame or bad taste?
This is a legacy post from the findaproperty.com blog which is now maintained as an archive within the Zoopla blog. Links have been preserved.
Man U and England defender Wes Brown has dropped the asking price on his Cheshire mansion because he thinks no one wants Wayne Rooney as a neighbour. The Sun newspaper has reported that Brown, 31, believes wealthy potential buyers looking in this area are more discreet and would not want to buy next to the Rooneys because Wayne attracts too much media attention.
Brown blames Rooney for having to drop more than £500k off the £4.5 million price tag after the property has not shifted in six months. However, we think there’s a different reason for the struggle to sell - Brown helped design this five bedroom mansion and it takes bling to another level.
Here are just a few of the rather unique features:
- Glass ceiling in the pool room / glass floor in the kitchen. Brown reportedly would swim back stroke and wave to his wife when she was in the kitchen:
- Jacuzzi room – off the master bedroom a ‘Teuco Seaside Jacuzzi’ sits in the middle of the room – complete with illuminated stone steps and an AquaTelevision. There is a also an eight person Jacuzzi in the pool room – which leads to a gym – which leads to a ‘plant room’:
- Purple velvet cinema room:
- Cast iron staircase with glass multi droplet chandelier ‘dominating the space like a cascading waterfall’:
- His n’ hers walk-in wardrobes with faux level detailing and leading to a wet room.
We think these bling-tastic design features are more appealing to those wanting to live the WAG lifestyle and this type of buyer would be keen to add Rooney neighbours to the bling list.
The property, Waterside, is now on the market for £3,950,000.
