There has never been a better time to get into property investment. UK Real Estate developers are feeling the heat as properties are being down valued, leaving easy pickings for savvy property investors with an eye for a bargain.

It sounds incredible but it’s true. The rule is – when no one else is buying, buy and when no one else is selling, sell. The media are giving out the message that there are hard times ahead in the UK real estate sector, and they are right. So now it’s a question of how you react to this news. Most people will run for cover leaving a few to make a killing.

The UK realestate market has been hard hit over the past few months and the situation appears to be getting tighter. This doesn’t make for great reading if you are one of those property investors due to complete soon. It is common knowledge that real estate valuers are lopping lumps off the open market value of properties they inspect even before they get out of their cars.

To make things worse mortgage lenders are getting tough on off plan with many giving it a wide birth, and those who are lending are strict. You will need a large deposit and you will have to pay a higher mortgage rate, so before you dive in do your sums. Shop around and look for a good mortgage broker, see what mortgage rate various lenders are offering and use a mortgage calculator to check out the monthly cost. There are plenty of mortgage calculators around so just type ‘mortgage calculator’ into your favorite search engine to find one.

If you’re sharp you will get a bargain in the current market, although it will be a property investment that you will have to hold on to for the next three to five years. So it might be worth looking at mortgage products with a fixed mortgage rate.

But don’t just take our word for it. We spoke to Lynsey Sweales of The Money Centre, and this is what she had to say:

>”Although there is lots of doom and gloom in the press about mortgages and the property market I think now is a great time to expand your portfolio. As the number of property purchases is down more people will be renting, as properties are not selling you can put in a cheeky offer.Good products are still around but they generally don’t stay round for long. By speaking to a buy-to-let mortgage brokerage they can help you on what products are currently available and also contact you when a rate you are considering is about to be pulled.

Brokers are worth their weight in gold more so than ever in this climate; speed of offer is of the essence and some brokers like TMC do have access to exclusive products.

If you choose the right property by doing your research and get on right product you are in a very good position.

If you already own property where there is a lot of equity tied up in it or you may not have reviewed the mortgage for a while you should be talking to a broker to get a free portfolio review. Even if you don’t buy another property it is important to have cash in the bank to help back up your portfolio.

Our clients are currently remortgaging existing properties as well as purchasing more properties to rent out, they are taking advantage of the market.”

Where as Jonathan Moore of Mortgages For Business added this:

“The majority of Buy to Let mortgage lenders are now refusing to lend on new build property due to fears of oversupply of this property type, particularly in city centres such as Leeds. The few lenders still in the new build market are risk adverse and will pay particularly attention to the valuation looking at the lower of ‘true market value’ or purchase price minus any discounts.

It could therefore be likely investors could pick up new build properties at substantial discounted prices to those being asked for six months ago, however they will need to be in strong financial position and have the ability to pay large deposits. It is important investors approach the sector with some caution”

photo credit: Marc van der Chijs

Brits are busy buying up land in Dubai - according to new figures, more buy land for sale in Dubai  than any other foreign nationals

These figures, published by the Dubai Land Department, show that 147 Britons own 1,900,000 square feet of land in the United Arab Emirate. Last year Indian buyers were top of the foreign nationals list, but have been knocked down to second place this year. Indian nationals in Dubai now own 862,000 square feet of land and there are 125 land owners. Next in line are the Iranians, 111 of them now own land in Dubai.

A popular place to buy property in the United Arab Emirates, Dubai is continuing to grow at a rapid pace and thousands of people are moving there to live, thanks to international companies choosing to base their operations in the emirate.

A collection of other nationalities were mentioned on the land owners list too, including Omanis, who owned 27 plots with a total area of 129,000 square feet and Russians, who own 17 plots of land. At the bottom end of the scale, one individual represents Somalia, owning a single plot of land in Dubai.

But, despite all the foreign investment, it’s good to know that locals from the United Arab Emirates are still the biggest land holders in Dubai.

Technorati Tags: Dubai property, Dubai real estate, real estate, real-estate, real estate news, off plan property, off plan, property investment, real estate investment, overseas property

photo credit: Ribhu Dey

The capital city of New Delhi lies within India’s second largest metropolitan area simply called Delhi. With a population of approximately 14 million, Delhi ranks second behind Mumbai as the largest city in the country. Today, Delhi’s extended population is approaching 22 million people, and has created crowded conditions with extremely high demands on the public transportation element.

Delhi Metro to expand over three more phases

This led to the development of the Delhi Mass Rapid Transit System, or Delhi Metro as it is known. The success of this transport network that began operations in December 2002 now sees it as not only the public transportation of choice, but the model itself has become the standard for the development of other systems across India. And yet the current metro system, known as Phase I, is itself set to grow with another three phases, scheduled for completion in 2010, 2015 and 2020. By the time Phase IV is operational, the Delhi Metro will have found its place ahead of the London system as the largest public rail network in the world.

It is easy to see why these four phases of the transportation network, together with the northern and southeastern suburb developments included in the Delhi Metro Masterplan 2021 have impacted and will continue to impact the real estate industry of the area.

Connectivity and commuting within the city and in the NCR areas of Gurgaon and Noida will become a piece of a cake and the economic effects are being felt already. For example, the onset of the Metro has increased the land prices and apartments built by Unitech Ltd. and DLF, one of the foremost private building companies which own huge tracks of land in Gurgaon.

The incredible pace that the growth rate of the area has been exhibiting is having a beneficial economic effect, especially where the real estate market is concerned. It is also having a very positive effect on the entire job market, as the unemployment rate continues to drop in the major industries of the automotive, health care, and technology sectors.

Delhi relatively way more expensive than Chicago

SeekingAlpha, a website that primarily targets investing, conducted an intensely rigorous study of what is going on in the greater Delhi metropolitan area using US cities such as Chicago and Las Vegas as a basis for some of the comparative analysis. The results as they relate to real estate are simple stunning.

The median price for a 2 bedroom, 1,000 square foot condo in Delhi is priced at about $200,000 USD, compared to $400,000 for the same size dwelling with similar amenities in Chicago. Incidentally, the team that conducted the research for the study claimed that the main reason they used Chicago and Las Vegas as the comparative cities was based on projected expansion into adjacent geographical areas.

Delhi’s current expansion seems to be targeting northerly and southeasterly segments of the adjacent geography. What is very interesting is that even though the prices in Delhi are about 50% lower than similar properties in Chicago, the US city has a median income that is roughly 50 times greater than that of the greater Delhi area, making Delhi relatively 25 times more expensive than Chicago when local income is taken into account!

A bubble in the making?

When you look at the comparative prices of land, whether agricultural, commercial, or residential, it is nothing short of phenomenal. Faridabad, Haryana, adjacent to New Delhi is compared to the prices of land in New Jersey, being adjacent to New York. An acre of land in New Jersey averages about $12,000 USD. If you want an acre of land in Haryana, it will cost you a whopping $250,000 USD.

When you think about the old adage of “what goes up must come down”, it really makes one wonder about the possible nightmarish consequences of speculation in such a volatile market.

The Wall Street Journal recently published an article about a person who had made billions gambling against the real estate bubble bursting in the Delhi area. The man was claiming that there has never been an investment-grade mortgage bond that has defaulted yet even, though many experts are predicting that the region is headed for economic woes. Supposedly, the mortgage experts are too caught up in the housing industry to notice what is going on in the soaring market.

Technorati Tags: Delhi property, Delhi real estate, India property, India real estate, real estate, real-estate, real estate news, off plan property, off plan, property investment, real estate investment, overseas property