The DA13 property market - good capital growth?

Today, we’ll give a look at the DA13 property market and compare its rental yield and capital growth for all you buy to let investors out there. For those new to the buy to let game, the yield is the yearly rent from a property reflected as a percentage of the value of the property, whilst the capital growth is the amount the property goes up in value each year reflected as a percentage of the value of the property (but we all knew that, right...?).

DA13’s average property value in December 2006, just before the crash of 2007, was around £284,000. The year after, in the 2008 slump, average prices surprisingly spiked in the postcode to over £395,000. Considering values today in the village are around £328,000, if you bought in DA13 in 2006 just before the crash, the value would have increased by just over 13%. This is a really good increase, though not as much as if we were still at 2008 levels.

Between June and November 2013, prices for detached properties in DA13 rose up from an average of £350,313 to £435,063 – a fantastic 19% increase for such a short space of time. On the other side of the coin, semi detached properties have not increased much at all, only a slight 0.1% (better than nothing I guess).

However, property investment cannot be judged over short time frames and most certainly not by averages. 5 to 15 years is normally a more suitable time frame for capital growth, though it can be affected by slumps and booms. In October 2006, a detached freehold property in Beechwood Drive, Meopham, was sold for £285,000, and resold four years later for £410,000, a capital growth of 44%.

That's not to say everything in DA13 rapidly turns to gold. There are good properties that have nearly stagnated in value. A home in Blenheim Close, Meopham sold in February 2011 for £291,500. A buyer got it at a steal for £295,000 in June 2013 – a 1.2% increase in price in just over more than two years.

We always give our landlords, landlords who aren't with us but want a second opinion, and people who are thinking of becoming landlords, our unbiased opinion on what to buy and what not to buy. As is the risk with asking for advice, it might not be what you want to hear, but it is what you need to hear. If you want to chat about property investment in the area, be it Meopham, Gravesend, Dartford, or any of the surrounding area, pop in for a cuppa (remember - Southfleet or Sutton-At-Hone!) or call us up for a chat (01474 833050 or 01322 860500) - we look forward to hearing from you!

P.S. You can also catch us on the web here - we're about to relaunch our website, so keep an eye on it!