Buy-to-let landlords expanding their portfolios
April 10, 2007 by admin
Filed under News, News-Mortgages
As further evidence of investor confidence in the buy-to-let market, the average number of properties held by buy-to-let landlords has risen to over 11, according to new research.
In November last year, the average landlord owned 10.2 properties, but in February this had risen to an average of 11.1, a study conducted by mortgage lender Paragon has found.
Additionally, the average portfolio has increase in value by seven per cent over the past three months.
“Our buy-to-let index has shown that in recent months rents have been rising faster than house prices,” said Paragon’s managing director John Heron.
“Because of high tenant demand, landlords are able to achieve strong rental incomes and good yields – and are responding by extending their portfolios.”
Such confidence in the sector was mirrored in landlords’ expectations of an eight per cent rise in the size of their portfolios over the next year.
These results suggest that recent interest hikes have not deterred buy-to-let investors from entering the market so far, although they may be tested by next month’s expected quarter-point increase from the Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of England.
