Barclays Wealth reports property investor upturn

The survey, conducted by Barclays Wealth, revealed surprisingly positive results, with 76 percent of property investors already seeing opportunities in the residential property market.

Rory Gilbert, Managing Director at Barclays Wealth, commented:“The tumble in property values has shaken even the most seasoned investors’ confidence. Despite this, these findings suggest that investors believe we are approaching the beginning of the end of the downturn.

"It appears that those surveyed are prepared to not only exploit undervalued opportunities, but also to commit further to property over the next two years in the belief that they will benefit from favourable returns."

Of the 2,000 surveyed, 35 percent plan to increase their portfolios over the coming years, viewing property as a valuable asset with good long-term prospects.

A quarter of those survey stated that property now seems cheap, and the US is reported to offer the best foreign investments.

However, Gilbert warns against flippant about property investments, commenting that it will be difficult to accurately judge the long-term market for before another 12 months:

“However, whilst there seems to be a good deal of confidence emerging, property investors should ensure that they don’t over commit themselves, or concentrate their property portfolios too narrowly, whilst there is still a degree of volatility in the markets.

"Wider market data suggests that initial indications of recovery in property could be a false dawn, or the start of a slow upturn. The next 12 months will be crucial in getting a clearer idea of what the longer term property investment landscape will look like."

ludlowthompson, a leading property agent in London recently published its own buy-to-let findings. According to ludlowthompson.com’s survey, buy-to-let investors are on the whole much more confident about the residential property investor market:
• 73% of buy-to-let investors expect house prices to rise over the next six months
• 89% expect rents to stay the same or increase. 
• Nearly a quarter (24%) expect voids to decrease over the next six months

Stephen Ludlow, Director of ludlowthompson comments: "Buy-to-let investors are now optimistic on capital values, rents and voids.  If their optimism proves to be well-founded then residential property looks like an excellent investment option, even though there are still some lingering areas of concern."