Here is our first article in our 4 part series that will show you how to use the current property market conditions to make immediate profits, create positive cash flow and also how you can reduce your overall risks by using sensible strategies.

Ok, in this first email I want to show you what is happening in the UK property market and tell you what areas are seeing growth, what properties are seeing rises and falls and areas that would be worth investing in.

Ok, below are some statistics for property price growth and sales figures for some of our largest towns and cities, which will show you exactly what is going on out there;

London Statistics

Property Price Inflation

Detached; -4%
Semi Detached; +12%
Terraced; +23%
Flat; +7%
All; +13%
Latest Monthly Change Jan/Feb 2008 - +1.5%

Sales have fallen by around -30% in the past 12 months

Birmingham Statistics

Property Price Inflation

Detached; +16%
Semi Detached; +4%
Terraced; +1%
Flats; -15%
All; +4%

Sales have fallen by around -25% in the past 12 months

Nottingham Statistics

Property Price Inflation

Detached; +5%
Semi Detached; +12%
Terraced; -4%
Flat; -24%
All; -1%
Sales have fallen by about -10% in the past 12 months

Liverpool Statistics

Property Price Inflation

Detached; +29%
Semi Detached; -4%
Terraced; +2%
Flat; +1%
All; +1%

Sales have fallen by about 20% in the past 12 months

Manchester Statistics

Property Price Inflation

Detached; +24%
Semi Detached; +6%
Terraced; +9%
Flat; -17%%
All; +1%

Sales have fallen by about 20% in the past 12 months

Ok, above are some statistics and property price growth for all property types. Can you spot any trends in the above figures? Well one trend that stands out like a sore thumb is that flat prices have fallen quite dramatically in the past 12 months. Most of the above towns have seen large falls or negligible growth which indicates that demand for flats is falling possibly due to an over supply of new build flats in many towns and cities across the UK. So my advice is to avoid investing in new build flats unless you spot an amazing deal that you cannot refuse.

Right, I will now give you some recommendations of where I feel will be the best places to invest in the next 12 to 18 months...

My first recommendation has to be Scotland. This bonny part of the British Isles has been out performing the UK property market for a number of years with inflation busting property prices increases and strong rental returns. Many parts of Scotland have seen strong growth over the past 12 months but the star of Scotland has to be Aberdeen which saw growth of about 29% in the past 12 months. And although the Scottish property market is cooling now, I expect many areas to post growth of at least 5% throughout 2008. So my advice is to check out Scotland.

My text recommendation would be to take a look at the small coastal town of Folkestone in Kent. This small town is seeing massive regeneration and redevelopment fronted by multi millionaire Roger De Haan and this town will be connected to the high speed rail link into London in 2009 meaning that it will become a prime commuter town. This town also posted some very impressive growth figures in the past 12 months which are as follows; Detached; +46%, Semi Detached; +5%, Terraced; +15%, Flat; +32%
All; +17%

Although we don't expect growth to be this high during 2008, this town has been one of the highest performing places in terms of property price growth in 2008 so it is worth investigating further.

My final recommendation would be to look at East London. With the Olympics happening in 2008, East London is being transformed and hence will become more popular which in theory should push up property prices. Some areas of East London posted some very impressive stats last year with Hackney posting property price growth of +31% in the past 12 months. This is very impressive and it shows that the demand for property in East London is rapidly increasing.

This concludes our first article of our profit from the credit crunch series. One of the key elements of successful property investment is to invest in areas of future growth and spot trends in a market so that you can capitalise on them.

I hope that you found this email useful and you will receive the next email in 2 days time.

Invest wisely

Grant Delmege

Zone 4 Property