Buy to Let Quotes up 50% in Q1

May 9, 2012 - PRLog -- Property118.com, has seen a marked rise recently in interest in buy to let mortgage quotes through its buy to let mortgage comparison calculator (http://www.property118.com/index.php/buy-to-let-mortgage-calculator-2).

This revelation comes supports research from the Council of Mortgage Lenders which concluded that landlord loan applications are up by 40% on the previous year, a similar figure to that seen through the Property118.com mortgage comparison tool.

Neil Patterson, a partner in the firm responsible for operational management, explained more: “We’ve seen a distinct rise in the number of landlords searching for the best deals via our free to use online buy to let mortgage sourcing tool. The number of new enquiries has increased by 50% over a short period of time, buoyed by the prospect of swelling demand from renters.

“More new investors seem to be dipping into the market too, in fact first-time investors make up more of the enquiries than ever before. This is an unexpected turn of events as a  downturn in the market usually results in a wait and see policy for new investors.

Property118.com founder Mark Alexander recently posed the question” which will rise first, interest rates or house prices?” in a recent article: “If interest rates go up before property values it could well spell disaster for landlords who have over stretched themselves and don’t have a “war chest” sometimes known as a “liquidity fund” or a “fighting fund”. Many landlords who purchased in the latter half of the previous decade are in negative equity. If their cashflow is strained and they don’t have money in the bank or surplus cashflow from other investments, employment or businesses they may well run into difficulties. Their solution must be to work smarter, work harder, earn more money and also to shop around.

“Property values going up before interest rates would be the obvious wish for any landlords with mortgages, but for first time buyers and anybody whose investments are cash based this would represent their nightmare scenario.”