16
Jul
Investors press on in Preston
House sales have increased in Preston, Lancashire, where cut-price
property has attracted speculators looking for a bargain, the
Lancashire Evening Post has reported.
Prices have dropped by nearly 20 per cent in the past three months,
causing investors to "buy heavily", according to Phil Williamson,
manager of estate agent Jones Cameron.
"These kind of investors do not put money in if they do not think
they will get it back, so long-term the smart money is on this only
being a blip," he told the paper.
The situation now is similar to the time before the property boom
when buy-to-let landlords were buying up property in the city. Mr
Williamson said.
Movement has also been sparked by landlords selling properties they
are unable to rent out, he added.
A superfluous number of cheap flats has also added to the price
drop in the area, another estate agent, Richard Garside of Garside
Waddingham, told the Post.
In related news, The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors said
yesterday that "opportunists" have been capitalising on the low
volume of transactions to drive cheaper bargains.
