House prices in the turbulent tens

If the last decade was the naughties then when name for the coming decade, the turbulent or terrible tens?

Even more pertinent for landlords what will be the effect of all the uncertainty on the capital value of their property investments.

The Telegraph talks about a decade of sobriety after the rampant house price gains of the last decade where inflation adjusted house prices grew 68pc. This compares with -14pc in the 1990s, 43pc in the 1980s and 49pc in the 1970s.

Savills the upmarket estate agent predicts prices will grow just 40pc in the next decade.

However, what the last decade has reinforced more than ever is that the housing market is not homogenious. It is rather a whole collection of micro markets which are influenced by overall economic factors such as economic growth, demand and supply and overall changes in house prices but also show remarkable divergent behaviour across the country.

For instance who would have thought that Pembroke in Wales would show the greatest house price gain in the naughties with a rise of 212% and that only one London borough, Newham would feature in the top ten of risers.

Change in composition of new build housing

The last decade was characterised by a seismic shift in the building of flats which saw the number of new flats built rise from 15% to almost 50% by 2008 and the number of detached properties built decreased from 45% to 15%.

Part of the challenge for any landlord and property investor over the next decade will be to spot the micro markets and trends and as always timing will be key. We all know that any growth in house price value is unlikely to be even and jumping on board at the right time is likely to enhance a landlords investment returns considerably.

Landlord insurance in 2010