June 29, 2007 | posted by Michael Baxter in IABN |

Paragon Mortgages released its latest bullish bulletin yesterday. Every four weeks, it releases its latest update on how well the buy-to-let market is doing.

Apparently, last month, the average annual rent in England and Wales stood at £10,702 - an increase of £1,037 or 10 per cent on November’s figure of £9,665.

In a recent survey by Paragon, 63 per cent of residential property investors reported that tenant demand was either stable or growing and that they were responding by growing their buy-to-let portfolios.
Nigel Terrington, chief executive of Paragon, says “Commentators forecasting a downturn in the buy-to-let market have overlooked the fundamental dynamic of the UK housing market - people need somewhere to live and, for many, house purchase is simply not an option.”
And yet reports from elsewhere have suggest that buy-to-let-investors could get a better yield by putting his or her un-leveraged money into a cash ISA, while elsewhere, reports have suggested yield on most rental properties is now only great enough to cover mortgage interest payments - and not re-payments.
For as long as house prices continue their defiance of gravity, the buy-to-let-investor will enjoy profits. But nothing lasts for ever, and if history of market crashes teaches us anything it is this; when they say this time it’s different, and that the market can justify higher valuations, then beware.