Top 10 university towns to buy property

In previous years it was a no-brainer for parents with enough cash to buy a flat for their son or daughter to live in while at university, as the rising property market promised good returns on the investment. However, with house prices crumbling and the credit crunch in full swing, parents of students beginning a degree course this year will be thinking hard before following the same well-trodden path.

The Halifax University Town House Price Review has analysed movements in houses prices across 64 university towns in the UK and the latest findings were released on Saturday. Below is a table showing the towns that have seen the biggest rises over the last five years. Although, as everyone should know by now, past performance is no guarantee of future success....

University Town	Average House Price June 2003*	Average House Price June 2008	5 year increase %
Belfast	£101,272	£207,669	105
Dundee	£74,826	£150,168	101
Bangor	£122,639	£245,855	100
Aberdeen	£101,830	£198,336	95
Bradford	£67,702	£131,464	94
Swansea	£87,226	£163,232	87
Paisley	£73,745	£136,842	86
Salford	£81,989	£148,338	81
Hull	£69,162	£124,108	79
Middlesbrough	£79,368	£141,285	79

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Comments

[Robert]

Highly unlikely if anyone would get the figure shown in Bangor, North Wales, Upper Bangor where the uni is located is an eysore with vandalism to vehicles being rife .. an absolutley awful place .. I should know I live close by

[Bob Jones]

But as unemployment rises and incomes fall, more students will choose to study in home town universities (as they do in Europe) the demand for old terraced accommodation will fall. In any case big companies - like Unite - are now providing better accommodation taking advantage of their scale with high quality newbuild student flats. Oxbridge investment still OK, but not non-Russell group universities

[Hokie]

You should reverse the order! The interesting part is not where it's risen the most. With the bubble deflating over the coming years, I'd rather know where the prices have not risen much or even fallen, as these areas (if any) represent the only viable investments!

[janet]

great paying over the odds to have drunken students throwing up in the front garden

[Perky Pat]

According to the Nationwide house prices in Belfast have fallen 18% in the last twelve months. And Savills have recently suggested that they won't return to their 2007 levels until 2016.

So, yes, a great place to invest right now.

[Paul]

I bought a 3 bed apartment as a buy to let in Dundee in 2002 for £90 500 and sold it for £171 000 in April 2008.

[Paul]

I bought a 3 bed apartment as a buy to let in Dundee in 2002 for £90 500 and sold it for £171 000 in April 2008.

[Simon]

Is there a town that does not have a "university" anymore?

[Tony]

Bangor WAS a good place to buy in 2003. Bangor university this term has opened new halls of residence with 650 rooms. This will mean at 100 LESS letting properties will be needed in Bangor. In a small town like Bangor this will have a big negative impact on house prices.

[bagsus]

Apart from Aberdeen and Swansea where are the UNIVERSITY towns?

[Alistair Nicholls]

Pat in New Zealand - you are very shrewd. These are the places to sell and not buy.

These are mostly secondary university locations, and most vulnerable to price drops.

[Dan]

I can vouch for Bangor being a smart buy i bought a place there in 2001 and sold it fours years later it had almost trebled in price!

[Hamidou keith]

i need a scholarship

[normal]

Jonty, I dont think the people you refer to are knocking property owners (of which I am one) they are just telling it as it really is. What's your problem? Markets go up as well as down - get real!

[alan]

Proof that interest rates were two low. Too much money pumped into the ecomomy was borrowed money.

My house has increased in price (not value) by 8 times in 10 years.

[Np]

I think the June 2008 percentages are pure fiction by now. Pity they don't teach the kids a bit about economics, especially when Labour are in charge.

[Dave]

Yet another article by the Times completely missing the existence of a house price crash.

Next you will be telling us that the Empire is alive and well.

[Jonty M]

Ho hum, the "poor me" brigade is out in force again, talking down the market. Well, "Grazza", "Tom K" etc., here's a thought: grow up. Your rage at property-owners is very snivelling 70s Socialist and SO not cool.

[Tom K]

The sensible tack for this article would be how far the bubble mentality has affected some university towns, how hard the crash is going to be there, and why would be 'investors' shouldn't touch them with a bargepole. The chirpy naievete here is astonishing. Who commissions/edits this stuff?

[Grazza]

Is anyone still reading and believing this stuff?

[T Sparks]

Could you ask Halifax where their Buy-to-let index has gone? It is nearly 2 months overdue. Could it be that it would contain bad-news?

[Pat in New Zealand]

These places have risen the most since 2003. If you bought in 2003 you could be sitting on a 100% capital gain, and your offspring have probably finished their studies now.

Basic rule of investment: Buy low, sell high!
A more appropriate headline would surely be "Top 10 university towns to sell property"
but then I am not a clever investment journo.

[Roderick Random]

Why are you trying to get people to buy houses as an investment ? We are just after the peak of a twelve-year cycle in the property market, and it can only go down for the next five to seven years.

[Trefor]

Although you have the headline on the article correct the link on the main Money Central page spells it "univeristy"!