Solihull House Price Monopoly: How do Prices vary?

As we go into January and deal with the lull after the Christmas holiday – if there isn't anything on the telly, it wouldn't be unusual to find me enjoying a good game of Monopoly. Buying and renting property – a busman’s holiday you might say! The game was originally invented at the turn of the 20^th Century (1903 to be precise) interestingly the game was initially called ‘The Landlord’s Game’!  After a few years in the wilderness, the game was renamed Monopoly the game we know and love today.

So whether you are a home-owner or landlord in Solihull, what would a Monopoly board look like today in the town? Property prices over the last 80 years have certainly increased beyond all recognition, so looking at the original board, I have substituted some of the original streets with the most expensive and least expensive locations in Solihull today.

I have focused on the B91 postcode, looking at the brown roads on the board, the ‘new’ Old Kent Road in Solihull today would be Caldwell Grove, with an average value £144,250 (per property) and White chapel Road would be Wharf Lane, which would be worth £155,000. What about the posh dark blue roads, Park Lane and Mayfair? Again, looking at B91, Park Lane would be Blythe Way at £951,300 and Mayfair would be Lovelace Avenue at £986,100. Also, I can’t forget the train stations (my favourite), and over the last 12 months, the average price that property within a quarter mile of the station sold for was £365,750.

So that got me thinking, what you would have had to have paid for a property in Solihull back in 1935, when ‘Monopoly’ was born?

• ·         The average Solihull detached house today is worth £504,080 would have set you back 912 Pounds and 7 old pence.
• ·         The average Solihull semi-detached house today is worth £264,200 would have set you back 478 Pounds and 4 old pence.
• ·         The average Solihull terraced / town house today is worth £233,145 would have set you back 421 Pounds 16 shillings and 7 old pence.
• ·         The average Solihull apartment today is worth £192,240 would have set you back 347 Pounds 16 shillings and 5 old pence.

Interesting and a bit of fun… but underlying all this is one important fact. Property investing is a long game, which has seen impressive rises over the last 80 years. In my previous articles I have talked about what is happening on a month by month or year by year basis; if you are going to invest in the Solihull property market, you should consider the Solihull property you buy to be a medium to long term investment, because buy to let is exactly that – you buy a property in order to rent it out to tenants.

I reminded a soon to be first time landlord from Elmdon Heath the other week, buy to let in Solihull (as in other parts of the Country) is very different from owning your own home. When you become a Solihull landlord, you are in essence running a small business – one with important legal responsibilities. I write the Solihull Property Blog, where it has an extensive library of articles like this one, where I talk about what is happening in the Solihull property market, what to buy (and sometimes not) in Solihull and everything else that is important to know as a Solihull landlord. Please visit the Solihull Property Blog http://solihullpropertyblog.blogspot.co.uk/.