When considering to buy to live, or buy to let, research is all-important. The current market conditions are one aspect of this and their are many different sources of information available.

It is however important to put all of this information into context, otherwise it is easy to get information overload! First look at the market conditions UK wide and then region-wide. Many of the large mortgage companies publish their figures, but if you are looking at say, the buy-to-let market, then look at specialist brokers, such as Paragon, as the resale market often bears little or no relationship to the buy-to-let market.

Next, concentrate on specific areas or even developments (such as West Point) and get a feeling for how this development stands in relationship to the other developments in the area. Estate Agents are useful here, but remember that they may have some other "great development" that they wish to sell. Your judgement is often more useful here - would you buy in this development? does it have some unique selling point, such as location, size, etc.

Finally, go see the development. There is no better way to evaluate a development than seeing it first hand. If it is still being readied for completion this may take a bit of imagination.

You must decide when you are going to buy. There are various stages of development where this is possible:-

Off Plan - if you want to buy off-plan and wait months or even years, counting on capital appreciation or just the developers incentives can be a very simple way of investing, but you are not in control of the market.

Nearing Completion - At this stage, apartments may be months or even weeks away from completion and you can see most of the site and how it is shaping up. This can be shrewd time to buy, as apartments are for re-sale at good prices but not yet priced for supply & demand. At this stage, you have a good idea of what the market is doing (rising, falling) and what the interest rates are (rising, falling) and even what mortgage deals are available. This keeps you in control.

After Completion - At this stage, the site may not be complete, but there are apartments to view. this will increase demand and thus, the prices will start to reflect supply & demand.

Site Complete - The site is complete and fully reflects its position in the market.

Each of these stages offer benefits for the investor looking to buy-to-let or the person wishing to buy-to-live.

Paragon publish a monthly buy-to-let market report which is useful for determining the current market conditions. Their January report indicates that the north still leads the way in both price and rental income increases.

Read the latest Paragon monthly buy-to-let market report