Does a fall in Lancaster sale volumes translate into an equal fall in Lancaster house prices? It’s an interesting question isn’t it. And it’s one we have been asked several times.
Sales levels in Lancaster are approximately 10% lower than they were 12 months ago, yet completed property prices are still actually still 7.3% higher over a 12 month period. (Please note this is completed house sales and prices have levelled out since the start of 2023).
What is interesting is when we compare to the national picture. There were just over one million residential sales across England and Wales in the year to the end of July. This is only-11.4% below the volume a year ago and not that dissimilar to what is happening locally.
What we all need to remember is that the following on from the pandemic, the housing market experienced high transaction volumes mainly due to a combination of pent up demand, the race for space and the stamp duty holidays. It was unsustainable! The reality is that the demand for home moving is only 7.8% below the 5 year pre-pandemic levels. People do still want to move and sales are still happening.
Looking back to the last housing market downturn, the worst annual fall in sale volumes was -47.6% (year to February 2009) whilst the worst fall in prices was -15.4% (year to end March 2009). Remember the circumstances then were very different to what they are now.
I hope this help gives you some reassurance. Houses are still selling. Sensibly pricing is key. At JDG we have agreed 28 sales so far this month, considering its only September 21st, I think this alone confirms that fairly priced homes are still selling well!
Do you have any questions? If so please let me know. At JDG we are here to help. You can email me at michelle@jdg.co.uk or call me on 01524 843322
Thanks for reading
Michelle
