There’s a lot of talk at the moment surrounding property prices. The economy is faltering, £52 billion has just been wiped off the FTSE 100, Premier Inn has as just announced 6000 job cuts and JD Weatherspoons have said 450 jobs are at risk. Yet the UK housing market continues to see an increase in activity and property prices are increasing.
Today, as new measures are announced in Government in the fight in Covid-19, we have agreed another 4 property sales. 1 sold yesterday. More offers are in negotiations and the viewing diaries are looking busy. People are buying property as an investment, seeing it as a safe haven compared to stocks and shares. Where else can you get a sound 5% -8% return on your money?
What is interesting though is the public opinions to how much property prices have increased by, or is it, estate agents? A client in the Lune Valley today was only saying how shocked she was that many of the homes in her village had failed to sell. We have sold two of her neighbours, hence she was switching across to our company.
A quick look on Rightmove tells us that 720 homes on the market in Lancaster & Morecambe have been advertised for sale for 6 months or longer. If these homes were accurately priced, they should have been sold by now.
Take a look at the graph above. Our research team have been busy, analysing what is happening with property prices. As you can see the Northwest is one of the biggest growth areas in the UK, however, the reality is that property prices have only increased by 4.4%, not the 20% one agent quoted to a lady last week! The mini post lockdown boom has pushed house price growth to the highest level since March 2018.
Of course, these are only averages. In all towns, there are micro-markets which are performing better than this and there are areas which are still struggling.
What I can say is, if you are looking to sell a home with 3 bedrooms, a garden and it is in good conditioner, you are on to a winner!
If you are thinking of moving, we would love to chat with you. Our job is to help you achieve the best possible price, without over-valuing. Call us on 01524 843322 or email me at michelle@jdg.co.uk
Thanks for reading
Michelle