After a couple of months of uncertainty, estate agents are now reporting that the higher levels of enquiries and viewings experienced in January and February are slowly converting into more concrete offers and agreed sales. Search activity on Rightmove broke previous records in three out of the four weeks of February, and this increase in market activity no doubt influenced estate agents to raise new sellers’ average asking prices by a further 0.8% to £231,790.
Shipside adds: “The spring bounce in buyer interest and slight pick-up in supply of fresh stock suggest that renewed activity in some sectors of the property market is managing to outweigh the impact of economic uncertainty and lack of mortgage funding.”
In addition, unsold properties per branch increased by an average of just one, indicating that the pace of sales agreed has picked up to nearly cancel out the spring sellers who normally increase agents’ stock levels at this time of year.
However positive national figures mask the detail of a very patchy market, highly dependent on the socio-economic make-up of an area. Differences between regions play second fiddle to wealth demographics within those regions. If you are in an area with a preponderance of detached dwellings, then there is definite evidence of a more active market. Average asking prices for detached property coming to market have held up best, up by 3.1% year-on-year.
Shipside notes: “Price falls and standstills have reversed or hindered the equity growth of flat and terrace owners, restricting their ability to move, compared to their better-heeled detached neighbours.”
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March 27th, 2011 at 6:02 pm
We have a one bedroom flat in Hadrian Lodge West it has been on the market since October 2010 first with Igloo and now with Next 2 Buy we have only had 2 viewings. What do you think of our chances of selling and how long would you expect it to take.
March 28th, 2011 at 8:55 am
Detached. We are trying to get away from each other. Defoe’s pad you report on sounds philistine in Chigwell. Neo georgian manor being destroyed for a soccer player ‘palace’ o dread.
March 28th, 2011 at 9:49 am
Hi, I am trying to sell my 2 bed/2 bath with marina views in Gallions Reach area for the last 10 months, only 5-6 viewing and my asking price is about 7% less than what I bought it for 3 years ago… Can you please advice when that market for East London will pick up? My wife & I poured all our savings in this appt.
March 28th, 2011 at 12:28 pm
ALl properties will sell, people ARE buying… it all comes down to vendors expecting over-inflated 2007 prices. A property will only sell if it is realistically priced. This is what people need to understand, do research before putting your property on the market.
March 29th, 2011 at 1:35 am
2007 was when property prices peaked. I understand there has been a fall of about 8% since then, varying by area and property type. So your 7% reduction could in effect still be a rise when compared with the rest of the market. I can’t tell you when things will pick up, but maybe you could consider letting your current place out in the meantime. You could rent an alternative place for yourself and by changing area or downsizing you can make a net gain. Better still buy another place, shift the current one to a buy to let mortgage and sit out the downturn. You will be buying your new place at depressed prices and can wait until things pick up to sell your current place.
March 29th, 2011 at 8:26 am
Hi! My three-bed semi in Sholing, Southampton is looking for a caring new owner, who can see what a lovely family home it can be, with only a little bit of TLC. It’s on the market at under £140,000, an absolute bargain for what it offers – take a look on Rightmove and make an appointment with the agent to view it.
I, too, think that some vendors are being unrealistic in their expectations. It’s properties which should be accessible to first time buyers that seem to “stick” because they have to find such bizarrely huge deposits to get any sort of mortgage.
March 29th, 2011 at 10:02 am
Some people are finding it difficult to move up the ladder because if you live in a first time buyer home there are no first time buyers because the ones out there are getting good deals on new homes so the market is affected because there is no one moving up from a new home.
March 29th, 2011 at 2:06 pm
To all, we have recently an sucsesfully sold our property in liverpool, its only been on the market for 6 months, my only advise i could give out there as is be ‘realistic’ we reduced our property by 10% to sell, which in the bigger picture isn’t so bad because the next one we will buy, we would expect the same, so all in all we haven’t lost any thing. we also found that cutting out the estate agent and doing the negotiations youreself, you get a lot more done..
We had the property on the market with a local estate agent (high street) and with a online estate agent, which means you can do the negotiaions your self, one2one. vendor/buyer. the high street estate agent didn’t produce anything over the course of 6 months, what’s the point in paying that rediculous fee.. go online folks. 121move.com has done a amazing job for us selling our property. cheers
March 30th, 2011 at 10:05 am
I’ve read through everyones comments above and feel that some could benefit from an alternative method of selling their property. Has anyone heard of, or got experience of lease options? I am a full time property professional who sources property using this method but I am very keen to hear about other peoples experiences of lease options – good and bad. If anyone would like more information, please google “hedge lease option” and we are first under the sponsored link. Thank you.
July 25th, 2012 at 1:09 pm
The BBC website suggests that house prices are falling very slightly.
bbc.co.uk/news/10620450
and a recent IMF report which I refer to in my Blog bit.ly/OZ89LL suggests fall of 10% to 15% relative to incomes and rents.