So far so good! Concerns about the cost of living are still valid and the housing market isn’t going wild, but the early part of the year has been better than many predicted.
Propertymark agents have compared figures to December 22 and their stats are reasonably promising:
- Per branch, the number of potential buyers registering has gone from 39 to 70
- The average number of viewings per property on sale per branch has risen from 1.8 to 2.9
- The number of properties for sale per branch has gone up by 80%
- The average number of sales agreed per branch has risen from 4 in December to 6 in January
- 73% of agents said that most sales agreed are below the asking price – but only just below!
Propertymark’s chief executive Nathan Emerson neatly sums up the situation when he says: “Serious buyers are still very much in the market but more homes are coming up for sale, meaning competition is considerably lower than we’ve previously seen. This provides buyers with all important purchasing power, but sellers are still comfortably gaining with higher prices than pre-pandemic levels.”
Rightmove has reported that whilst it feels that the market is more settled, its taking longer to sell a house due to buyers taking their time working out what they can afford and finding the best mortgage deal. The average time to sell was taking an average of 42 days this time last year whereas now the average number of days is 66.
We have seen really good levels of activity in the Home Staging world. We’ve been extremely busy seeing all sorts of houses for agents and vendors who want to have their properties staged and on the market for the spring. Many are aiming for Easter so we’ve got a huge number projects on the go right now. It’s always a good sign when there’s a variety of reasons for selling – we are acting for vendors who are selling for all sorts of reasons: relocation, downsizing, upsizing, divorce, probate etc.
If you are considering putting your house on the market and want to achieve the best result, please get in touch with us. Call 01332 987740.
