What is really happening in our local property market?

Well, it’s been a few months since Brexit and as we settle into autumn with Great British Bake Off, Strictly and the football season, and the newspapers are returning to their mixed messages of good news, bad news and indifferent news about the Brit’s favourite subject after the weather ... the property market.

The thing is, the UK does not have a singular housing market.  Instead, it is a patchwork of mini property markets all performing in different ways.  At one end of scale is South West London, which has seen average prices drop in the last 12 months by 6.2%, whilst in our East Midlands region, house prices are 7.9% higher.  But what about Stamford?

Great news - property prices in Stamford are 6.8% higher than 1 year ago and 2.2% higher than last month.

So, what does this mean for property owners – be they landlords or homeowners?  In reality, not that much unless you are selling or buying.  Most sellers are buyers anyway, so if the one you are buying has gone up in value, it’s fair to say that yours has also gone up.  Everything is relative and what I would say is this, if you look hard enough, there are (even in this market), still some bargains to be had.

However, the most important question you should be asking though is not simply what is happening to property prices, but which price band is selling?  I like to keep a close eye on the local property market on a daily basis because it enables me to give the best advice and opinion on what (or not) to buy in the area.

Using statistics obtained from the Land Registry and Rightmove, if you look at Stamford and split the property market into 4 price bands of equal size, each price band would have around 25% of the property in Stamford, from the lowest in value (the bottom 25%) all the way through to the highest 25% band (in terms of value).

·         Nil to £190k                         30 properties for sale and 51 sold (stc) i.e. 62% sold

·         £190k to £270k                  33 properties for sale and 53 sold (stc) i.e. 61% sold

·         £270k to £400k                  31 properties for sale and 24 sold (stc) i.e. 43% sold        

·         £400k +                                 33 properties for sale and 19 sold (stc) i.e. 36% sold

Fascinating, don’t you think, that it is Stamford’s lower to middle market that is doing the best?

The next 9 months’ activity will be crucial in understanding which way the market will go this year after Brexit.  But, Brexit or no Brexit, people will always need a roof over their heads and that is why the property market has ridden the storms of oil crisis in the 1970’s, the 1980’s depression, Black Monday in the 1990’s, and latterly the credit crunch together with the various house price crashes of 1973, 1987 and 2008.

And why? Because Britain’s chronic lack of housing will prop up house prices and prevent a post spike crash.  There is always a silver lining when it comes to the property market!

For professional advice on buying, selling, renting and managing your personal homes and property investments please call David Crooke, Owner and Managing Director.

 
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Email: david@upp-property.co.uk

Stamford: 01780 484 554      Oakham: 01572 725 825