As we predicted, the end of December proved to be one of the busiest in recent years and with what seems like a blink of an eye, January has been and gone!
The end of three years of Brexit confusion, prompted by the definitive general election result intensified buyers’ activity levels. There is definitely a new mood of optimism in the property market and this has shown in our January results which increased by 100% on the same month last year.
Those buyers and potential sellers who understandably adopted a wait-and-see approach during those politically uncertain times are now expressing their pent-up desire to move and the brakes are beginning to come off.
This does not however mean that prices will suddenly rise. This is because the increase in new buyers entering the market will be more or less matched by the number of new sellers entering the market between now and Easter. So activity and transaction volumes will rise, which is good for those buying and selling as the additional fluidity provides greater choice and faster moves.
House prices themselves, which are notoriously difficult to foresee, are generally predicted to rise by more modest levels in 2020, of around 1.5% to 2.5% - effectively keeping up with inflation. Regional variations will be quite wide, in fact, over the past decade, although the average upturn has been around 27% this is very much an average with wide regional variations across the country, so beware averages in both reported figures and predictions!
The key message to sellers is that as long as the asking price is correct, then you WILL sell.
We would be very happy to discuss how the current market conditions might affect you, alternatively, if you would like to start the marketing your property, please call us on 01322 228090.