As we suggested last month, the Spring market was, and is, everything we hoped for, with “choice” being the word of the month, closely followed by “confidence”. We know that many homebuyers over the past couple of years have been frustrated by a lack of choice, which in turn prevented them from bringing their own property to market. Well, as predicted, that has all changed and there are now 66% more properties available today than there was this time last year. (Source: Zoopla)
And although buyer demand is now 42% lower than this time last year, it’s actually 14% up on pre-pandemic levels.
As a result, sales are also up, about 6% on 2019, and 10% ahead of the five-year average for this time of year.
So, we have a well-balanced market with healthy levels of both supply, demand and sales. This is where the confidence kicks in, and it’s a confident market for estate agents and home movers alike.
Of course, this doesn’t necessarily mean that house prices are rising. That only happens when there is a substantial imbalance of demand over supply as we saw in the last two or three years. In fact, one of the contributors to the current strong level of sales is the fact that more people are reducing their asking price now than at any other time in the past three years, with about a quarter of property currently on the market having registered a price reduction. So yes, it is time once more to be competitive. If your neighbour has reduced their price, it DOES have an effect on your saleability, no matter how nice your property might be.
So, now that the Coronation is behind, us people are definitely on the move. And if you’re considering a sale, please do call us now – your timing could be perfect!