By Grant Brooks – MD Edwards Estate Agents
Despite the gloomy predictions by some market commentators, that the end of the stamp duty holiday would see the end of the current property boom… At the time of writing, towards the end of August 2021, almost a month after the ending of the stamp duty holiday, and in full silly season with Bournemouth and the Dorset area seeing a more than its fair share of the staycation holiday makers. The local area property market continues to boom, with demand from buyers considerably outstripping the supply of property coming on to the market, which in turn supports the continued increase in property prices.
In the property portal Zoopla’s recent UK house price index, their report on property values confirms a current 5.4% house price growth and a staggering 23% increase in demand, this is the year to date vers 2020.
The ‘Search for space’
The term ‘Search for Space’ has, since the ending of the first lockdown in spring of 2020, become a commonly used and often hotly debated topic throughout the UK property market. Whilst the term itself does what it says on the tin, the implications are more wide-ranging.
Search for space essentially refers to the many hundreds of thousands of homeowners who are actively looking to move to a property offering more space, inside and out. Although, this isn’t the full story. These buyers are most often motivated by the social distancing requirement that surrounds the human to human transmission of the Coronavirus, and are generally currently living in a City or more urban locations.
Add to this, the option for many of the search for space buyers of home working, making the move to country or sea a real possibility. It is these highly motivated buyers, selling or having sold in London or the suburbs that we see most often. With cash to spend, they are often the buyers prepared to pay over market prices for the home of their choice.
The best seller market in memory!
With fewer properties currently available, August is always a slow month for property coming to the market, with people focused on holiday not moving home, there are slim pickings for these very active buyers.
For savvy sellers willing to take the August plunge, there are potentially high rewards, as with high demand and little choice, these motivated buyers with money to spend, for the right property, will do what they have to, to secure a sale.
We experience this regularly, most recently with a property marketed by our Poole office, being offered for sale at what we would have said was the top end of its value, compared with similar properties recently sold in the immediate area. Having only been on the market for just over a week, after 22 viewing appointments, we had three interested parties offering on the property, a sale was finally agreed at £25k over the asking price.
This is just one of many examples…
Now is the time to sell
If you are considering selling your home, there are some great opportunities to sell at the top of the market, if the time is right for you, now is the time to put your property on the market.
Use our instant online valuation tool to give you an idea of your homes value or give us a call to arrange a more accurate appraisal.