Property Market Outperforms Expectations
By Steve Cook – Partner Clarke Gammon
The financial meltdown that followed the disastrous Truss/Kwarteng mini budget towards the end of last year prompted the vast majority of property market analysts to throw UK homeowners under the bus, predicting double-digit falls in property values in 2023.
Whilst the 2023 property market has been a bumpy ride, not only locally in our Guildford, Haslemere and Liphook office areas but right across the UK.
Encouragingly and in line with our experiences on the ground this year, the latest figures recently released by the property portal Rightmove show that although the transition from the frenzied pandemic market of early 2022 to more normal levels of activity has been slow, key indicators point to a year that so far has been better the gloomy market analysts predictions at the turbulent end to 2022.
Key Indicators
Rightmove key indicators –
- Average asking prices are just 3% below May’s peak, but pricing right the first time remains key to securing a buyer
- Sales agreed are now 10% below 2019’s more normal market level, improving from 15% below last month
- The pandemic-driven stock shortage is over, with available properties for sale now just 1% behind 2019
Making sense of these indicators is more difficult as they represent the whole of the UK market, so translating this to be relevant locally and perhaps more importantly down to individual property level, the maths doesn’t always work. Individual property values are dependent on many factors and where you measure the top of the market. Particularly given that a good number of homes sold during those frenetic months of 2022 were agreed at more than the asking price, these properties and the resulting local comparative values will certainly have fallen considerably more than the headline 3%.
Thankfully for the majority of those buyers, their properties are their forever homes and will not see the property market again for many years, and the likelihood is that at that time their home will have seemed like a bargain, as property values are likely to see more boom and less bust markets in the years to come.
Regional and market sector variations
Rightmove’s house price index article, where the key indicators are reported, also confirms that some regions and certain market sectors are still in the transition phase and the requirement for further price corrections.
The report notes that the number of sales being agreed for studio, one, and two-bed properties is just 7% lower than 2019’s level, compared to four-bed detached houses and all five-bed plus properties, where agreed sales are 14% behind 2019. While regionally there are yearly price declines in the Midlands and all Southern regions, by contrast, Wales, Scotland and the North of England have seen rises in the price of newly-marketed properties.
As these are numbers for the whole of the UK, more locally, this almost always translates to the asking price of individual properties being marketed as to whether the property is likely to attract a buyer or not.
How to sell your home in the current market
To successfully sell a property in the current market requires a very well thought out marketing strategy and the experience to put the deal together and get it transacted to completion, but the journey must start with the asking price being set correctly. Properties that start even very slightly over market value are not getting buyer interest.
Recently Listed
Here are some of our most recently listed homes for sale from across our offices –
Court Close, Liphook – Guide Price £385,000
The Mount, Guildford – Guide Price £420,000
The Avenue, Haslemere – Guide Price £750,000
London Road, Liphook – Guide Price £975,000
Hill Road, Haslemere – Guide Price £1,495,000
To see the very latest homes coming to the market, click ‘New to market homes’, this lists all of the very latest homes as they come to the market.
Or see more ‘Recently Sold Properties’.
Ready to move?
If you are thinking of buying or selling your property either now or in the New Year, or need some help or advice on property-related matters, please give me a call at our Liphook office, I’m always happy to help.
Why not try our instant online valuation tool?
Steve Cook
Partner Clarke Gammon
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