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Housing Market

Regional report

Each month we visit three agents across the country to discover what is happening in their local market. This month we meet members of The Guild of Property Professionals in St Albans, Wakefield and East London.

The Negotiator
ST ALBANS, HERTS
Link to Regional Report

STATS: Year to date we have registered: Over 1,000 new buyers Carried out more than: 2,500 viewings Average house prices from July 2020 – June 2021: £589,000

 

Link to Regional ReportBRADFORD & HOWLEY
Alex Walton, Sales Manager

Here in St Albans, we continue to see strong demand from buyers who are registering with us in search of their next dream home with a continued influx of London buyers. The majority are in a position to proceed either having a buyer already in place on their sale (with buyers happily waiting) or moving into rented accommodation to capitalise on a price which they deem to be too good to miss. One of the challenges we are facing is lower than usual levels of stock, a result of having continued high levels of buyer enquiries and twelve months of strong sales. Sellers are cautious to market their own property until they find something themselves as they do not want to feel pressured out of their homes. As we know, this approach is less likely to lead to a successful purchase as they are competing against a large pool of proceedable buyers. We know that we have potential sellers on our database who would buy each other’s properties, so we continue to build off market chains for local home movers to everyone’s benefit.

Demand – from Hong Kong!

Year to date we have registered over 1,000 new buyers and carried out more than 2,500 viewings with many of our clients achieving over the asking price, St Albans has been thriving in the current market seeing a rise of 10 per cent in average house prices from July 2020 – June 2021, with the average price being £589,000. So, the sales market is extremely strong you might be wondering what the lettings market is doing? This sector has also seen huge demand in St Albans with high levels of enquiries from Hong Kong. Most properties again achieving over the asking price and having a progressively quick turnaround time from listing to let agreed, with this demand it is allowing our landlords to often have the choice of a handful of pre-qualified tenants to choose from. Here at Bradford & Howley we specialise in giving exceptional service to our clients in all sectors of our business which include sales, lettings, property management and new homes along with giving sound buying advice to landlords looking to building their portfolios.

Pictured property: St Albans, detached family home, guide price – £1,850,000

WAKEFIELD, WEST YORKSHIRE
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STATS: Average sale price in the last three months: £362,000 Average Rental price: £795 PCM

 

Link to Regional ReportHOLROYD MILLER
Simon Miller, Partner

The last few months have seen the market quieten down as Covid restrictions were lifted, clients finally could go to the pub, go for a meal and go shopping or on holiday. The level of viewings seemed to drop to a more manageable level, dealing with serious buyers wanting to buy! Instructions have been at an all-time low, some clients not wishing to go on the market knowing there wasn’t anything out there for them to buy, a vicious circle. Demand for properties up to £400,000 continue to be very high with Guide Prices being used as offers are now commonly in excess of the guide price. The upper reaches of the market locally over £700,000 seems to be quietening but there is still very little choice in the market. However, the £1,000,000 plus properties are now attracting a lot of attention recently with 12 viewings in the first week of marketing, lots of cash buyers out there! Transaction times seem to be returning to some kind of normality with some sales now only taking 10 weeks from sale agreed to exchange of contracts.

Stock shortage

The rental market is also suffering from a shortage of stock, many landlords seeing the opportunity in the sales boom to cash in and finally sell at a price well in front of 2006. Rental stock is in high demand with a lack of quality stock, many applicants wanting properties with some outside space and an additional room so they can accommodate ‘home working’. Rents continue to increase with the shortage of stock and high demand, quality tenants are also in short supply.

Wakefield continues to be a popular location due to its excellent communication links to the M1/M62 motorway network and rail links to London Leeds and Edinburgh, house prices are still affordable for first time buyers with one or two bedroomed flats available around £100,000, three-bedroomed, semi-detached houses from £200,000 and four-bedroomed homes from £300,000. There is a large new build development on the outskirts of the Wakefield called City Fields with a great range of 2/3/4 homes by a number of larger developers.

Pictured property: Castle Lodge, Sandal – 16 Luxury Apartments by Luarenna Homes, one, two and three bedroomed apartments built to the highest specification with prices from £225,000.

EAST LONDON
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STATS: Average selling price: £550,000 Average rental price: £1350.00 pcm Average Viewings: £250-300 pcm

 

Link to Regional ReportVICTOR MICHAEL LIMITED
Diana Soldan, Head of Business Development

The local property market has evidently grown over the years and east London has become a go to place for many. There are several reasons for this, one in my opinion, which has been pushing the market in London in general, is the increase in population within the city. According to Macrotrends, in the past two decades we have seen the population increased from circa 7.2 million to circa 9.4 million in 2021. Naturally the demand for housing and buyers in the market has increased as well. This has caused a ripple effect on the pricing and popularity within London. With the buyers being pushed further out and thus the prices increase due to the demand, also keeping in mind that the rate of affordable homes being built is always at a shortage, the demand seems to always far exceed the supply.

City exodus

Due to the political reasons such as Brexit and now the Covid-19 pandemic, more and more people are considering leaving the city looking for homes on the outskirts of London with some leaving the country altogether, however, I feel unless the population suddenly decreased by 500,000 the demand will remain strong.

Victor Michael is a long-established estate agent with offices located in prime locations such as Stratford, Leytonstone, and Canning town. As well as being established for over 30 years, we have seen first-hand the various changes to the market and the demographics in East London. As there are always a number of fluctuations within the property market, along with continuous changes and additions to the legislations, our goal has always been to educate and provide sound advice opposed to simply ‘selling’, with a view to always add value to our clients.

Pictured property: 4 bed house in Stratford – price on application.

 

November 25, 2021

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