Birmingham, South London and Southampton

BIRMINGHAM

FERNDOWN ESTATES
Samantha Dunne

The North Solihull and East Birmingham regions continue to experience increased levels of demand for property across both the sales and lettings market. Traditionally the areas have consistently attracted high interest from all types of buyers, renters, and home movers, however the past 12 months we have seen exceptional figures! We are encouraged by current market conditions and as a company continue to implement new processes alongside the use of market leading technology to handle higher volume of transactions and moves ins whilst providing a quality standard of service.

This year particularly we have experienced a rise in sale activity within the higher value price bands following the stamp duty holiday with our aftersales working at its highest capacity to meet deadlines. The lower value sales stock continues to consistently attract interest but now seeing the return in high demand from investors looking to move cash savings into property.

Currently the speed at which we are able to agree a sale or a let on a property has never been faster. With the obvious factor being demand but aside to this is our database of pre-qualified buyers and renters and working within our proceedable only viewings policy.

Record appraisals

In 12 months leading up to March 2021 property value in our region has risen by 10 per cent in line with the rest of the UK and with a small percentage rise month on month. As homeowners are starting to become aware of price rises with the continued demand married with our prosecting, we are being called to appraise a record number of properties with our conversion rate well over average.

We are a one branch independent family run business and proud members of the Guild of Property Professionals. Our office is based in Marston Green Village in North Solihull a short distance to Birmingham International Airport and International Railway. Our region is subject to several future for local investment mainly around the HS2 Line and Interchange Station Hub. We are excited to see the growth in the market around this and hope this year is a sign of things to come.

SOUTH LONDON

MALIXONS
Vic Tevari, Associate Director

The South London property market is experiencing extremely high demand for houses as the average house price is still relatively realistic. We have seen prices rise around 8% in the last year due to high demand and a shortage of supply. We have also seen first time buyer registration grow by 50% on last year. In my opinion this increase is down to interest rates being kept low and the fact that 95% mortgages are now available. Supply is quite low which is creating sealed bid situations with multiple offers being received on many properties, particularly on houses.

Rise in investors

We at Malixons specialize in residential sales, lettings, accusations, and development, working on an average fee of 1.6 per cent. Over the past while, we have seen a sharp rise of buy-to-let investors seeking Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMO) in our area, as well as many developers looking for land. The average house price in our area is around £495,000, while the average sales price achieved by our office is approximately £500,000. Our average lettings figure is around £1,800 pcm.

Busiest summer ever

Whilst we are entering the holiday season, with few people going abroad given the current Covid-19 situation, I can see the activity set to continue through the summer much like it did last year, which was clearly down to the spring market activity moving into the summer as we were in lockdown in the spring of 2020. In my 34 years of working within the estate agency sector, I had never seen a busier summer than 2020, but we were in an unprecedented situation.

Pictured property: Thornton Heath, sold for £480,000

SOUTHAMPTON

HAMWIC ESTATE AGENTS
Neil Flaherty, Director

The past year has, as I am sure for most, been absolutely manic. coming to a climax over the last two months of May and June. New vendors pushing to get their house sold before the June deadline, buyers keen to save £££ on their purchases too.

We have not been able to get enough properties for all the people wanting them. We here at Hamwic have had eight record months in the last year alone! and June saw our number of completions in one day record broken not once but twice! not a single fall through due to the Stamp Duty holiday coming down to the second tier is quite the achievement. I am so proud of all the team for their hard work.

It has calmed down a little as we move into July, mainly due to the number of properties available in the area, properties are still selling at a very fast rate. Priced correctly and marketed well they are often sold in the first days of being instructed. Being an area that is very popular with first time buyers the biggest factors in the market have been deposit amounts and stock levels. Coming out of lock down saw a lot of this demographic shrink away to continue saving, needing quite often, a 20-25 per cent deposit. As this percentage dropped and more hopeful vendors putting their properties on to the market, they all reappeared keen to get themselves onto the property ladder for the first time.

Not enough properties to go around

We now have the opposite situation of the first-time buyers keen to buy with the new five per cent government-backed deposit guarantee, but not enough now properties to go around! Since the start of July, we are seeing an increase in stock levels with more valuations booked in the first week than the whole of June. Being an agent that specialises in residential sales, with a wealth of knowledge date back over 30 years in the local area alone. Hamwic has always been at the forefront of the market delivering first class customer service and marketing of all new properties. Winning countless awards in the process. Our core market is suburban houses ranging from £240,000-£550,000. Although being on the edge of the beautiful national park of the New Forest we often get called to rural locations throughout the area valued at £1m plus!

Pictured property: Nutsey Avenue, Totton – £415,000