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 Cornwall, Surrey and Herts.

ST MAWES, CORNWALL
Link to Regional Report
STATS: Half year results: 2021 Average house price: £841,175 Fall Through Rate: 4% Market Share on The Roseland (as per Rightmove): 45% Price Range of Properties Sold: £185,000 to over £4 million

 

Link to Regional ReportH TIDDY ESTATE AGENTS
Mark Willson, Director

H Tiddy Independent Estate Agents are based in St Mawes on The Roseland Peninsula in Cornwall. The company has been established for over 100 years and are specialists in a niche housing market.

Despite a further COVID-19 lockdown in force, the housing market in the first quarter of 2021 remained exceptionally strong. When lockdown restrictions started to soften and self-catering and hotel accommodation started to re-open, this allowed buyers with the opportunity of staying overnight to view properties.

All year, pent-up buyer demand has outstripped the supply of properties coming onto the market. Many properties that H Tiddy sold went to competitive bidding. A strong number of properties did not see the open market with many buyers being prepared to pay extra for exclusivity where substantial offers were submitted well in excess of the guide prices. Rightmove reported recently that Cornwall was the top county in the UK with the greatest number of property searches, knocking London off the top pedestal. The Halifax recently reported that St Mawes was the top seaside town that had the largest annual increase in house price growth.

Record year

2021 has been a record half year for H Tiddy with over 41 million pounds worth of property completions, where the average time scale from sale agreed to exchange and completion was heavily reduced, driven by the Stamp Duty deadline. Even the buyers of properties in the one million pound plus price ranges had a strong motivation to take advantage of the savings on purchase costs.

We’re delighted by our fall through rate of just four per cent. It can be argued the fall through rate is market driven by motivated buyers not wishing to rock the boat. However, all the team were heavily involved using their expertise with each sale to guide the conveyance through to exchange, to the grateful thanks of many customers, shown by many gifts the team received this year. Bearing in mind the lack of new property listings, the team at H Tiddy are particularly proud of their market share for new instructions which is around 50 per cent, if off market sales are taken into account.

Pictured property: The Boathouse, St Mawes – £3,250,000+

EPSOM & ASHTEAD, SURREY
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STATS: Average monthly viewings: 500+ Average asking price: £607,000 Average rental price: £1261 pcm

 

Link to Regional ReportCAIRDS THE ESTATE AGENTS
Simon Caird, Managing Director

Cairds The Estate Agents are proud to have attained an established trusted market leading brand for over 27 years within the Epsom and Ashtead areas.

2021 has been an outstanding year for sales with the SDLT incentive encouraging many pent-up Brexit moves to take place. With the advent of homeworking and less requirement of office reporting, we have seen a seismic amount of ‘lifestyle’ moves where people have during lockdown decided to move away from city centres and migrated to open spaces of Greenbelt, away from the hustle and bustle.

Cairds have been well placed to take up many of these moves with demand for detached family homes at an all-time high. Both our Ashtead and Epsom offices have seen multiple offers made on most properties well over asking price. One example being a probate sale with a guide of £1 million selling for £1.2 million with 39 offers.

Situated equidistant between both London Heathrow and Gatwick airports, M25, A3 and three mainlines into London, it is not surprising that the famous town has seen huge demand continue for family homes with schooling being at a premium due to excellent choice.

Strong market momentum

As we enter Q3, the market momentum remains exceedingly strong despite the sporting distractions of the Euros and the Olympics, along with people taking staycations, we are still receiving quality enquiries for family homes. The apartment market has seen a downturn in demand and is very price sensitive with an oversupply.

Epsom’s rental market has remained bullet proof in 2021 with almost equal number of landlords selling, to those joining the sector. Rents are increasing in line with the usual lack of supply to demand and its clear it remains a very solid stable market for landlords. Noticeably, we have seen a shortage of houses.

As appointed Guild of Professional estate agents for both Ashtead and Epsom, Cairds has benefitted with a huge resource in support with digital and online exposure that has enabled our brand to dominate the busiest sector of our market.

Outlook for Q3 and Q4 looks set to continue in strength.

Pictured property: Barnett Wood Lane, Ashtead, price guide – £1,350,000 Freehold

RICKMANSWORTH, HERTS
Link to Regional Report
STATS: Best for price reductions: Only two against the top agent 51 Click through rates: 192 against 157 Time from offer accepted to completion only: 10.5 weeks for the last four months.

 

Link to Regional ReportJAMES ESTATE AGENTS, CROXLEY GREEN
Percy McCloskey, Managing Director of James

Taking a closer look at the property market, we have seen the first stage of the tapering off of the holiday. July 1st saw the halving of the stamp duty holiday, but has it really been a big driver in the housing market or are there other factors that influence house sales?

When buyers are looking at somewhere to invest in it is not about just the property, it is about the life they see themselves having. The Rickmansworth area and particularly Croxley Green has always historically been in demand. It’s a pleasant place to live, a convenient location, within great transport links and easy access to both Watford and London. Croxley Green has always been desirable and in fact a poll just a few years back that looked at 1.8 million postcodes, put Croxley Green as the fourth best place to live in the country!

Demand for family homes

In any market supply and demand are huge drivers. When there is a limited supply of family homes then they will always fetch a good price. Of course, it’s not all about price, the fact that there is great demand for family homes nationwide coupled with the other positive draws of the Croxley Green area means that we at James Estate Agents know the end of the stamp duty holiday will not affect demand.

The Stamp Duty holiday has been positive in galvanising buyers and sellers plus pushing prices to record highs. We’re confident however that people are still making changes in the way they live and work which means the market will remain buoyant for some time to come.

We know that the selling and letting process can be complicated, especially at the moment with everything going on in the world. But we at James try our hardest to be helpful, open, honest and offer as much help and advice as we can. Guiding you through the property journey in a way that you will not endure but enjoy.

So, if you are considering a move in 2021, or would like a free valuation give James a call and know you are being taken care of by one of the best agents in the area…

Pictured property: 229 Baldwins Lane – £840,000

 


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