St Mawes, Staines and Cardiff

ST MAWES, CORNWALL

H. TIDDY INDEPENDENT ESTATE AGENTS
Mark Wilson, Director

H Tiddy Independent Estate Agents are based in the exclusive Cornish coastal village of St Mawes. We have been established for over 100 years and we are recognised specialists in a niche market.

Review of 2022

Based on the properties we sold at H Tiddy in 2022, average house prices improved in our area from £868,728 in 2021 to £959,547, which was an annual increase of 10.45%. Compared to the frenetic post-pandemic years of 2021 and 2020, about halfway through 2022, our local market started to return to relative normality, remaining a seller’s market similar to the pre-covid years of 2019 and 2018. We saw rapid house price growth in the first six months followed by a plateau, culminating with a reality check on the UK economy as a result of the Autumn Statement.

Outlook for 2023

With the impact of the cost-of-living increases on household bills, it is inevitable that there will be lower average house price growth in 2023. However, this should be considered in the context of economic history and the frenzied post-pandemic market. There is no doubt that 2023 is already a different housing market to the last couple of years, but there are buyers who need to buy, and sellers who need to sell. As fixed rate mortgages stabilise, overall forecasts for house price growth remain positive as buyers’ confidence remains resilient. H Tiddy has so far had a great start in 2023, selling properties in all price categories from over £50,000 for a studio to £4,250,000 for super-prime coastal residence.

The sun is continuing to shine, both metaphorically and literally in our beautiful area in Cornwall. Looking back at the late 1990’s and 2008 recessions, our local housing market did not experience as severe a storm compared to the national market trends and thus recovered far more quickly. There is always a limited supply of properties to sell in our area and people will always like to live by the seaside.

Featured property: The Studio, St Mawes, Cornwall – £2,000,000.

STAINES, MIDDLESEX

SEYMOURS ESTATE AGENTS – STAINES
Mark D’Costa, Partner

Seymours Estate Agents are an independent group of 20 networked, partner-owned and run, estate agencies in Surrey and Hampshire. Staines is the most recent addition to the group having completed its first operational year in 2022. Resident partners, Mark and Helen D’Costa are part of a team of seven experienced personnel and have lived and worked in the local area since 1996 offering a range of services including Residential Sales, Lettings & Management, Prestige Homes, Land & New Homes and Mortgage Advice.

The local market in Staines has got off to a much better start than anyone could have anticipated following the mini budget late last year. Applicant levels are up, year on year, driven by instructions especially in the £400,000 to £600,000 price range. In this price range, a buyer would expect to purchase a two- or three-bedroom freehold property. As is the case in many areas, there is an oversupply of leasehold property, which has affected the prices being achieved in this sector. Having said that, Seymours in Staines have successfully agreed sales on 11 of 12 brand new apartments (Featured Property) with prices ranging from £310,000 to £475,000. This was achieved in a period of seven weeks leading up to the Christmas break. Our New Homes department have reported similar successes in other areas which indicates that brand new homes, including leasehold property, are selling.

Lettings market

The lettings market remains extremely buoyant with rents increasing year-on-year due to a distinct shortage of available stock. As world travel gets back to pre-Covid levels, more and more tenants are migrating to the UK, in particular, the South East, looking to rent a property between two and five years. Modern one- and two-bedroom apartments up to £2,000pcm are in high demand whilst three-bedroom family homes are equally popular.

With wholesale oil and gas prices coming down, a better choice of mortgage rates on the horizon and more stock of properties coming to the market in the New Year, buyers and sellers feel some stability coming back into the marketplace. This confidence is expected to grow into the spring as everyone adjusts to the new ‘norm’.

Featured property: Vicarage Court, Staines. From £310,000

CARDIFF, SOUTH WALES

KELVIN FRANCIS
Tony Filice, FRICS, Director

You may be hearing pessimistic property headlines over the coming months, but the forecast is not actually that bleak. Looking at the long-term history of house prices, you will see that the property market is never down for long, regardless of how many pandemics and economic crashes.

Our forecast for 2023 for the housing market will be characterised by a slower market, buyers will be viewing a number of properties over a two-to-four-week period and then offering on their chosen one. Vendors, we anticipate, may consider offers at two to five percent below their asking price, they will then be in a position to offer pro rata a similar price differential on their intended purchase. So, in real terms, the price differential is key for the continuation of momentum in the housing market.

Encouragingly, the re-start of the year has been very positive, new listings strong, viewing property frequencies high, and sensible offers being received across all price bands and sales are taking place, including at £1,000,000 plus.

Mortgage lending improving

Most mortgage lenders are now beginning to offer competitive fixed mortgage rates, for example, five-year fixed from 3.99% and two-year variable/tracker mortgages as low as 3.8%, which will give continued confidence to buyers when calculating their house budgets. The stabilising of the housing market was expected as it could not continue with the unprecedented price increase levels that were occurring, being 11% on average in the UK for 2021 and a further 6% increase in the first half of 2022.

The property boom that followed the pandemic is being brought down to earth by the significant economic pressures facing the nation’s would-be homebuyers. A benefit, however, to first time buyers are the number of lower priced properties, formerly rented, where ‘Buy to Let’ Landlords are diverting themselves of an investment, increasingly dogged by draconian legislation (particularly in Wales and Scotland) and tax incentives withdrawn. Keeping in regular contact with your mortgage broker will be key in moving, taking advantage of the best fixed or tracker mortgage rates offered by competing lenders. Featured property:

Lisvane Road, Cardiff, £355,000