Chipping Sodbury, NW Wales & Ballymena, N. Ireland

CHIPPING SODBURY, SW ENGLAND

COUNTRY PROPERTY
Stephen Worlock, Sales Manager

With the cost-of-living crisis and predictions of a tough economic outlook, it is no surprise to find that people are being a little more cautious when buying their home in the countryside. Sales are still going through, and good prices being achieved but the average time of a home on the market is a little longer than it was.

Energy costs are certainly in people’s minds when they are looking at larger country properties. Many now want more detail from sellers on fuel bills before committing. This means those with solar panels or modern efficient heating systems sell faster and are more attractive to buyers. Since the pandemic there has been a steady flow of people from bigger cities – especially London – to the Cotswold area. Many are home working on one or two days a week and a house design that suits that lifestyle is always in demand. We are seeing homeowners invest in properties with renovations and extensions enabling their property to fetch a premium when put up for sale.

The country life

Pretty village locations, views of the countryside and riverside locations will always be popular and because many villages do not have a huge range of properties on the market at any one time there is often more than one family keen to buy a property and make that move into the country. There has never been a shortage of people wanting the country life and picturesque surroundings and we have that to offer in this area.

People do remain practical and villages that can easily access Bristol or other West Country towns with shops, schools and other amenities remain favourite, as do those with good road and rail links to London.

There is still a shortage of homes for those born in the West Country and the continued success of the region in attracting newcomers has only proved to make that more acute. Even four-bedroom homes are now selling to down-sizers who are realising some capital but still want to have room to host the grandchildren in their country home.

Featured property: Engine Common Lane – £850,000

NW WALES

WILLIAMS & GOODMAN THE PROPERTY PEOPLE LTD
Sam Whitehead MNAE

Following winter, and the initial raising of interest rates, we are now heading into the summer months and we are seeing increased activity in the marketplace with strong demand in both the sales and lettings market. Within the last quarter we’ve seen larger numbers of general enquiries, viewing requests and market appraisals, which demonstrates the public are considering their home moving options going into the second half of the year.

As an agency that covers both sales and lettings in Gwynedd and Anglesey, we are seeing strong activity in the rental market with the demand completely outweighing the supply in most areas for rental accommodation particularly as we are also seeing a reduction in supply of rental property available as a consequence of the Rent Homes Wales legislation and several Welsh Assembly decisions.

Sellers have become aware that the market has changed and prospective purchasers are now more cautious when considering making offers and proceeding with sales. Negative press and changing interest rates are a huge factor in the tentative approach, whereas previously we were seeing purchasers rush in to secure a property to avoid missing out now there is less pressure and a little more time for considered actions. With the changing weather, a return to lighter summer evenings and the realisation that the housing market always tends to move forward, we are again seeing more and more people on the property search with high levels of activity levels across the board including great demand in property sold with our auction department.

Online auction

Fortunately, pre Covid we already had an active online auction presence so when the Covid restrictions came in place, we were ready to change our approach moving to an all online auction which has been a terrific success. We currently run an auction every few weeks with an average of seven lots in each one since the start of the year. It’s important to provide multiple services and we have an office in prime locations at Bangor, Holyhead, Caernarfon and Llangefni and a separate property management office in Llangefni as well as an auction department.

Featured property: 6 Victoria Avenue, Bangor – £525,000

BALLYMENA, N. IRELAND

HOMES INDEPENDENT
Fiona McFall,Managing Director

At Homes Independent, we cover the Ballymena area reaching dozens of villages surrounding the main town of Ballymena. Homes Independent Estate Agents specialize in residential sales and lettings, and we are a team of seven with a Town Centre office in Ballymena.

The local property market although now fairly static, remains strong and buoyant throughout Q2 2023. Following on from the pandemic in 2020, we had two consistently strong years where prices continued to increase on an almost month-to-month basis. Since September 2022, throughout many price ranges, purchase prices have remained static. Demand from first-time buyers remains at an all-time high even with the hurdles of higher interest rates. There remains a gap in the market for affordable rural properties and this is clear to be seen with lower end rural properties retaining their 2022 values.

Commuter appeal

We feel passionately about residential property and our goals are constantly customer focused to deliver the best customer service. Ballymena is situated just a short 30-minute commute from Belfast city and therefore we often find demand from those wanting to live in an affordable area but with excellent transport links and within 30 minutes of both airports. With prices remaining 20-30% higher in the city of Belfast, we are confident that demand will remain strong in our town for commuters.

My forecast for the future in our local property market is positive, as I am constantly seeing a strong appetite from first-time buyers in a wide range of price brackets. Many first-time buyers are availing of co-ownership (a shared ownership plan). Digital marketing is a huge part of our business now in 2023 and I look forward to implementing this and making this a focus of our advertising going forward.

Our lettings team have seen demand for rental properties grow consistently, even in 2023. Market rents are still increasing and there appears to be no slow down. There is a shortage of supply in the rental market. Although there are many more social housing developments in our area than there where three years ago, this does not seem to have cooled the demand for rented properties in the private sector.

Featured property: 144 Church Road, Randalstown – OIRO £600,000