Market News
Now we know that the market has been extremely buoyant over the last 12 months. However, what is less reported is the speed that the properties are selling.
You can see in the charge chart below that not only are property prices increasing but in comparison to the average sale time, over 2017-2019, properties are selling quicker.
If you look at the markets that we are focussing on in the North they are up to 26 days quicker than they were in years past.
Our View
As a company, we are experiencing this first hand. Just after COVID first hit we noticed that clients were taking longer when deciding to buy. The main reason was the uncertainty surrounding the market. Many buyers were simply unsure what direction the market would take. Now it is clear that the market is pushing on, we are seeing clients make decisions within 24 hours after they have the relevant information whereas during COVID we were looking at 19-20 days on average.
Manchester Property | Liverpool Property
Volume of Sales
The market is so hot, it is expected that we will see 1.5m sales take place this year. That is a whopping 5,000 a day if we exclude weekends.
You can see from the chart below we have not seen this level of volume for over a decade. During the spurt we saw in 2016 we were only at levels of around 1.2m but we can see we are now approaching 2004 levels which had 4 more years of huge growth.
Our View
Whilst from a business perspective the volume of sales we are getting is fantastic, we have to add a word of caution. We implore all buyers to stress-test their mortgage repayments, what we mean by this is that if you look at mortgage rates and you can afford the repayments then that is great. However, what if mortgage rates increase by 0.5%, 1% or even 1.5%? How would this affect your repayments and is the affordability there? We need to learn from the mistakes people made previously.
Of course, longer fixed-term mortgages can remove uncertainty.
POTM – Liverpool Waters, Liverpool
Only a 20% deposit Required
This development is phase 2 of a development we previously sold 3 years ago that is completed and fully tenanted. The apartments are perfectly located on the Docks in an area of Liverpool that is undergoing a £5.5 Billion Pound regeneration program.
Prices from £140k | Waterside Location | Only a 20% deposit required | Completion in Q1 2023 | 1, 2 & 3 Bedrooms | Fully Furnished | £5.5 Billion Pound Regeneration program
If you would like to find out more about our POTM then please fill out the form below.
Employee of the Month – Kelly Lawrence
client.care@flambardwilliams.co.uk
Something different this month as we typically award a prize to the broker of the month. This month though we have awarded an employee of the month to Kelly who heads up our after-sales team. She has genuinely been unbelievable.
COVID when coming up against different obstacles one after another. COVID was a challenging time for solicitors as they had to migrate all of their work from the office to home. The paperwork went missing, deals were slower to exchange, answers were not forthcoming and despite that Kelly stuck with it and her hard work has paid off. With a record amount of exchanges last month, Kelly has been worth her weight in gold. Thanks, Kelly.
To speak directly to a specialist agent about any of the topics above or any general questions you may have please complete the form below.
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