A month after the end of the first phase stamp duty holiday, July’s property stats make interesting reading, says Azeem Salemohamed of East London agent, Sandra Davidson.
Comparing the Rightmove July figures for our East London patch to those of a year ago is quite revealing. In July last year, estate agents had recently reopened after lockdown and a pent-up market led to a surge in properties for sale. Last July there were 1,617 properties on the market here, compared to just 1440 in July this year.
The number of new instructions last month was almost half that of a year ago, and there were fewer sales agreed too. More people were also looking last year – Rightmove recorded 2.2million detailed views for our area, compared to 1.9million this July.
So, does this mean the property boom is starting to unravel with falling demand, fewer properties coming to the market and the inevitable impact on prices? Not according to some commentators, who are predicting house prices will continue to grow. Indeed, Zoopla’s price index for July shows there’s been a 5.4% increase in prices over the past 12 months – which we’d expect given the impact of the stamp duty holiday.
I’m less confident of that continuing. We’ve still got the furlough and other support schemes; businesses are reopening and the economy seems to be strong. The interesting thing is to that demand is falling. With this, I’d expect to see more of a level playing field when it comes to pricing.
Buying and selling at the same time?
Here are 10 things that could go wrong, and often do go wrong, and what, if anything, you can do to avoid them.
Buying and selling at the same time?
Here are 10 things that could go wrong, and often do go wrong, and what, if anything, you can do to avoid them.
At Sandra Davidson, we are still selling properties. But more than ever, we are working closely with our sellers to help them understand the market, manage their expectations and reassess whether now is the time to move. We are finding that second-time sellers are more realistic about the offers they receive with the properties they are looking to buy more likely to fit their budget.
Plus, there is still a stamp duty holiday in place on the first £250,000 of a purchase. So, there are discounts available at the lower end of the market – we’ve just taken on a new-build development in Southwark with prices starting at £350k, for example – check our listing pages to find out more.
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