March 2023 Market Comment

Following the budget-related shock at the end of 2022, we’ve seen an incredibly strong start to the year, once again proving the resilience of the UK housing market.

Indeed, according to the Halifax, nationally house prices rose 1.1% last month, (despite economists’ forecasts of a 0.3% drop), with annual house prices now up 2.1% on this time last year.

And the great thing about property investment is fourfold:

1. Property has proven over the decades to be a steady and reliable medium- to long-term investment.
2. Capital returns on a principal residence are usually tax-free,
3. You have to live somewhere, so you might as well enjoy the tangible benefit of living and sleeping in your investment.
4. It’s easy to gear up the power of your investment by using the bank’s money.

Importantly, it’s the number of properties currently available for sale that should be of interest to buyer and seller alike, especially when these are converting to sales agreed. Not only are we now handling the sales that would have been arranged at the end of last year, but spring seems to have arrived early, as nearly double the number of people put their property on the market at the end of last month than did so at the beginning of the year.

Although this sudden increase in supply has exerted slight downward pressure on prices, this is to be expected and there is certainly no crash on the horizon, as some claimed there might be only a few months ago. Don’t forget, for most people who are moving, even if they have to drop a bit off their sale price, the chances are that they’ll make this up on their purchase. The main thing is that the problem of scarcity of supply has now substantially eased, paving the way for a very healthy “normalised” market.

And this is where good agency kicks in. We are now back in a place where incisively correct valuation, combined with a proactive and creative approach when working with well-qualified buyers, comes into its own. We love this market, because we can really demonstrate that our rigorous and results-focused negotiation skills result in sales, so people can get moving.

If you’re considering a move, or if you’re currently stuck on the market wondering what’s happening, we’d love to help – why not call us today and let us show you what we can do – you might be pleasantly surprised!