So Autumn is upon us. But what of the Summer and the market? Where are we now? And did the music stop? Well, no, is the short answer. June represented the third consecutive month where a record was set for the percentage of property being agreed over the asking price. Thusly, sales activity in the second quarter was up 14% and bled into strong third quarter activity keeping price robust. And, keeping pace if not leading the charge, the lettings market continues to see a shortgage in supply and record demand with an average of five offers for every property coming to the market.
The long answer of course is a more splintered thing. The overarching question was whether the end of the first phase of the SDLT holiday on 31st June would create a sales market cliff edge. And yes, March, and April were frantic, with our business representing a whopping 29% of all the sales in our core areas in April alone. But, when we last went to press, we offered the opinion that the tax incentive was only a small part of the equation; and the volume of sales being agreed in June (which of course had no chance of getting over the line before the 31st) proved this to be the case. July began in the same vein, with buyer appetite clearly unfazed by increased costs in relative terms. But as July turned its attention to August, the landscape began to change once again, and a strict one in one out policy was adopted. Which is a jovial way of saying that property was sold as quickly as it came on, proving demand hadn’t really changed, but that volume was on a downward trend. As if to prove the point, in July, our Bourton-on-the-Water team sold the same house on Rissington Road for the second time in the space of 5 months - with a 5.7% uplift. So, the more traditionally paced sales market is indeed emerging, but the race for space is clearly a marathon and not a sprint, so we expect prices to remain robust and, perhaps, surprising, in the run up to Christmas.
This is true of lettings market - the year to date has been one of the busiest in recent memory. With city dwellers continuing to re-assess, the demand for good sized, good quality family homes has been, and continues to be, exceptional. A staggering 100% of agreed deals this year have been at asking price as a minimum, and time after time we have seen fierce bidding taking place across all price ranges. There are two key trends emerging in the larger house lettings market; firstly, we are seeing a very definite try before you buy pattern with a significant flow of money coming in from London particularly, and secondly, on the more local market side, a good deal of sellers who have simply not found a property to move to and are waiting out the rush (and competition from cash buyers) in rented accommodation. This continuing demand has of course pushed prices upwards, but it's also driven by a chronic lack of availability. As long as these two factors continue to dominate then we see lettings prices being very strong for the rest of 2021.
