Mid June Market Update
It’s your house – Mid June Market Update By Avocado Property
In this market update we will cover:
1. The Stamp Duty Holiday Deadline
2. Mortgage Rates Change – AGAIN!
3. What Gold Dust Are Buyers Searching For?
4. What We Expect To Happen In The Second Half Of 2021
5. How To Add Value To Your Home
Stamp Duty
We are now just a couple of weeks away from the deadline and the stress is starting to show across all UK solicitors. If you have just agreed a new sale the chances of you talking to your solicitor for the next few weeks are unlikely…
ALERT – Last week the banks moved the goal posts! They are now asking for solicitors to give them 10 working days notice – double the norm! This is likely to see many buyers who expect to hit the deadline miss out….
What we can say from being central in the market is; the stamp duty holiday helped fuel the market, brought resurgence to the trade industries and showed that pent up demand from Brexit was clearly there for us all to see. What comes next? Our Forecast comes later in the blog.
Mortgage Rates Change – AGAIN!
We actually think this has been as much of an impact on the UK property market as the stamp duty holiday in 2021. First it was the re-introduction of the high loan to value options like 10% deposit mortgages and then came the 5% deposit deals too. You can now get a 95% mortgage with an interest rate under 3.5% and a re-mortgage deal if you have over 40% equity under 1%. YES under 1% interest rates… They continue to drop weekly with even the buy to let deals now gaining reduction momentum.
If you need to chat mortgages or would like an intro to a trusted local mortgage adviser then let us know and we would be happy to recommend a business to you.
What Gold Dust Are Buyers Searching For?
Trends are something we at Avocado are always interested in for the local markets. It gives us the edge on pricing and reading the buyer markets. So what are people looking for?
The most searched property related question in google this month is ‘I want a property to rent out’. This is interesting because it’s a sign on people looking into buy-to-lets.
The last 6 months have been very clearly dominated by first time buyers, prior to that we saw almost six months of second and third time sellers dominating the market. Are we about to see buy-to-let landlords for the second half of the year?
In terms of features that add value at the moment (or as we call it – ‘the gold dust’); second reception or an extra bedroom are now vital – why? Simply because more people now work from home permanently and need to build an area with a desk and proper office set up.
Anyone selling properties with hot tubs and garden rooms are also getting that little bit extra in comparison to others on the market. Although this could be a summer/lockdown fad so don’t rush out to Costco to pick up your new 10k hot tub.
What We Expect To Happen In The Second Half Of 2021
We expect the theme of buyer demand to out strip new properties coming to the market. While interest rates continue to reduce, it makes purchasing a property more affordable and as a result more people looking can pay more money. Simple economics therefore show prices continuing to climb…
One area that might be about to explode is the landlord/buy-to-let market. I want to buy a second property is one of the most searched property phrases into google at the moment and with personal savings gaining almost zero growth it would appear many wealthy people are looking to invest. Buy-to-let purchasers over the last 12 months have not dominated in the market place; although a lot of let-to-buy purchases have been transacted where people took advantage of the stamp duty while letting out the previous home to buy a new one. Watch this space…
We also expect there to be an increase in first time sellers coming to the market over the next 18 months as the ‘lockdown baby boom’ results in people moving for more space. The Avocado Family has recently had our own new addition to the group and while in hospital talking to midwifes they did say the baby boom is real and they have never been so busy!
Prices – We would expect prices to climb for the rest of the year even after the September stamp duty holiday comes to an end. So if you’re planning to upsize; now is the time to do it because the gap between your sale and purchase is only likely to grow.
How To Add Value To Your Home
At Avocado we talk about the ‘gold dust’, the gold dust is the single selling point which sets your home apart from the rest of the road. We also talk about the importance of first impressions and a buyer getting the right ‘feel’. Both vital in the house selling game…
In terms of value adding:
• Summer is here now so adding colour to the front and back gardens, keeping the lawn green and cut will make a big difference to potential buyers. It doesn’t cost a lot of money to really bring a garden to life for photos/videos. Trim the bushes, paint the fence, weed the borders, clear the kids toys, make up the garden table/chairs and show the garden off as you would for a family BBQ in the sun.
• It’s bright now! Sunlight brings out all the little marks on the walls, smudges on the windows and shows all the spider webs off fantastically well too. Give the walls a touch up, brush the cobwebs away in the corners and around the front door – then get the window cleaner round to do inside and out.
• The last little value adder tip is think home office. Every house is different but if you can show a home office working environment that looks appealing then it is very on trend. Borrow an office chair if needed, put up a small white board if the space is there to do so, add a nice office desk plant and make sure it’s tidy. So many people are moving because they need office space so this way you can show off your home as the one for them!
Hopefully you found the market update helpful and interesting. If so don’t forget to share it in WhatsApp/Facebook with anyone else local, or friends of yours who are on the move soon too.