Please have a read of our annual summary of the residential sales market over the last year.
Sales Market Update
Mar 2017
What happened in 2016?
The year started with a flourish due to the strong end of 2015 and a rush of landlords looking to complete on purchases before the second home stamp duty came into effect. This equated to a 3% increase in property values by the end of the first quarter. The second quarter saw a slowdown in transaction levels as the market waited for the outcome of the EU referendum. This slowdown was accelerated by the leave vote and by the end of the third quarter this had translated into a 3% drop in property values. The fourth quarter saw transaction levels bounce back to a more normal level which saw property values stabilise, so by the end of 2016 we had seen 0% change in property values from those at the end of 2015.
Our thoughts on 2017
The year has got off to a positive start with transactions back to a satisfactory level. If owners are realistic with asking prices and act on the markets feedback we expect to have a property under offer within four weeks of marketing.
Moving forward we expect business levels to dip and rise throughout the year due to factors such as the reporting of how Brexit is actually going to be conducted, landlords becoming aware of the implications of new tax rules coming into effect over the next three years and general market confidence, effected by such things as the actions of President Trump.
In the long term it is our belief that property will always prove to be a good investment but in these turbulent times please feel free to contact us for an up to date market view.