British Property Award Winners
Streets Ahead Estate Agents: Double Triumph with 2 GOLD Award Wins!
British Property Award Winners
Local Estate Agent’s Unwavering Excellence and Dedication Recognised in Prestigious Real Estate Industry Accolade
We are elated to announce that Streets Ahead Estate Agents has once again proven their exceptional prowess in the real estate industry by clinching two prestigious awards. In the 2023 British Property Awards, we secured not one, but two Gold Winner titles – one for the SE25 region and the other for the Croydon area. This extraordinary achievement underscores our unwavering commitment to excellence, dedication to our clients, and unparalleled knowledge of the local property market.
The British Property Awards are the gold standard for recognising outstanding service and professionalism within the property industry. Year after year, they rigorously assess estate agents across various regions, evaluating their customer service, market knowledge, and overall performance. Achieving the Gold Winner recognition in both SE25 and Croydon is a resounding testament to Streets Ahead’s dedication to delivering top-tier services to buyers, sellers, landlords, and tenants alike.
This double victory for Streets Ahead is particularly noteworthy as it reaffirms our consistent efforts to go above and beyond for our clients. Our team of seasoned professionals possesses in-depth insights into the local property landscapes of SE25 and Croydon. With this knowledge, we navigate the dynamic market trends and provide tailored solutions that meet the unique needs of our customers.
Receiving the Gold Winner awards from the British Property Awards showcases Streets Ahead’s relentless pursuit of excellence and our position as a leader in the property sector. It is a recognition that reinforces the trust that our clients have placed in us and serves as a beacon for prospective clients who are seeking unparalleled service.
For all your real estate needs in SE25 and Croydon, there’s only one name that stands out: Streets Ahead Estate Agents – the 2023 Gold Winner at the British Property Awards. Congratulations to the entire team for this outstanding accomplishment!
Top 10 Home Improvement Trends for 2023
Home improvement
Top 10 Home Improvement Trends for 2023
Are you looking to update your home in 2023? Here are the top 10 home improvement trends to consider:
- Sustainable materials: Sustainable building materials, such as bamboo flooring and reclaimed wood furniture, are becoming increasingly popular due to their environmental benefits. Incorporating sustainable materials into your home is not only good for the planet but can also add unique character and warmth to your space.
- Multi-functional spaces: With many people working from home, having a space that can serve as both a workspace and living area has become a necessity. Consider converting a spare bedroom or creating a dedicated workspace in your living room to maximise your space.
- Bold colours: Say goodbye to neutral shades and hello to bold and bright colours. Incorporating bold colours into your home decor can add personality and make a statement.
- Indoor-outdoor living: Create a seamless flow between indoor and outdoor spaces by incorporating large windows, sliding doors, and outdoor seating areas. This trend is perfect for those who love to entertain or want to enjoy the outdoors from the comfort of their home.
- Smart home technology: Smart home technology, such as voice-activated assistants and automated lighting, is becoming more advanced and accessible. Not only does it add convenience to your daily routine, but it can also save you money on your energy bills.
- Cottagecore: The cottagecore trend is all about bringing the charm of the countryside into your home. Think floral prints, pastel colours, and vintage-inspired decor. Incorporating this trend can add a cozy and nostalgic feel to your space.
- Biophilic design: Biophilic design is all about incorporating nature into your home. From living walls to natural materials, this trend can help reduce stress and improve your overall well-being.
- Vintage and retro: Vintage and retro decor, such as mid-century modern furniture and vintage accessories, is making a comeback. Incorporating these timeless pieces into your home can add character and a sense of nostalgia.
- Outdoor kitchens: Outdoor kitchens are perfect for those who love to entertain and enjoy cooking outdoors. From built-in grills to pizza ovens, creating an outdoor kitchen can add value to your home and provide a unique entertaining experience.
- Self-care spaces: With the ongoing pandemic, self-care is more important than ever. Creating a dedicated self-care space, such as a meditation room or at-home spa, can provide a much-needed escape from daily stressors.
At Streets Ahead, we understand the importance of creating a space that fits your lifestyle and needs. As a leading estate agency in the UK, we can provide expert advice and assistance on all aspects of buying and selling properties. Whether you’re looking to incorporate the latest trends into your home or sell your property at the best price, we’re here to help. Contact us today to learn more about our services and how we can assist you.
Housing Market Trends and Exciting Prospects for 2023!
January Property Market
Navigating Market Fluctuations and Emerging Opportunities in the Housing Sector
January has proved both a mixed bag of results and a mixed bag of forecasts, with the more gloomy commentators hoping to attract headlines, stating house prices will drop 5% this year, to the more realistic such as Savills Estate Agents, who predict that house prices will recover and the average house price will be 6% higher over the next 5 years.
I noted an interesting article in The Times, noting that as the cost of living has increased and mortgage rates have increased, property prices fell slightly towards the end of 2022, but asking prices defied all expectations in January 2023 by rising 0.9% according to Rightmove. My own view, is that we will see a steady market in the months ahead and as I have said many times, the housing market is another commodity and demand still out weighs supply. Across all of our offices, we have seen a 15% to 16% drop in prospective purchasers looking, however as our consultants will tell anybody, all viewing slots at block viewings which are not as frantic as before, are still filled but with people wanting to own their own home and now is the new normal. I was asked over Christmas, would you buy a house in 2023 and the answer is yes I would.
Something else that has defied my expectations is the number of tenants, which as I reported to you last month is around 15 to 16 prospective tenants for each property and as I have said many times before, landlords can afford to be selective. Whilst I wait for all the figures and statistics to be analysed, all indications are that rents have increased already this year.
Exciting news ahead as we prepare to open our new flagship office, with more on the way this year.
Turning to New Homes, we have 87 units available with a variety of different packages for any prospective purchasers looking for new homes, whether it be flats or houses, and I would urge anyone to speak to Patrick Donnelly, our new homes director regarding these units. We have new developments all across the borough from Sanderstead and Selsdon, to Norbury and Crystal Palace being launched in the first quarter of this year, so these are definitely exciting times and great opportunities for any prospective purchaser or investor.
As ever, if anyone would like to talk to me in confidence about moving, whether it be a casual first enquiry or a major acquisition proposal, please feel free to email or contact me direct and I look forward to reporting back to you in February.
Market Trends and Holiday Wishes: Insights for June & July 2023
Summer Property Market
A Look at Residential Sales, New Homes, and Lettings Market
Firstly, may I wish all of our clients who are holidaying or about to a great holiday.
Turning to the housing market, June and July with residential sales has been a mixed bag of ups and downs with regard to our results across our group of offices.
Whilst the media and a fair amount are concentrating on the negative, I think it’s important to put things into perspective in that house prices between December 2019 and Autumn 2022 had risen in excess of 20% across the UK, so it comes as a little surprise that with interest rates rising that there is some realignment, but it is definitely not all bad news.
With a population of over 385,000 people in the borough of Croydon, being the largest borough in London with the obvious proximity to London benefits we are still seeing healthy new registrations of potential purchasers as the boroughs housing stock offers fantastic value for money.
New Homes continues to be strong under our Head of New homes Scott Fletcher who has predicted healthy sales for the reast of 2023, we have exciting new developments in Purley, East Croydon and in Crystal Palace.
I would urge anyone who’s thinking about marketing to call one of our very experienced managers to discuss the market, the marketing and the timescales their in.
The residential lettings market in June & July has pretty much remained the same in that rent has stabilised although looking closely at the figures instead of 15/16 tenants for every property we are approaching the 20 mark, so as I’ve said so many times in the past landlords are being understandably very choosy about which tenant to accept.
Lettings stock from studios to 5 bedroom detached are rarely on the market for more than 14 days and to put this into perspective we have over 500 prospecting tenants registered ready to make an August move.
I look forward to reporting back to you in August with some more market updates
Economic Projections and Market Resilience: Insights for April 2023
April Property Market
A Glance at Housing Trends, Lettings Market, and New Homes
As we go into April, let’s keep our fingers crossed for a little more sunshine! I thought I would share with you some of the sentiments and projections that as a company we subscribe to leading economists and their projections and views for 2023.
Whilst the beginning of the year remained stable as I’ve reported there were less mortgage approvals and transactions from the same period of the previous year, but to put it into context as a group we are still selling the same amount of property and second hand (i.e. not new homes) property, but are not necessarily experiencing the huge open days of 2021/2022.
After reading and hearing the economists and experts, clearly a turning point for the economy was the turbulence which followed the mini budget in 2022, I know the bank of England have raised the base rate from 0.25 to 4.25% but this hasn’t necessarily been moved onto mortgage products and I have noticed many experts and indeed Rightmove mortgage expert Matt Smith says that mortgage lenders have already factored in this increase in March.
Overall, there has been a slight reduction in 2 and 5 year mixed deals. The good news is after listening to the economists is that the energy companies are now buying gas and electric at much cheaper prices, and while I can’t guarantee it, I have been advised this will be passed on to us in 6 months’ time, and that with a whole host of other commodities will bring down inflation and ease the affordability for home buyers. I must tell you that all economists that will have told us that this is all dependant on a more stable global outlook than we have experienced in other parts of the world recently.
For people who have experienced recessions and bad markets, I am pleased to tell you that the housing market has remained resilient, with the pace of people making appointments slowed down, but the prospect purchasers who are registering are 110% committed.
In contrast to the residential sales market, the lettings market is somewhat of a anomaly in that the supply does not equal the demand, as the demand is huge and the supply is not there to meet it and ordinarily any commodity that falls into this bracket rises in price, but rent has remained the same for some months now. I am pleased to tell any prospective landlords that the demand is still huge.
Turning to new homes, we were delighted to welcome Scott Fletcher, who Is very seasoned new homes manager and working alongside Patrick Donnelly in our land department is a recipe for a market leading team.
Lastly but not least, we were thrilled to open another flagship office at 737-739 London Road, headed up by Louis French, our residential sales manager with years of experience in estate agency many of which have been with streets ahead, also bringing years of experience to the table is Anthony Adebajo and his team who will be delighted to hear from you on 0208 689 8888.
I wish you all a happy April and I know towards the end of the month some of us will be getting into coronation mode, as will streets ahead to welcome to new king Charles in the first week May.
Geographical Centric Shifts: February's Real Estate Insights
February Property Market
Market Fluctuations, Success Stories, and Exciting Expansion in Croydon
February as ever seemed to rush by, as I reflect on our figures and the experts it is clear that the market changes are geographically centric.
I was interested to read an article in the Guardian, written by the Halifax, stating that house prices in February had increased 1.1% to £285,476 after falls in the 2 previous months. It would be true to say, I keep getting asked what will happen to house prices this year and I understand how important this question is, as the reports we read are so vastly different in their bleak outlook to a more stable outlook. I can report to you now through our own statistics, that house prices reduced 0.5% in the last quarter, but have bounced back, so although there was a tiny drop in asking prices, it’s such a small drop and I can take an educated guess that this was over the festive period. Traditionally, house prices do really gain momentum in February and whilst we haven’t seen the momentum of previous years, it is good to see demand outweighing supply and all of you that read my report will know that like any commodity, when supply is in a shortage and demand is high, the price of the commodity ordinarily remains stable and solid.
I have several important announcements which should encourage the residents, sellers, landlord and tenants of Croydon, in that our new flagship branch at Thornton Heath pond, opened on the 21st February and I am delighted to see so much activity so early on. Also, as the group grows, we are continuing on the acquisition trend and I am confident of imminent positive news in this respect, which will grow the group and the Streets Ahead family to the biggest property company and estate agent in Croydon.
We were really pleased and delighted that Scott Fletcher, with years of experience in the new homes sector has joined us to team up with Patrick Donnelly in our land department and already in the first two weeks, we are in receipt of 100 new units, both off plan and in construction to sell.
So for all the gloom and negative news that surrounds the property market, there are success stories and you will all know that I am a big advocate of the Croydon housing market and it remains robust and solid because of its outstanding value for money as a London Borough.
The lettings market remains largely the same and I have spoken to many other estate agents, in that there is a shortage of stock as existing tenants are less fluid and as I reported in January, we are up to approximately 16 tenants per property and understandably, landlords are being very picky over which tenant to choose. There are a number of success stories that I would like to share in this respect, in that some of the tenants that may have missed out on a prospective property, we have helped to go on and buy their first house, with our knowledge of new homes and the housing market almost being unrivalled in Croydon. Which takes us to our anniversary of the 1st March, which celebrates 33 years of trading from the Lower Addiscombe Road office, with all 3 people, Bob Hay, Marina Steel and myself, still actively full time working in the business and still enjoying every aspect of estate agency. It’s great to see newcomers from the boroughs rising through the ranks as we did 30 years ago.
I look forward to giving you more of an insight in to March’s property market, both in sales, lettings and new homes in the next couple of weeks, but in the meantime, if you have any questions as ever, please feel free to email me or contact me directly.
Enhance Your Living Room with Stylish Decorative Lighting
Home improvement
Enhance Your Living Room with Stylish Decorative Lighting
The living room, often the heart of a home, is where we unwind, entertain guests, and connect with family. Naturally, we desire a well-lit and inviting space adorned with stylish decorative lighting. Beyond its functionality, decorative lighting adds warmth and charm to your living room, creating a delightful ambiance.
When it comes to decorative lighting options, the choices are vast and diverse. From table lamps and floor lamps to ceiling lights and wall lights, each option offers unique lighting effects and characteristics, allowing you to elevate your living space.
Pendant Lamps: Making a Statement
For larger rooms with high ceilings and ample open space, pendant lamps or hanging lamps can serve as captivating statement pieces. Opt for a design that stands out, adding an accent to the room. However, it’s crucial to strike a balance with the size to ensure it doesn’t overpower the space or feel out of place. Additionally, careful installation is essential to avoid hanging the lamp too high or low. An improperly positioned pendant lamp can result in uneven illumination or become a hindrance to comfort.
Table Lamps: Illuminating Comfort and Style
Table lamps are a practical and effective way to enhance the overall lighting and ambiance of your living room. They provide gentle illumination and add a touch of elegance to any space. When considering table lamps, remember to prioritise proper positioning. While they should efficiently light up the room, they should also contribute to the room’s aesthetic even when they’re not switched on.
Wall Lighting: Shedding Light on Details
Wall lighting offers a unique opportunity to highlight specific details and accessories in your living room. It serves as an ideal spotlight for showcasing hanging paintings or cherished family photographs. By using wall lamps, you can accentuate elements you want to draw attention to, infusing your room with personality and character. Moreover, wall lighting serves as excellent task lighting for activities like reading, enabling you to engage in nighttime pursuits with ease and comfort. Adjustable wall brackets provide added convenience, allowing you to position the light precisely where you need it.
Floor Lamps: Illuminating Every Corner
Floor lamps are versatile fixtures that bring brightness and depth to your living space. They ensure no corner remains in the dark while also adding a touch of style. With a wide range of designs available, including options specifically designed for corners, you can effortlessly find a floor lamp that perfectly complements the theme or style of your living room.
Streets Ahead: Your Trusted Partner in Creating Your Ideal Living Space
At Streets Ahead, we understand the significance of crafting a living space that perfectly suits your lifestyle and preferences. As a premier estate agency in the UK, we offer unrivaled expertise and support in all aspects of buying and selling properties. Whether you’re seeking to infuse the latest trends into your home or secure the best price for your property, our dedicated team is here to guide you every step of the way. Don’t wait any longer—get in touch with us today to explore our comprehensive range of services and discover how we can help you achieve your property goals.
Contact Streets Ahead now and let us be the key to unlocking your dream living space. Reach out to us today to find out more about our exceptional services and start your journey toward a home that truly reflects your style and aspirations.
Unleash the Power of Art in Your Home with These 5 Essential Considerations
Home improvement
Unleash the Power of Art in Your Home with These 5 Essential Considerations
Art has the ability to breathe life into your home, adding character and a sense of completion to every room. Beyond its aesthetic appeal, art has been proven to boost our mood, enhance focus, and alleviate stress. However, choosing the right pieces for your home is crucial, as art can evoke powerful emotions. In this article, we will explore the key factors to consider when selecting original artwork, enabling you to create a welcoming atmosphere that reflects your personality.
- Budget: Set a comfortable budget for your art purchases and explore a wide range of options that fit within that range. With online art galleries like Singulart, Saatchi, and Artfinder, you can discover affordable yet high-quality artwork by emerging artists.
- Personal Preference: Select art that resonates with you personally. Avoid being swayed by fleeting trends and choose pieces that you genuinely love and connect with on an emotional level.
- Colour Palette: Consider the impact of colours on your mood. Warm colours evoke passion and comfort, while cool colours induce calmness. Ensure the artwork complements your room’s colour scheme for a cohesive and harmonious look.
- Size and Scale: Strike the right balance with the size of the artwork and your room. Avoid overwhelming or underwhelming the space by selecting art that appropriately fills the available wall space, occupying around 60% to 75% of the area.
- Style and Theme: Match the style and theme of your room with the chosen artwork. For a classic living room, traditional pieces like still life and landscapes may be ideal, while abstract art or minimalist designs can enhance a modern, contemporary space.
Transform your home into a captivating sanctuary by carefully selecting original art that speaks to your soul. Embrace the power of art and create an ambiance that reflects your unique taste and style.
At Streets Ahead, we understand the importance of creating a living space that fits your lifestyle and needs. As a leading estate agency in the UK, we can provide expert advice and assistance on all aspects of buying and selling properties. Whether you’re looking to incorporate the latest trends into your home or sell your property at the best price, we’re here to help. Contact us today to learn more about our services and how we can assist you in achieving your property goals.
The Top Features to Look for in a New-Build Home
New Homes
The Top Features to Look for in a New-Build Home
When it comes to buying a new home, it’s important to know what features to prioritise. New-build homes offer a range of modern amenities and benefits that can enhance your living experience. In this article, we’ll explore the top features to look for when considering a new-build property. Whether you’re a first-time buyer or an experienced homeowner, these insights will help you make an informed decision. Read on to discover the key elements that make a new-build home truly exceptional.
- Energy Efficiency: One of the standout features of new-build homes is their energy efficiency. Look for properties with high Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) ratings, typically labeled as A or B. These ratings indicate excellent insulation, double or triple-glazed windows, and the use of energy-efficient appliances. Not only will this help the environment, but it can also save you money on utility bills in the long run.
- Modern Amenities: New-build homes often come equipped with the latest modern amenities. Pay attention to features such as integrated kitchen appliances, smart home technology, and efficient heating and cooling systems. These conveniences can enhance your daily life and provide a more comfortable and connected living environment.
- Architectural Design: New-build properties often boast contemporary architectural designs that reflect the latest trends and styles. Look for homes that offer sleek finishes, open floor plans, and ample natural light. These design elements can create a sense of spaciousness and promote a welcoming atmosphere.
- Customisable Options: Many developers offer buyers the opportunity to customise certain aspects of their new home. From selecting kitchen finishes to choosing flooring materials, having the ability to personalise your space ensures it aligns with your unique style and preferences. Consider the level of customisation available and discuss the options with the developer to create a home that truly reflects your taste.
- Outdoor Spaces: New-build homes often come with well-designed outdoor areas, such as gardens, patios, or balconies. Access to private outdoor spaces allows for relaxation, entertaining guests, and enjoying fresh air without leaving the comfort of your home. Consider the size, privacy, and functionality of the outdoor spaces when evaluating new-build properties.
Investing in a new-build home offers a range of benefits, and understanding the key features to look for can help you make an informed decision. Energy efficiency, modern amenities, architectural design, customisable options, and well-designed outdoor spaces are among the top features that can elevate your living experience. Discover your dream home today! Contact Streets Ahead to explore our comprehensive range of new-build properties that offer the perfect blend of modern features and exceptional living spaces. Let us be the key to unlocking your new-build home.
Firstly, I would like to wish everyone a very happy and prosperous new year and I trust everyone had a fantastic Christmas.
I was away over Christmas and the new year, which gave me much time to read the experts view on the property both in sales and lettings going forward in 2019.
After spending hours reading reports, by and large, the experts predict very little change in prices during 2019, and whilst from an investment point of view some may see this as negative, those who read my market comments will not be surprised to know that I have found a positive in this, in that stable prices may very well encourage more mobility and more new buyers to the market. Whilst I appreciate there is uncertainty both politically and most importantly economically regarding Brexit, a number of regions in the United Kingdom have seen increases in 2018, most noticeably with Wales increasing 4% and also the East Midlands seeing steady growth with prices increasing at 4%. It is true to say that inner London and the South East have borne the majority of any correction in the market but I do not see this as a negative.
On another positive note, help to buy goes from strength to strength and in all the areas we operate in we have fresh and exciting new developments coming to the market in the first quarter of 2019, to which some we are already in receipt of reservation enquiries.
Turning to the lettings market, I have reflected and looked at last years results and whilst I don’t anticipate there being any significant rent decreases, my prediction for 2019 is a solid and stable year and landlords still have the choice of between 5 and 6 tenants per property. I also noted that the number of tenants viewing significantly increased in 2018 with the average tenant viewing between 8 and 9 properties at the end of the year as opposed to 4 or 5 at the beginning.
As I mentioned at the beginning of this month’s market comment, although the pundits and experts reports were bordering on sombre, I have taken the positives from this report and I can see great opportunity ahead for buyers, sellers, landlords and tenants this year.
Once again, may I wish everyone a happy new year and I look forward to reporting to you in February.
November turned out to be a month of peaks and troths across our group.
It would be fair to say we got off to a sluggish start in sales and lettings but particularly in our sales division, however, I am pleased to report that in the last ten days we did as much business by and large as the first 20 days, which is a little surprising as it got significantly more busy just as the Christmas decorations went up and the adverts started on television. This furthermore underpins my opinion that it is an old myth that December is the quietest month of the year with regards to buying and selling property, as more and more people are not relaxing but instead working right up until Christmas Eve and are back and operating as normal between the 26th and the 31st. This is not surprising, as the busiest day for Rightmove traffic is boxing day, within the region of 20 million hits.
As I write to you, December has got off to a very solid start with new registrations for prospective purchasers busier this year than last year and the year before in week 49. There was no movement with regard to prices in November both in the sales and lettings markets, however there is a small spike in prospective tenants registering looking for property, with approximately 8 tenants for every property.
The news seems to be dominated by Brexit and some gloomy predictions how Brexit will impact house prices, and in this vein we cannot ignore the comments from Mark Carney the governor of the bank of England recently. We are all reminded all the time that the 29th March 2019 is fast approaching and our departure of the European Union imminent. I don’t pretend to be an expert in politics but from all that I read, next week is a crucial vote in parliament in that will we or will we not have a deal and will our exit be a soft or hard exit.
I was interested to read a report by Kaylene Isherwood on the 3rd December and I concur with her comments that regional markets are predicted to continue to fend off economic uncertainty, and whilst London and the South East are expected to feel the brunt of Brexit in 2019, I tend to think this is positive realignment and not a bad thing.
There is plenty to be positive about, in that the help to buy government scheme goes from strength to strength and we have seen no tightening of appetite in the sales or lettings market, with new prospective tenants and purchasers registering for property. The mood all round seems to be solid and confident and I have no reason to believe this will not continue in to the new year and I believe 2019 will be a stable year for the housing market.
Which only leaves me to thank all of our customers for your business in 2018 and wish all of our clients both past, present and new a very happy Christmas and happy new year.
Octobers statistics for all of our offices and nationwide can best be described as stable and solid, and I note with interest that the BBC have reported today that house prices rose 1.6% in October 2018 compared with October 2017. In the same article, it goes on to say prices were flat after a 0.2% rise in September according to Nationwide, and I treat this as positive news that the market is holding firm and steady.
A few days ago, there was positively good news in the budget, in that the chancellor Phillip Hammond announced that the help to buy scheme would now end in 2023, an extension of two years.
I also noted with positivity the article in the Homes and Property, under the section ‘Brexit news latest’ that there are positive economic indicators under pinning an optimistic housing outlook, predicting a 14.3% house price growth across the wider greater London area in the next 5 years.
The average price of a new build home in zones 1 and 2 is expected to jump 17.6% between Brexit and 2023 according to housing market forecaster JLL, published in the last few days.
Reading all the Brexit reports, I have concluded that the housing market is much like all commodity’s, in that in this period of uncertainty, prospective tenants, purchasers and indeed investors will always wonder what the consequences are, but the two bigger market drivers i.e. supply and demand, confidence and appetite is also very positive, and don’t believe all that you read.
I was very pleased with Octobers figures across our group, with there being an unprecedented spike in prospective new tenants registering. To give you an example, our Crystal Palace office registered 77 new prospective tenants in week 3 of October. Prospective purchasers were also up but marginally, and very much more encouraging, was new home/ help to buy enquiries.
Looking at all the indicators, I have no reason to believe that our figures, my team and I’s positivity and the ammount of new enquiries both for lettings and sales will equal to a very good November.
On a company level, we were delighted to win bronze best medium sales in the South East England and also Silver best medium lettings in the South East England at our industry’s most converted awards. Also after successfully running four recruitment open days, we are delighted to welcome 7 new members of staff and in a scooped Streets Ahead, Danny Poulton-Midani is now heading up our Central Croydon Branch at 263 High Street, Croydon and this is particularly exciting for us as Danny has been a leading Estate Agent in the Shirley area for a corporate Estate Agent for over 10 years.
I look forward to reporting to you at the end of the month.
It hardly seems possible that we are now in the last quarter of the year and I know many of you will be saying the same as me “where has 2018 gone?!” but that just means that we are all working hard and hopefully enjoying ourselves and that’s why time fly’s.
September turned out a little erratic from week to week and I was slightly apprehensive at the half way point at how the final result would turn out, however both sales, lettings and land and new homes turned the month round to meet all departments expectations in the last 10 days. By and large, prospective applicant levels were the same as September 2017 with prospective tenant enquiries about 4% up on September 2017, where we did see a significant spike in increased activity from prospective first time buyers seeking new homes taking advantage of the help to buy incentive.
I was interested to read that in August 2018, the average price of a house in London was £609,205 according to Rightmove, which was more than double the national average of £301,974 and in another report on the 29th August The Guardian online. A Reuters poll of 30 analysts suggest that hosuing prices in the capital are predicted to fall 0.1% next year, this is such a small decrease and I would call this a correction rather than ‘a fall’. Whilst writing this article, I scowered the internet for nationwide reports on the housing market and generally apart from London it appears up beat and I have said it many times, although all of the offices we operate in are in London boroughs, I don’t forsee and havent seen any evicence yet of a lack of apetite.
I am looking forward to the busy months ahead in 2018.
I hope everyone enjoyed the hot weather and for those of us old enough, it reminded us of the summer of 1976.
I did think to myself privately that temperatures of 33 degrees plus would somewhat subdued the viewing figures and by the time 6/7 o’clock came people would be rushing home to BBQs and not viewings, however our viewing figures remained static in August and vertically identical to June and July.
Enquiries were slightly down with our group registering 446 new applicants, which was 6% down the previous month, however early indications are although new enquiries were slightly down, the prospective purchasers that did register were very serious about buying.
New sales were much the same as June and July too, and traditionally we see a pickup in September and I am looking forward to reporting to you our figures at the end of September.
Turning to the lettings market, I am in somewhat of a quandary as new enquiries were up and far out ways the number of properties we have available and inherently when demand outstrips supply, prices increase but this is not the case, with much of London reporting a decrease in rents achieved and I was pleased to see that our rents achieved are still holding their own. All this said I am pleased that this is the situation and this is all a recipe for a very sensible lettings market.
New Homes goes from strength to strength with the help to buy initiative from the government proving to be an enormous success and we are looking forward to launching Chapman house in September as well as 2 other sites our new homes department are just about to launch.
Well its back to school and for some of us the holidays are over. I trust everyone has had a great summer and I look forward to reporting to you at the end of September.
Firstly, January proved and beat all of my expectations amongst the normal pessimistic predictions with some of the pundits.
I read with interest in January, the top 10 property experts predictions for 2019 with between 70% and 80% with no capital growth movement, one saying a 5% increase and one saying a 5% fall, and therefore I can conclude from this by and large there will be little capital growth. Of course, this depends on geography and with predictions such as part of Scotland, Wales, Warwickshire and Cambridge to rise whilst it seems to be the consensus of opinion throughout all that I read that Central London will see little or no capital growth. I do not view this as bad news but an opportunity, and I think this optimistic view with my staff and I has been the key to our success over the last 29 years. There is always developments in the news that one could view as an influencing factor to the property market and whilst I of course do not disagree that Brexit has caused a certain amount of confusion leading to uncertainty and as I write this there is only 53 days before we are supposed to leave Europe, it is important to remember that people still need to move, whether it be new homes, growing families, first time buyers, renting or even retirement.
I have looked and analysed the hard facts in January and as a company we registered 743 new sales applicants and 877 new prospective tenants in January. I also thought it was an interesting statistic that we had a number of what we call “block viewings” whereby we had a number of people to view a property during a specific time. Two of these conducted in January had in excess of 35 people to view a property at the same time. All of this proves to me that there is still a strong and solid appetite to move. Prospective applicant levels for both sales and the rental sector were up significantly on last year and also property valuations were up 7% on January 2018.
At a time as I have mentioned where there is a cloud of Brexit uncertainty looming over us, I wanted to give you the facts of positivity and grass roots evidence that the appetite for moving is still strong. Now of course this may change and I will be the first to report back to you in my market comment at the end of February.
Kind regards,
Gary O’Hare
I trust everybody had a great Summer, if not unusually hot but great for BBQ’s and for prospective purchasers and tenants out viewing in the evening and weekend.
Last year, when we experienced temperatures of 23 degrees, I was surprised that the viewing figures were up and not down and this year it came as no surprise and there was even more of a spike in activity then I expected. Conversely, new registrations were slightly down at 432 new registrations for prospective purchasers then the month before, but the devil is in the detail and these purchasers although a little bit down were more active.
New sales were very similar to July and traditionally we see a spike in September and I am looking forward to seeing what September brings.
Lettings were as busy as ever and on Friday 16th our lettings department throughout the group arranged a whopping 372 viewings.
Turning to New Homes we had our best month ever for exchanged units and we are looking forward to September and welcoming all the new clients to their new homes.
I look forward to reporting back to you all at the end of September which is ordinarily one of the best months of the year both for sales and lettings.
Looking at July, whilst I appreciate that there are many uncertainties and in particular Brexit, it will come as no surprise that out of the negative reporting, I have found it easy to find the rays of sunshine amongst this negativity.
When you actually look at the housing market across the UK, certain commentators have used the expression ‘treading water’ with marginal increases or decreases month by month and this is due to buyer demand being up and a slight decrease in new stock coming to the market and everyone knows that any commodity whereby demand outstrips supply is a good indicator for the particular commodity.
I firmly believe that with 85 days to go, prospective purchasers are looking beyond Brexit, whether it be a first, second or third move. With mortgage affordability, low-interest rates and healthy wage increases, this will undoubtedly underpin this positive situation.
Turning to our own figures across the group, new prospective applicants both on the buying and rental sectors were virtually the same as June and after meeting prospective managers in each of the areas with operate in and departments there has been no hint of lacklustre.
We are still in a situation whereby there are 7 to 8 tenants for every property and all of our sales negotiators are managing the same number of prospective purchasers as they were 5 years ago, so whilst I am known for being positive and looking for the ray of sunshine on the darkest day, I am pleased to report throughout our group, it is business as usual.
New Homes enquiries increased in July and we were pleased to complete 100% the development of 1 and 2 bedroom houses at Fawcett Road, Central Croydon and we are marketing 7 new developments in August and September and our new homes team has been gearing up for prospective launches on these fronts.
I am personally looking forward to August and I have every confidence I will be reporting back to you in early September to say that August 2019 was a stable and solid front both in residential lettings and sales.
The recent spell of hot weather in June did not seem to deter prospective purchasers and their house hunting.
As I reflect over June 2019 compared with June 2018, the number of prospective new house hunters looking to buy and not registered across our group was up 7% as a figure of 714. Also, the number of transactions tied were also up a similar figure of between 7% and 8% compared to last year, so in short it appears the momentum of confidence is growing. When I look and dissect exactly what prospective purchasers were seeking, it was pretty equal with 43% of prospective purchasers seeking flats, apartments and maisonettes and 57% houses.
Turning to our New Homes division, we were pleased to be instructed on an exciting and enervative development, Hamilton Apartments, which we have watched grow from inception and we were looking forward to our first open day in early July.
As I have mentioned many times, help to buy has proved an enormous success, helping so many first time buyers throughout the London borough of Croydon. I would urge any prospective help to buy enquiry to call any of our experts for free no obligation advice.
The lettings market is slightly more complex in that everything is letting so quickly and there are now 7 tenants for every property, and as I have said many times before, Landlords understandably are being quite choosy over which tenant to take. We were particularly delighted in June to secure 2 large portfolios to our existing 1500 properties under management.
I have every confidence that Summer months are going to be solid with confidence levels growing and I look forward to reporting back to you in early August.
May turned out to be a mixed bunch of results and reports when I look at the statistics and media reports for the housing market. The average price of a house rose to £236,800 in the first 3 months to February, up 2.8% compared to the same period last year according to Russell Galley, managing director of the Halifax and he suggests that the shortage of houses for sale is playing a part in supporting those price increases, but it’s nice to hear the words “resilient” and “confident” back in the media report.
Reading a number of other reports, by and large experts and pundits expect house prices to rise still by 1.5% in 2019 and this is bolstered by some dramatic increases in the North of England, such as Liverpool, Manchester and Scotland. The good news for London is that recent reports suggest that property prices are set to enjoy a “Brexit bounce back” with the average price of a new build home in zones 1 and 2 expected to jump over 17% between Brexit and 2023, (according to JLL).
Other positive indicators are that JDP is forecast to grow 1.5% over the next year, 2% in 2020 and 2.2% in 2021 with earnings expected to rise as much as 4% for three consecutive years between 2021 and 2023.
Looking at our groups figures for May, across the group we saw a spike of 6% of prospective purchasers registering looking for new homes compared with the same month last year and a slightly lower spike of 4% of prospective tenants registering to rent accommodation. I was pleased to see two of our developments sell the last units during May and I was equally pleased to have launched our new development at Coombe Road, a block of luxury apartments overlooking Lloyd Park.
As most tenants and landlords know, government legislation came in to force on 1st June in the form of the tenant fee ban, which is a big change in the way that most agents transact and at Streets Ahead we have been developing and training our staff since January ready for this legislation to take place on 1st June. As a footnote to this, should anybody require any clarification or help regarding the tenant fee ban please feel free to call myself or any of our managers who would be happy to help.
I have every reason to believe that June is going to be a solid month both in the residential and lettings market and I look forward to reporting back to you in July.
April turned out to be a month two spikes in that we saw a dramatic increase in sales enquiries in the second week of April, with a significant decrease in the third week which as you can imagine did equal itself in the end and new registrations were exactly where we expected them to be in line with last year and the previous month with registrations for new prospective purchasers being in excess of 450 for the group.
We were delighted that Jamie Dore, an experienced and very successful branch manager has joined us as the Purley manager, and already our Purley business has dramatically increased. We are confident and looking forward to this office going from strength to strength.
We were particularly pleased with the number of houses and flats sold from our South Norwood office, this being our newest flagship office and after analysing the figures, not only is this office number 1 in its area for lettings and sales, we are looking forward to maintaining this number 1 spot for the rest of the year.
Our Addiscombe, Croydon, South Croydon, Crystal Palace, Central Croydon and Coulsdon offices were all in line with where we expected them to be.
I was interested to see the interview given by Mark Carney, the governor of the bank of England yesterday, in that he can foresee the situation of economic growth improving slightly and that may affect interest rates and the 3 million homeowners in the United Kingdom, with variable or tracker mortgages which reminded me of the statistic that in 2008, 50% of mortgages were at fixed rates and for the final 3 months of 2018 that had increased to 90% of new mortgages at fixed rates.
I was interested to read a few articles in that the city, even with the uncertainty of Brexit does not expect interest rates to increase more than once until 2021.
It seemed more of a feel good factor with property news in April as I even think the gloom mongers have realised there is still an appetite to buy and sell and particularly in the areas we operate in and the lettings market in April remains as resilient as ever.
As exciting as ever, our new homes department has 220 units available from 1 bedroom flats to 5 bedroom houses and 143 new units being a mix of houses and flats coming to the market in the next 3 months. Traditionally now the evenings and mornings are lighter and this is an exciting time to buy and sell and rent and I look forward to reporting back to you in May.
I have read some pretty gloomy reports about the housing market at the end of March and the word subdued seems to crop up time and time again.
I have to say, it might be subdued for the reactive Estate Agents, but for the Proactive Estate Agent, it is my opinion that their market share is growing, and this was highlighted to me most noticeably on one Thursday evening late in March, when the manager of our Central Croydon Office, 263 High Street, Croydon, sent me a photograph of nine offer sheets representing nine offers that his office had in that day. He is clearly not experiencing a subdued market.
I absolutely get that the public whether you are a buyer or seller, tenant or landlord, are probably more baffled and completely fed up with the Brexit subject and this may have dwarfed any uncertainty and whilst in my market comment I have always tried to shy away from politics, I am safe in my comment after reading the other day that between 8 and 9 people out of ten were dis-satisfied by the way that Brexit has been handled.
Enough about politics, and there are rays of sunshine amongst the gloom mongers; house prices were up 2.6% for the first three months of this year compared to the same period in 2018, new ten year rates were launched to the by to let investor at 2.74% and in my 30+ years this seems like unbelievably cheap money to borrow for an investor, and help to buy goes from strength to strength.
Turning to our individual figures, prospective purchasers registered in March was virtually exactly the same as February and prospective tenants looking to rent was up 3% and there was a marked increase. I shall report back to you further on help to buy enquiries.
So all be it a little shorter then my usual market comment, I wanted to re-assure anyone thinking of buying or selling that is most definitely not all doom and gloom and I would rather than use the word “subdued” time and time again. I am confident in stating that there is a healthy appetite to buy, a healthy appetite for lenders to lend and the residential letting market remains as solid as ever. This all coupled together with the help to buy demand and supply going from strength to strength.
I look forward to reporting back to you in May, on what I think will be a healthy April housing market.
February ended up being a fairly stable month across our group, although it was a month of stop and start both in the lettings and sales market.
I was interested to read that house prices according to the nationwide building society were up 0.4% compared with a year ago, however in February house prices dipped 0.1% compared with the month before, with the average property in the United Kingdom costing £211,304. I concur with Robert Gardener from the Nationwide comments in that “indicators of the housing market of property transactions and the number of mortgages approved for house purchases has remained broadly stable in recent months”. Although this article goes on to say the confidence has weakened at the turn of the year, I believe our group of offices has not experienced this because of the areas of London in which we operate in are still outstanding value for money.
I have read a few reports which has more than suggested Brexit is clearly impacting the issue of confidence and whilst I have no doubt that our prospective purchasers cannot avoid the Brexit subject, it has hardly dampened the appetite.
Help to buy still remains very popular and in my view is it an excellent initiative by the government, enabling many prospective purchasers to own their own home.
Turning to the lettings market, we saw a slight dip in new properties coming to the market in February and conversely a slight increase in prospective tenants but frankly speaking both changes were negligible and I shall be monitoring this carefully over the coming months.
Traditionally this time of year is a good time of year for would be homeowners and movers with the latter evenings etc. and I have no reason to believe that 2019 will be any different.
I look forward to reporting back to you in early April.
Whilst July was very much what we expected and with no increase or decrease in activity with our sales market, anyone could be forgiven for thinking that the property market was going to collapse after reading some of the gloomy reports surrounding the London house market, the uncertainty of Brexit, the hottest August since 1976 and the holiday season well and truly upon us, I am pleased to tell you that the property market, resilient as ever held steadfast against all the gloom mongers and in the areas we operate in, the market remains robust.
We only have to look at the enquiries for our newly built properties benefiting from the help to buy initiative which has led to most of our developments being sold out with over 80% reservations on the first day of launch. It would be no exaggeration to say that we are oversubscribed with new homes properties by 3 to 1 and it is true to say that whilst rents have definitely levelled out and in some cases landlords have marginally reduced their marketing prices as an incentive to attract more tenants, we are still experiencing for every property we have available, there are 5/6 tenants.
So as we enter the last 3rd of 2018, my staff and I are going to use the negativity and turn this in to opportunity as I foresee a stable market ahead for the rest of 2018.
Firstly, I would like to wish all out clients both past, present and future a very happy new year and whilst I have spent a month reading a lot of negative propaganda about the property market, I thought I would write to you on a more cheery note about the positive things in the housing market.
I note that many pundits are focusing on the London market, which clearly has seen a steadiness in transaction levels but actually this is not a bad thing and my experience and prediction, particularly for our 7 offices, will see a healthy owner occupier movement from first time buyers right through to retirement and it is possible we may see a slight drop in the investor purchases, however we have not experienced that in January. After launching new developments, there was no shortage of prospective purchasers which included both owner occupiers and investors alike.
Looking at the figures, it appears the areas in which we operate in have bucked the trend with property valuations across all the group being up in January compared with January 2017 and also the number of prospective purchasers has also increased in the same month, so as I reflect on the first month of the year, I am delighted to report to you that steady would be an understatement but solid and strong would be a better description.
Turning to new homes, I was thrilled at the number of people that turned up last Saturday to our launch of the River View Mews houses. The launch was reminiscent of any packed launch in the last 3 year and as a result of this we have secured nearly half of the development. If we needed proof that the market is still solid it was certain on this day, as it was the wettest day of the year and although the houses were nearly finished, it was a test of patience and perseverance to all those prospective purchasers that attended, all sloshing around in the mud.
I think the biggest spike as I look at the figures and reflect on January has been the number of prospective tenants register in January 2018 as this has been the biggest January registration number in the last 5 years and although when demand usually outweighs supply, prices can increase. In January we have seen a healthy number of stock come to the market from apartments to houses and we have seen no increase in rent. I predict this may be the case for the first quarter of more in 2018 and the areas we operate in still represent superb value for money, particularly with the fantastic connectivity to central London our areas offer.
Amongst all the negative news there is plenty of positive things to report to you and 2018 has certainly got off to a healthy start. I look forward to reporting to you in the next 2 or 3 weeks.
Once again, happy new year to everybody.
Firstly I’d like to take this opportunity to wish all our current, past and our new 2018 clients a very happy new year.
Over the festive period I have been reading all of the reports as to the housing market in London, the South East and rest of UK and it was with interest I noted RICS warns that the property market is turning cautious and although this is of course sensationalised as bad news, I read this as good news in that sensible is another word for cautious and whilst I don’t predict there will be any dramatic price increases in the areas we operate in 2018, I am looking forward to a sensible and solid year.
Of course, we are lucky in that all of our offices are in the London Borough of Croydon and now Steve Yewman of Westfield has confirmed that work is to start in 13 months and I think this has allayed any fears of uncertainty. Whilst talking about uncertainty, it is true that this is not the best ingredient for the housing market and I have heard many times in 2017 that Brexit has caused uncertainty, this may be the case, however people still need somewhere to live, we still have shortage of housing stock and I remain positive and confident in this respect. I am pleased to say as I write this 2 days in to the new year, we have seen nothing short of a surge of activity with new prospective purchasers registering and more market appraisals booked than the same time last year or the year before.
I was interested to read that banks extended new mortgage commitments to borrowers worth £69.6 billion in the 3 months to the end of September, an increase of 154% on the same period in 2016 and the highest amount recorded over a 3 month period since 2008. I read on Boxing Day an interesting article from Patrick Collinson from the Guardian, stating that it could be a better year for Britain’s dysfunctional housing market and his article is correct in that interest rates, even if they go up, will stay low. New home building has picked up and with 217 thousand new homes coming to the market in 2016 and 2017, up 20% then the year before, stamp duty has been abolished up to all properties up to £300,000 for first time buyers and help to buy gains momentum – all these things in my view will ensure a steady and solid 2018.
Turning to the Lettings market little has been reported, save after years of rent increases, “Landlords are finding they cannot squeeze tenants any further”, that’s not perhaps the phraseology I would use, but I would predict there would be a small increase in rent in the areas we operate in 2018 and I’m going to go out of a limb and say the lettings market in our areas will be nothing short of buoyant.
On the New Homes front, we are delighted to be launching a new development at Wandle Mill and we are now in full flow with Jessop Lodge, with more developments being launched in February.
So to conclude, I foresee an exciting 2018 and because of this we are continuing our expansion programme with new offices and departments of which I will report back to you shortly.
Once again Happy New Year.
As our thoughts turn to the end of the year, Christmas and 2018, we saw some important changes to the housing market this past November.
On the 1st November the government published its “tenants fees bill” which if passed in to law will make it an offence for Landlords and Tenants to charge upfront fees. This draft bill will now have a 6 week consultation period and most importantly in the chancellors budget, stamp duty has been abolished on homes costing less than £300,000, with reduced rates of up to £500,000 for first time buyers. I think this is a fair decision, great news for first time buyers struggling to get all the deposit monies together and I predict a good boost to the housing market across the UK.
Turning to our figures and statistics this November, going in to December we experienced our second highest month in 2017 in registering prospective purchasers and there has been a real sense of the market goes on with owner occupiers, deterred by some of the gloom mongering proper gander and taking advantage of the fantastic value for money that our offices operate in, no doubt there was an extra boost with the Westfield Hammerson final confirmation coming through that the Whitgift centre in its current format will be open for two more Christmases, with work starting in early 2019. All be it this is a little bit longer than many people had expected, these are confirmed timescales by Westfield.
The spike in our prospective purchaser registrations is under pinned by property transactions in the UK were up 9.2% in October and as the same month in 2016 to £105,260 with inflation remaining at 3% in October, this being widely thought as now peaking and is expected to return to its target level of 2% in the new year. House prices in the UK rose another 0.2% in September taking annual rate of growth to 5.4% up from 4.8% in August and although the north west showed the strongest increase, London still showed a 2.5% increase.
We finish the year with some interesting statistics in that the average price of a semi-detached house in Croydon over the last 12 months is £432,618 compared with greater London at £568,188 and England and Wales at £209,005 with a dramatic difference to our Crystal Palace office 2.3 miles away from our Addiscombe Croydon office with the average semi-detached house over the last 12 months at £582,713 – slightly over greater London at £568,188.
Turning to the lettings market, average rents across Great Britain rose 1.5% in the last 12 months across the UK, with the East Midlands continuing to see a strong rate of growth followed by the South East and across our offices, where we have seen rents increase 3.2% over the last 12 months. The latest RICs survey suggests a report that tenant demand across the UK will be fairly stable in the last quarter of 2017, however studying our figures carefully we have bucked the trend and I suspect tenant enquiries in the last quarter may be our best quarter.
In November, we have been instructed to sell and let some very exciting developments, including exclusively 34 luxury apartments to let at Jessop Lodge, Croydon and a luxury apartment at Wandle Mill, Beddington to sell. We are also on the cusp of securing a very large instruction of over 100 apartments in Crystal Palace, coming to the market early 2018.
Which only leaves me to thank all our clients in 2017 and wish all of our clients both past and present a very happy Christmas and a happy new year.
Another solid month. “UK house price growth edged up to a 3 month high in October” according to the Nationwide. Also, annual growth in house prices peaked up to 2.5% up from 2.3% in September, as a shortage of homes in the market and low mortgage rates propped up prices the Nationwide have commented.
It is my view that we have seen a solid and steady month again because of low mortgage rates, unemployment going down and a shortage of good housing stock. The general lack of homes on the market is supporting house prices. As I write this, it is widely expected that the bank of Englands momentary policy committee is to raise interest rates from 0.25 to 0.5, but it is important to remember that these are still historically and incredibly low, even if they do go up. I will obviously comment further if this increase takes place. I have read reports this month of fragile consumer confidence, however it is important to bear in mind that both from a lettings and sales perspective we all need somewhere to live and whilst moving is a luxury for some, it is a necessity for others.
Looking at our figures across October going into November, we saw an increase in prospective purchaser enquiries, although small it was an increase from the month before. Analysing these prospective purchaser enquiries, we have seen a greater increase for houses and looking at statistics, the average semi-detached house in Croydon now stands at £427,788 and a detached house at £660,693 with a contrast to Greater London (not central London) where the average semi detached house is £561,030 and detached at £853,244. Interestingly, in Crystal Palace the average detached house is now £751,908.
It’s been the first full month for trading for our new South Norwood flagship office and I was over the moon to note on Rightmove we have already moved to number 1 in sales and number 1 in lettings for New Instructions having only been open 5 weeks. I am very proud of the staff there as they have put in extra effort, hours and work to be the market leaders in the first month. I have had many comments from the public and clients who are thrilled to see that we have revitalised the South Norwood building and equally from many people who have noticed all our for sale, sold, to let and let by boards up.
Turning to the lettings market, from September to October, we have seen rents level out but it is still a picture where landlords have between 5 and 7 tenants per property and therefore are being understandably very choosy. I predict this situation will not change through the rest of 2017, particularly as the areas we operate in are such value for money and I am sure I don’t need to point out the connectivity of East Croydon to Central London is only 14 to 15 minutes.
To summarise, the UK Economy seems to have held its own in quarter 3, with the latest data showing our economy grew by 0.4% by the end of the quarter to the end of September and still with 1,850 residential transactions across the UK according to HMRC, this in the 9thconsecutive month with sales over 100,000 and these statistics underpin a stable market, particularly in the areas all of our offices operate in and I suspect we will see right through to the end of 2017.
I look forward to reporting to you mid to end of November.
Despite a number of reports throughout March describing the housing market as subdued, sluggish and slow across our group, I would describe March as being solid. I cannot argue with the statistics that house prices were down 0.2% from the previous month, but let’s put that in to perspective in that it is not enough to significantly dent confidence and whilst I realise it’s bad new sells, house prices overall are significantly up on the last 4 years.
I read with interest an article in the guardian with the headline “London weakest region” however the article then goes on to say “London house prices were down 1% compared with a year ago”, hardly show stopping headlines and the same article goes on to say that the nationwide expects house prices to rise 1% in 2018.
Whilst our figures across the group and house sales were very much as I suspected strong and solid, the encouraging news was new prospective purchasers registering were at their highest levels in 2018 as were our clients asking for market appraisals, so the facts speak for themselves in that there is clearly an appetite to look and buy as well as sell and move on and I am looking forward to the rest of 2018.
Turning to the Lettings market, again this was very solid and when I scrutinised the figures there was a shortage of our managed portfolio that came back on to the market in march and this is because Landlords with existing tenants are not putting up their rents and keeping the same tenants. Rents were much in line with what I predicted, in that March was another month we have seen no increase, but very much like the sales market the number of registrations for prospective tenants registering in March can only be described as very strong.
Our New Homes division secured two landmark plots of land in Croydon and I look forward to announcing the schemes on these in the coming months. Reservations on our New Homes were slightly better than expected and predicted, and we were pleased to secure our final reservation at River View Mews.
So to conclude, March was a solid and stable month and I am anticipating with the lighter evenings, April to be even better and look forward to be reporting to you in the coming weeks.
Gary O’Hare
Firstly, Croydon gets the confirmation that we have all been waiting for for over 4 years now, that John Lewis and Waitrose will be the anchor store for Croydon’s Westfield development. It has long been rumoured that John Lewis have always been the number 1 target of the developers behind Croydon’s new Westfield shopping centre and this is great news for both shoppers, developers and for Westfield. Not to mention the 7,000 new jobs that are expected to be created by the entire development as well as the 700 new flats.
Continuing in the same positive vein for Croydon, our new homes division have been in many negotiations and numerous presentations regarding the launch of Croydon’s biggest residential scheme and in the coming months we hope to be able to make more specific announcements with regards to location, launch dates and pricing.
After analysing the figures in May, both in lettings and the sales market, May 2018 can best be described as solid and steady. Amongst the backdrop of reports that transaction levels in London are significantly down and some gloom mongers have even gone so far as to comment on the confidence levels, it would be accurate to say that the confidence levels of our purchaser database can best be described as active, solid and proactively looking to buy, whether it be a home owner purchase or investment.
Turning to the lettings market, the number of prospective tenants we registered in May 2018 was up 4% on May 2017, whilst there was no change at all in rental values. It still remains the case whereby there are 6 tenants for every property and landlords are understandably still being choosy as to which tenants. The quality of tenants in 2018 can best be described as excellent and we have registered many tenants looking to commute to Central London.
I am really looking forward to June, as all the indications are for a good month both for sales, lettings and in in particular new homes and I look forward to reporting to you early July.
April proved to be somewhat an unpredictable month. I predicted that it would be solid and steady, however we saw bursts of purchaser activity in the middle of the month and a real spike in new registrations for prospective tenants at the end of April.
By and large, the figures and amount of properties that went under offer and let throughout our group was what we expected but there were peaks and troths throughout the month. Where we did notice a significant increase was new homes enquiries, in particular new homes benefiting from the help to buy scheme. We were pleased to secure the last sale at River View Mews, having now successfully sold 100% of the development as the sole agents. April was a month of our land and new homes conducting a un-precedent number of new home presentations of which we have won 2 landmark major schemes which will be launching in the next couple of months. We have new homes schemes coming available in Crystal Palace, Central Croydon, Purley and Coulsdon and there is a strong appetite for new homes at the moment. The number of second hand houses that sold were pretty equal amongst 2 and 3 bedrooms and there was a healthy spike with people enquiring for 4 and 5 bedroom detached homes. The number of enquiries for 1 and 2 bedrooms in the apartments sector remained very equal in April.
I look forward to reporting back to you at the end of May as the evenings get lighter and the weather gets hotter. I am confident that May will be a good month both for sales and lettings.
First and foremost, may I take this opportunity to wish everyone a happy new year!
Having worked at Streets Ahead for 33 years, I think it’s fair to say I have experienced a number of December and Christmas markets. I was very interested to see how the December sales market panned out. It is with great surprise that it surpassed by expectations, with one of our offices selling 22 properties up to the 23rd December and 5 properties on the 29th, 30th and 31st.
All over the group, sales enquiries have been really good and absolutely exceeded by expectations. Whilst talking to a lot of my clients over the Christmas period, their sentiments have mirrored my opinion, in that Croydon which is the biggest borough in London, with nearly 400,000 residents, still represents fantastic value for money and as we all know, East Croydon station services London Victoria and London Bridge within 15 minutes. For those who don’t know Croydon, from Coulsdon to Crystal Palace, it has so much to offer and in this respect, I am more than happy to speak to any new prospective purchaser to go in to more detail about all of the features and merits that Croydon has to offer, whether they’re looking to buy 1 property or a major house builder. Sometimes I feel that Croydon is one of London’s hidden gems, in that is has so much to offer. To re-iterate, please feel free to email or call me directly and I would be happy to speak to any prospective person or company who is looking to buy or invest in Croydon.
At one point over the Christmas break, the number of lettings applicants was so huge I almost lost count and now as I reflect, this time last year there were 7 or 8 potential tenants for every property. That figure has now increased to 13 to 14 prospective tenants for every property and there was some unbelievable figures in that 2 separate properties in South Norwood, SE25, had over 65 internet enquiries each on the 1st and 2nd of January. In conclusion, the lettings market is as solid as its ever been.
I am mindful that whilst giving you all this upbeat good news regarding the housing market and the very pleasant surprise in activity in December, there will be challenges ahead with inflation and other factors. I am confident with the experience of our team and the benefit of the UK’s top trainer retained by Streets Ahead, the investment we are putting in to the staff and management will really be able to help and guide people through all the different market trends.
There is good news as well on the New Homes front. In December, we sold 3 units which were the last 3 units on 3 developments, and we have even had some people go on reserved lists. We are launching two sites in January, two in February and one in March and I am really looking forward to getting stuck in and getting reservations under way. As Croydon’s number 1 estate agent with New Homes, headed by Patrick Donnelly, we are really seeing traction in new enquiries, new sites, new schemes and innovation to existing schemes.
So, for all clients past, present and to come, again I wish you a very happy new year and as I always afore mentioned, I am always here to speak to personally if anyone needs any help or advice, it would be my pleasure to speak to you by telephone or email. I look forward to reporting back to you in February.
As we enter the last quarter of a marathon year, the pundits have mixed reviews on the housing market.
Some saying that house prices will continue to rise by 1% in December, after a 1.3% rise in October and some saying property prices are beginning to level. However, in October we experienced a 5.8% increase on prospective purchaser enquiries as opposed to October 2020 and an 8.5% increase on new homes enquiries.
I concur with a lot of pundits, in that we will continue to see a steady solid housing market until the end of 2021, with no sign of buyer demand slowing down and interest rates remaining very low.
There has been talk of interest rate rises and that is not for me to comment, but I think now is a good time to buy and insulate from any rate rises and even if they do come, I think they will be small.
We were pleased to launch another new development in October, with 50% already reserved and people taking advantage of the help to buy scheme.
Turning to the lettings market, demand has outstripped supply so much, that we have experienced a slight shortage of stock, although as I write and after speaking to all the branches, I know there is a good and healthy amount of new stock already booked in for November.
The prospective tenants registering are up 3.9% on the same month last year and although in the last few months we have seen rents pretty stable, the sheer amount of stock that has come to the market has pushed rents up slightly and I look forward to reporting to you accurately on this increase at the end of November.
I look forward to reporting to you soon and in the meantime, if any of our existing clients or clients thinking of coming to the market have any questions, please don’t hesitate to email or call me.
Gary
I was very pleasantly surprised with the results of September across all of our departments, from second hand homes, lettings and new homes.
In recent reports, the cost of the average home in the UK was 1.7% higher in September compared with August and September was the fastest monthly rise since February 2007, according to the Halifax. Other figures show that house prices were up 7.4% compared with September 2020, pushing the typical value for a home up to £267,500, the highest on record.
In the second week of September, we saw a big spike in prospective purchasers registering for three and four bedroom houses, which suggest that these applicants smaller properties had recently gone under offer, as well as new prospective purchasers coming to the market. From October the 1st, the threshold up to which buyers could avoid paying stamp duty fell from £250,000 to £125,000 and that is the July 2020 level.
At the moment, there is excellent mortgage availability with record low interest rates, with some fixed rate mortgages less than 1% and our financial services team are seeing a record amount of people comparative to 3 and 4 years ago.
The residential lettings market still amazes me, as the number of prospective tenants looking to rent increases every year and across the group there was 194 more tenants registering in September than August, with a disparity of 6% less rental properties coming to the market.
As a company, we were delighted to take over the full management of two major developments in Croydon, which has enabled us to recruit new property managers who have already started and have hit the ground running.
I was especially delighted that our Purley lettings branch won the British Property Awards, for the best lettings agent in the area and for anybody who doesn’t know how this is ran, a panel of independent judge’s mystery shop on a number of occasions, regarding letting property or being a tenant and the customer experience there in, so I was particularly delighted for Natalie Sanders and her team to pick up this award last month.
Patrick Donnelly and his team in Land and New Homes go from strength to strength and we have an excellent back of new properties being released every month now, well in to 2022.
As we are in the last quarter of 2021, a year which has been so different for all of us, many people have asked me what to expect in the housing market – I think it is inevitable and a given that the lettings market will be disproportionate in that the amount of properties coming to the market will be less than the number of prospective tenants registering. Even though the demand will out strip the supply, I think rents may nudge up a little but no more than 2% or 3%, with the emphasis being on the quality and finish of the property and the top end finishes really are achieving great monthly rents.
The sales market will continue with momentum, as we cannot ignore that there is still a shortage of property coming to the market from 1 bedroom apartments to 6 bedroom detached houses.
I was delighted to receive a number of calls in the 3rd quarter of this year, following my market comments with question regarding the property market and as we go in to the last quarter, please feel free to email or call me if you have any questions on the market going forward.
With the stamp duty holiday ending at the end of June, I wondered what the immediate after math would be like, however there was little change in July, save the obvious rush to get exchanged in the last week of June. Enquiries were at the same level and interestingly enough across our group, 58% of our enquiries were for houses for sale, 38% for flats and 4% for land. Obviously, the number of units we exchanged contracts on were not as high as June but this was to be expected.
Agreed sales across the group were still healthy and I note from several property pundits, that the number of homes being sold have hit levels not seen since comparable records in 2005. The number of transactions involving properties bought for £500,000 or more have increased 37% over the last 12 months to March, compared with a rise of 2% for all properties and I know it will interest a lot of our readers that annual house price increases were at a 17 year high in June and remain slightly un-changed in July.
Looking at the month ahead, I have spoken to all of our managers and we are confident of a strong month ahead of us and of course I will keep you updated during the month.
As ever, our residential lettings remained very strong and I am yet to collate the final figures, but it was almost a record month for the number of people we helped move home in the lettings market. We have recruited and heavily invested in our property management department as they go from strength to strength providing excellent customer service and I was delighted that we took over the management of two major developments in Croydon in July.
New Homes and Land was as strong as ever and as I reflect on July, in this respect it was a very solid month, with 6 land deals agreed which should bring us nearly 100 apartments after planning permission in the next 6 months.
On July 19th there was an easing of restrictions for Covid and we at Streets Ahead have unanimously decided not to ease our systems and process with regards to strict Covid measures, including social distancing etc. and so far this has been unanimously welcomed by the staff to protect both us, our clients and the public.
I am really looking forward to August and I shall revert back to you with all developments later in the month.
I wanted to finish my market comment for 2021 on a high and recent reports have made that easy for me to do, showing that the average house prices in the United Kingdom has hit a new high of £272,992 according to the Halifax.
Prices increased by 1% month on month in November, while quarterly house inflation is now at its strongest since late 2006, at 3.4%.
I concur with a number of commentators that the performance of the housing market continues to be underpinned and governed by the shortage of property available and coming to the market and of course, coupled with mortgage providers keeping rates close to historic lows.
The average house price in London is £521,129 and London continues to lead the way with expensive properties.
Looking back on previous Novembers, it looks as if we registered as many prospective purchasers in November as we did in November 2007 and this underpins that the appetite to purchase remains very strong.
We launched two developments in November, Button House in Everton Road, Addiscombe, which 100% sold out straight away and Finley Court, Foxley Lane, Purely, which we have reserved 85% and I hope by the end of this week, this will also be 100% reserved.
The governments help to buy scheme continues to be a great driver and in my opinion, a brilliant incentive to help people get on the property ladder.
Turning to residential lettings, November also experienced a spike in prospective tenants in the middle weekend, which was up 16% on November 2020. As I have mentioned many times, the amount of properties coming to the market for letting as apposed to prospective tenants is out weighted by about 7/8 prospective tenants for every prospective property to let. November also saw a small increase on rents achieved with the same property type compared with November 2020, with an increase of 3%.
So to finish the year, the appetite for second hand housing stock, new homes and the residential lettings market can only be described as very healthy and I anticipate that this healthy demand will continue in to 2022.
Which only leaves me to wish all current, past and new customers a very healthy, happy Christmas and a happy new year. I look forward to reporting to you early 2022.
Firstly, happy new year to all our clients, both past current and all our new customers to come.
It would be fair to stay, along with the obvious, the housing market is always a topic for conversation at Christmas and after reading many reports, I broadly concur with Mr Galley the MD of Halifax that house prices will maintain strong levels, however I think that there is more movement than an increase of 2% and I think there could be as much as 5% in parts of Croydon.
So this year is likely to be an exciting year for prospective homeowners and already as I write, we are booking market appraisals in for February and March, proving that the house market is not slowing down.
Our operation is slightly changing with the opening of two offices planned in the first quarter of 2022 and I have been thrilled that we have already secured nearly 15 new positions for Croydon residents across all spectrums of the company, from property management, to accounts, lettings, new homes and sales.
Whilst going in to 2021, I was a little apprehensive for obvious reasons, but I am confident about the housing market this year, with the caveat that we must be vigilant and extremely careful in how safely we conduct ourselves and the public with regards to the Covid virus. We will continue to strictly follow government guidelines in this respect. I am all to aware, each and every one of us has a part to play in combatting and bringing under control and eventually defeating this virus which has been devastating for so many people.
I am really excited about 4 new developments, two with houses and two with apartments, being launched in the first quarter of 2022 and as I reported last quarter, we have recently taken over the management of a large portfolio of 236, mainly apartments, all privately let which has been a great opportunity for Andrew Hylton and his team in our property management department, to show how good they really are at their jobs.
Once again, I wish everyone a happy new year and I look forward to reporting back to you at the beginning of February.
As we enter the last and festive month of 2022, it appears though all the pundits are preparing themselves for a gloomy 2023. After 33 years of commentating on the market and for those of you who follow my market comment, it will be no surprise to know that I always look for the positive and I appreciate 2 factors: 1) negative news attracts more attention than positive news, and 2) the economic outlook for 2023.
Firstly, as I look across our figures in the last quarter, things have changed, in that help to buy came to an end, interest rates and subsequently mortgage rates have gone up and there has been a certain amount of inflation related uncertainty. However, I would like to reassure as many people as I can, that whilst I fully take on board all of the above, firstly the sales market is motivated by supply and demand, and even as I write this in December, there is more demand than supply, all be it there was a 9% decrease in prospective purchasers in October and November than August and September. Also, for those of you who are shopping around with the mortgage deals, whilst we saw a spike in late September / early October that was closely related to the interim budget, that now has settled down somewhat and I fully appreciate that rates are different to this time last year, but if you are looking for a home to live in for 5, 10 or 15 years, they still are competitive.
I do not subscribe to the gloom that is being pumped out but I do subscribe to a steady sales market moving in to 2023. It seems an opportune moment to mention that we are expecting new government incentives in April to assist the new homes market, but I will be sure to keep you closely advised as soon as we have any clarification. I confess I have no more details at this stage.
Whilst commenting on the sales market, I feel it only fair to comment on the areas in which we operate and all of our 8 offices and departments and divisions within, are within the London Borough of Croydon, which is the largest borough in London and we cannot escape the fact that it is still only 15 minutes from London Bridge or Victoria. I firmly believe Croydon represents fantastic value for money, simply for transport links.
Turning to the residential lettings market, which once again seems to get less press attention then the sales market, remains solid and strong. There are still over 10 prospective tenants for every property that comes on to the market and I am waiting to finalise the figures for the last quarter, but rents in the areas in which we operate, all be it slightly, have increased in the last quarter and my narrative remains the same in that Landlords have the luxury of being very selective because of the number of tenants registering, when deciding which tenant to choose.
So in conclusion, whilst some commentators use slow down and slump to attract attention, I think 2023 will be steady and stable, which may not attract as much attention but the words speak for themselves.
Once again, it only leaves me to thank all of our clients both new and old and we are really looking forward with new offices opening in 2023, seven new developments and a big investment for the Streets Ahead family in training in development, to really forge forward and stand apart with our customer service offering for all our clients in the coming year.
I wish you all a happy Christmas and look forward to reporting back to you in January.
It will not come as a huge surprise to anybody that the pundits have been out in force predicting doom and gloom for the housing markets, and I fully understand that bad news grabs attention, however I would like to bring some sensibility into the current housing situation.
House prices are remaining the same and in October, prospective purchaser enquiries were at the same as February 2022. So whilst house prices aren’t going up at rapid paces, it is important to remember that any commodity, houses like any commodity is governed by supply and demand and the demand still outstrips the supply. Whilst we have seen healthy increases, I note Halifax reported a 0.4% decline in house prices in September and for me, this is not headline news.
I do accept that all people coming off a fixed rate and with the cost of living and inflation etc, we will see a sensible and maybe even cautious trend going in to 2023, but I do not think there is any cause for alarm looking at the numbers of registrations.
It appears financial markets are calming to the new government and this could, after reading many reports, provide some relief and I have already seen some interest rates fall.
It may interest our readers to know that the average house price in Croydon in July 2022, was £423,775.
Turning to the lettings market, as I have been reporting for many months and even years, we are now at over 10 prospective tenants per property. We have seen rents increase slightly over the last couple of months, but I have spoken to many landlords and I am encouraged at the humidity shown in that they are not all putting rents up to their existing tenants. So the moral of the story for renting is, this is still a solid and healthy market.
Turning to New Homes, following appointing 3 more new home executives and 7 new sites due to start between now and February 2023, I think the figures speak for themselves, but I will look forward to reporting back to you with more granula figures towards the end of the month and of course the year.
I know that for many of us, September has been an unsettling month with the mourning period for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and I am aware that this has been a difficult time for many of us.
Turning to the economic situation, we have seen unsettling times there too, not to mention the mini budget on the 23rd September which resulted in a large number of mortgage products being withdrawn. Personally, I am perplexed at how the powers that be who deliver our news, whether it be electronically or whatever, seem to focus on the bad news and not the good news. I realise that the Pound hit an almost low against the Dollar, but within a week it was up over 10%, but I couldn’t find any articles regarding that, which reminded me of a colleague from the United States commenting that the British news machine seems to just focus on the negative. So, I thought this an opportune market to report to you our statistics, which clearly show a positive view on the market.
Right across the group, from new homes, including our latest instruction in Purley with houses at £1,300,000 to the perhaps more affordable accommodation at £200,000, last weekend we saw a slight drop in the amount of viewings, but an increase in the number of offers and therefore, whilst I appreciate this doesn’t make startling headlines, this represents a healthy stable housing market in our areas.
Turning to the lettings market, once again I rolled my eyes as I read the news that landlords would be selling because their mortgage rates had gone up and I appreciate this grabs the attention of some people, but on the positive side, we are month in and month out registering more people. I confess, I don’t know and it’s too early to surmise whether this is because of the rise of interest rates, but I shall be closely monitoring on this and reporting back to you. To add to the positive news, the threshold announced in the mini budget for stamp duty, has been raised to £250,000 from its current £125,000 and the threshold for first time buyers has been increased from £300,000 to £425,000. These changes should remove 2,100 people from paying stamp duty.
I fully appreciate on the back of so much negative propaganda the public worries, but I would urge anyone to contact me or a member of staff and we would be only too happy to help you and offer you free advice.
I look forward to reporting back to you in November.
It used to be an old rumour that August was the 2nd quietest month after December, owing to the school holidays and for obvious reasons, families taking advantage of this 6 to 7 week holiday. In recent years, this has turned out to be nothing more than an old fashion saying, as in August 2022 we saw no change in prospective applicants registering and it would be important to note that this was for 1st time buyers, 2nd time buyers and the family home sector, all the way up to £1.5m.
According to The Guardian, the annual rate of the UK house price growth doubled to 15.5% in one month, whilst the office for national statistics said that the sudden doubling for the annual rate of growth of 7.8% in June to 15.5% in July, was mainly because of the base affect from the fall of prices seen this time last year as a result of changes in the stamp duty holiday.
As I write this, I am aware that we are all facing heavy rises in the energy sector and moreover, there are many other things that I have noticed from petrol to plasterboard that have increased dramatically and we are working with our staff and clients to monitor this on a monthly basis at most. As I write this, I note Liz Trust has capped the energy bill at £2,500 (for a typical household) plus there are additional support schemes, but I would advise each person to contact their supplier to find out exactly what you will be paying and we are keeping a close eye on inflation and all the matters that I have discussed and how that effects the housing market.
The residential lettings market continues to forge ahead and I am amazed that we are approaching nearly 9 prospective tenants for every property we have available. This is almost a 40% increase from last year.
As help to buy is coming to an end on the 31st October, we have seen a flurry of activity and we would urge anyone to contact us now regarding any of the developments we have and their incentives there in.
I am going to finish this months market comment with the obvious sad news at the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Queen Elizabeth was greatly admired by all, for her enormous contribution over 70 years and will be sadly missed by all our staff and the world over. My staff and I wish King Charles III a great and successful reign.
There has been a divide of opinions with the pundits regarding the housing market and the rest of 2022.
Whilst it has been our experience that house prices moved up by approximately 0.1% from June to July, in line with a report by the guardian, this is still an increase, all be it small as apposed to some of the pundits talking about a more dramatic slowdown. The annual change from year to year still remains over 10% and there is still a shortage of properties amid the many people working from home, to name but 1 of the factors. Whilst some pundits have been surprised at the degree of momentum, given the rise in inflation I am still of the view that the public view bricks and mortar as a safe bet and like any commodity, prices are holding because demand is outweighing supply. My positivity in the housing market moving forward also factors in the fact that inflation may go up further in 2022. I still think that while the demand outweighs the supply, this will underpin a solid market.
Turning to the residential lettings market, we have seen a 6% drop in new properties coming to the market, compared with the same month in 2021, which suggests that there is less movement in the lettings market, which surprises me as I suspected post covid there would be more movement then there is at the moment. We are almost reaching record levels of between 8 and 9 tenants registering for every rental property that comes to the market and understandably, landlords are being extremely selective.
We had a busy month in July with New Homes sales and we are launching virtually one new development a month across the borough for the rest of 2022. I look forward to reporting back to you on the progress and I would urge any prospective purchasers, thinking about buying a new home to get in now as help to buy is set to finish in October this year.
I look forward to reporting back to you at the beginning of September.
June was a month of mixed results and I don’t blame anybody for being slightly perplexed at what the pundits are writing about the property market. Save to say, I can just report on our figures and our position in June.
It is true that we saw inflation reach 9.1%, a 40 year high and interest rates were raised for the 5th time in a row to 1.25%, but whilst that may kerb spending, it did not kerb prospective purchasers making enquiries in June and whilst there are economic unknowns, it still seems that the housing market remains safe. Most pundits seem to agree that a crash seems unlikely, as the demand for housing still far outstrips the supply, and in this respect I agree with them.
Interestingly, our prospective enquiries from studio apartments to 5 bedroom detached houses were so similar to the same month the year before, which underpins my opinion that the housing market is safe. Once again, we saw different figures in the lettings market, whereby we registered more prospective tenants in June 2022 than any other month previously, hitting a record high and it was interesting to collate the figures to see that new lettings instructions were pretty much the same as last year. So once again, this underpins my sentiment and narrative that people are on the move and after two years of coronavirus and the restrictions this has apposed on people (understandably), this does not surprise me.
I was interested to read and article, saying that there are far too many people coming up in age and certainly many already there, that want there own place to live in, whether this be renting or purchasing and I agree with this sentiment.
Our New Homes and property management divisions remain at the very core of our business and our portfolio of 1,500 properties remains very solid, with some joint ventures with New Homes coming to the market in lane July.
Whilst this market comment is shorter than normal, I wanted to give our prospective from our figures and project the confidence that we are seeing with our enquiries and our results and if anyone would like to call or email me to discuss this further, please feel free.
May was a mixed bag of results and I note that Robert Gardner, the chief economist at Nationwide, says house prices were 0.9% higher in May compared to April, which is a bigger rise than 0.4% recorded between April and March. This follows a ten consecutive monthly rise, with the average cost of a UK property now standing at £269,914.00.
I am very mindful that all of our clients, staff and myself included have been affected by inflation, with higher energy, fuel and food costs, which have risen fairly sharply in the last 6 months. However as you are aware, although interest rates have increased to 1%, this is extremely low and that is still an important factor to the housing market appetite still being strong.
I have read a number of articles by different pundits, warning of a housing slow down and whilst I think it is inevitable that house prices may not continue to increase at the same pace over recent years, from all our statistics there is no evidence of the appetite from prospective purchasers cooling off. I fully expect this to continue throughout the year. I think it is very hard for people to get a balanced view when you read different articles, for example, on Saturday the 21st May, a well known newspaper published “housing frenzy shows no signs of slowing”, yet two days later, another well known newspaper was questioning a property market crash.
So I am pleased to be able to report to you that in all the areas we operate in, from South East London to Surrey, the appetite is strong and solid. Turning to the lettings market, following a period of market rents not increasing, I am still waiting to finalise the figures but I note that rents have increased in the last 2 to 3 months and so has the demand. As you will all be aware, these two factors ordinarily go hand in hand. I look forward to reporting back to you a little more on this at the end of June, when I can report the first half year figures. But what I can tell you, is the lettings market has never been stronger and it was only a few years ago I was writing to you all, stating we had 4 tenants for every property that came to the market and that now has doubled to 8.
New Homes continues to be a constant and we finished selling the last few apartments in two developments in Purley. We are about to launch a site in Central Croydon, Crystal Palace and a further two in Purley. We have had increased enquiries to our Land and New Homes department and I welcome Joanna Nilsson, who has been with us for over 8 years, joining our land and new homes division. Joanna is a very experienced Estate Agent and is particularly versatile, dealing with 1 bedroom flats to the high end detached houses. We welcome her move to our land and new homes department and I urge anyone who has land, commercial premises, or any type of property with potential, to contact our head of Land and New Homes department, Patrick Donnelly, who himself has over 35 years agency experience in this borough on 020 8655 4780.
Lastly, I hope everyone had a chance to enjoy time off for the Queen’s jubilee and I look forward to reporting back to you later this month or in July.
The housing market continued to remain busy during April and according to the Halifax figures, house prices rose 1.1% in April compared with March, which concludes that house prices have risen by 10.8% in the last year, taking the average property price to £286,000.79.
None of us can ignore that the cost of living and inflation is making a difference in most of our pockets, but it is my view that buying a property and moving house remains as one of the main aspirations that our customers work towards, and whilst I accept that even with interest rates rising to the highest level in 13 years, I remain optimistic that whilst some may put a hold on moving, the majority of prospective house purchases and the momentum will continue. Many of us will remember interest rates at over 10% and much higher and therefore, when we look at the bigger picture, interest rates are still very low and money is still comparatively cheap to borrow.
In short, I foresee the next quarter being solid and strong, both in purchasing second hand homes and the new homes sector and my optimism is underpinned by our enquiry levels which have remained unchanged, in fact they have increased by 11% in the same month from 2021.
The rental market remains just as steady as ever, with a slight increase in three of our offices, Crystal Palace, Central Croydon and Purley seeing a spike in new prospective tenant enquiries. I predict that the rental market will remain strong in the areas we operate in for the rest of 2022, but I shall keep a close eye on this and report any changes back to you.
March saw the momentum of the housing market continue, with the average UK home now over £265,000 and that is £33,000 higher than March 2021, with a 14% increase since last March. This has been the strongest pace of increase since November 2004.
After reading numerous expert reports, all be it the housing market may not continue at this pace, it is projected to continue to rise throughout 2022 and when we ask the question is affordability under pressure, the expert Martin Roger Fagg’s opinion is the mass market will experience a slight reduction in purchasing power, but the majority will have excess to cover it, so the market will continue to remain strong throughout the year and this is projected to end in 2023.
As I look across our operation, from Crystal Palace to Coulsdon, the number of prospective purchasers registering to buy a property is up 9% on March 2021 and I try to look deeper in to the requirements of these prospective purchasers but it is very equal, with a strong demand for 1 and 2 bedroom flats and large houses and if I had to pick looking at the figures the strongest demand, it would be the 3 bedroom family house, which I do not expect to change in April.
Turning to the lettings market, we as a group moved in more people into their new rented accommodation then any other month in the last 6 months and after studying the statistics, it was definitely the one and two bedroom flats that saw the most demand for, with the emphasize turning to having a garden or a balcony as we approach the warmer months.
We registered an unprecedented amount of prospective purchasers in March, well over 12% than March 2021.
In New Homes, we are gearing up for the launch of 3 new fantastic developments this month and March saw a solid number of reservations taken for New Homes and I am really excited and positive about the new developments coming up in 2022. I am lucky enough to have sat in on meetings with the developers in March and I know we have some fantastic new homes, both flats and houses, that will be coming to the market in 2022.
I look forward to reporting back to you at the beginning of May.
Gary
The housing market despite the Russia Ukraine situation has continued to be as robust as ever in February.
I have purposely started with this particular sentence, as I have been asked how developments with the crisis will affect the housing situation and whilst I do not pretend to know the answer, I have read many reports and most pundits predict a healthy housing market.
Whilst we saw interest rates rise and all of us are noticing the rise in our everyday commodities, it is my opinion that people are adjusting their purchasing power and/or rental expectations to accommodate any increases.
Whilst we cannot ignore the increases, we can also not ignore the statistics in that house prices have seen the fastest January rise in 17 years. We are still experiencing a disparity in the amount of properties coming to the market to the number of people looking, which like any commodity, underpins a healthy market. I noted with interest that Zoopla have commented on the 9th February, that prospective renters are paying £60 a month+ more a month than before the pandemic, as workers return to the office. Also, I read that Lloyds bank reported that house prices in 2021 went up by 9.8% and I concur with the Lloyds bank group, that I expect house prices to maintain their current strong levels over the next year and looking ahead, 95% mortgages will once again be available for first time buyers.
The rental market is as busy as always and I am yet to collate the data from February, but we have seen a significant increase in prospective renters coming to the market and because of this, this has highlighted a slight shortage of stock.
New Homes goes from strength to strength and we are now 100% sold out on 2 developments in Purley and are about to launch 2 more in Purely and I shall keep you further updated.
To conclude, whilst we live in changing times, I thought it a good time to reassure all our clients both past, present and in the future, that the housing market, both in sales, lettings and new homes remains solid and strong and I look forward to reporting back to you at the end of the month.
I hope everyone had a great January – the worst weather and darkest nights are now behind us.
I have to confess, I got slightly caught off guard with how busy it was from the 4th January. Whilst we were still in the depths of Covid restrictions, our enquiries in the first two weeks both for lettings and sales spiked at between 8% and 9% higher than the previous year. I have subsequently read that Nationwide concur with this view and state it has been the strongest start to the year since 2005. Robert Gardner, Nationwide’s chief communist, states housing demand has remained robust and I completely agree with him.
Many forecasters predict the market may cool later in the year with household finance being hit by sharp increases with inflation as we speak at 5.4% and rising. It is little secret that the mechanism to curve this inflation is to raise the cost of borrowing. All of that aside, I think the housing market will soldier on with a solid performance.
Many parts of the UK have seen the amount of stock levels low and we are perhaps lucky in that, with 8 offices, managing over 1600 and having traded in this borough for 34 years, we have a very loyal and valued customer base and on that note, we are constantly reviewing clients portfolio, whether it be 1 property or 25 and this is a free service, whereby we are happy to provide an up to date valuation at no charge, to any prospective customer, which doesn’t have to be this year – you may just want to know the value of your home which is likely to be your most valuable asset with no intention of putting it on the market yet, but we are happy to help at any stage. We revisit many people on a regular basis to help them access the value of their portfolio.
Lettings continues to go from strength to strength, with a record high January in the registration of new prospective tenants. We were delighted to take over a portfolio of 121 properties in South Croydon in January, which has only changed hands once since it was built.
New Homes continues to be the new bed rock of our business. We are delighted to welcome our new recruits in January and we will continue to invest in this sector of our business.
I have no reason to believe that February will be any different to January and I look forward to reporting to you at the beginning of March.
What a month!
After 35 years + as an estate agent on the Lower Addiscombe Road and experiencing the end of double tax relief and 2 recessions, it was great to feel the excitement and hear all the lovely stories of people rushing to complete before June 30th to benefit from the stamp duty holiday.
All my staff were fantastic and we were hand delivering and couriering documents in the last week to make sure peoples moves went ahead and when I now look at the figures, it was a brilliant month for everybody, coupled together with the feel good factor with the football, but I am not going to jinx any further matches by commenting on that!
Call volumes understandably went through the roof in June and prospective applicants were up 4% on June last year and I was pleased to see really solid sales figures across the board, even though these new sales wouldn’t have benefited from the stamp duty holiday, there was a real healthy appetite.
Turning to lettings which remains really strong throughout June, prospective lettings enquiries were up a whopping 11% on June 2020 and I think we are almost at the 8 tenants per property situation,
Our New Homes department goes from strength to strength and we have been delayed by a month on 2 developments which we should be launching next month and I look forward to reporting more to you in that respect.
I look forward to reporting to you in July.
Gary
As the property market is best described as booming a new property portal is launched called ‘Boomin’ and some of you may have seen advertisements.
The surge in demand is predominantly being driven by the stamp duty holiday and ultra-low interest rates and I noticed in some reports that the property market is experiencing 13 buyers for every home, with agreed sales up 57% compared with 2019 according to The Mail On Sunday and in April, more than 157,000 sales were agreed according to figures compiled by property analysts TwentyCI.
Having looked at the figures across our operation we are certainly up a third on agreed sales and over 40% more prospective purchasers have now registered in recent months, which of course is resulting in a slight shortage of stock and also resulting in multiple offers on some of the same properties, but as I write this, I notice that prospective market appraisals are also significantly up on last year, so there is much more property coming on to our books, which will help the healthy demand.
Turning to the lettings market, there are now over 7 tenants for each property that comes to the market and in April we let a record amount of properties.
There was a healthy mix amongst the different types of properties we let, everything from studios, apartments to 4 bedroom detached houses, with 2 bedroom apartments having the slight edge. New homes remained really solid and enquiries were up 45% on last year and 59% on he previous year and we are about to launch 2 new exciting developments which I shall give you more information on next month.
I look forward to reporting to you next month.
Gary
What a month as homeowners scramble to get on the ladder! No one could have predicted the activity this month as across the group, 21% of properties were sold for more than the asking price, 15% attracted offers from 3 of more buyers and the number of potential purchasers was up a whopping 26% on the same month last year.
As people scrambled to complete their purchase before the end of the month to save up to £15,000 worth of stamp duty, Rishi Sunak our Chancellor of the Exchequer extended the stamp duty until the end of June.
New Homes also experienced a frenzy of activity, up 23-24% on the same month last year.
One of the issues we experience is the solicitors and mortgage brokers and even some of our systems and processes have been stretched to the limit.
Residential lettings were up, both with new lets, existing landlords re-signing tenancies and particularly new registrations for prospective renters up 12% on the same month last year.
Many times in the past I have talked about the appetite of the housing market, but March could be best described as highly over subscribed, with the amount of prospective buyers registering to the amount of properties coming to the market being dis-proportionate. So as we continue to increase our stock levels, our sales will increase in-turn.
It is difficult to imagine where we were 12 months ago, although our sentiment remains the same in that the health of our clients and staff remains at the very epicentre of our operations.
April has got off to a equally busy start with our acquisition of new premises, 2021 promises to be a milestone year for the Streets Ahead family.
I look forward to reporting back to you later this month.