New Year, New Market, New Buyers and Sellers
New Year, New Market!
The close of the year is usually a bit of a quiet time for many non-retail businesses with Christmas shopping and festivities stealing the limelight and creating a distraction for all but the most committed of buyers. Combine this with an increase in people away from their workplaces it can seem like it is impossible to get anything done in December!
Along with a myriad of resolutions and ambitions, The New Year also brings fresh opportunities for buyers and sellers with January normally seeing an increase in both, and a subsequent increase in the amount of property available. The start of 2019 has been no exception to this, despite recent gloomy predictions. The political climate, Brexit uncertainties, stretched affordability and price stagnation have all been cited as factors which are affecting the housing market. Despite this however, we have experienced an extremely busy start to the year. After all, people will continue to need to move for a variety of reasons, almost all of which are not affected by Brexit!
Busy Start to the year…
Our Cullompton office alone has agreed 10 sales in as many days in January and across the group we have received 49 new listings for sales and rental since 2nd January – so the evidence is there to support a strong market for both buyers, sellers and renters.
It can be tempting to think that you need to wait until the Spring time to sell a property, this has, after all, long been thought to be the best time of year to sell. However, getting ahead before the spring is a great way to capitalise on all that New Year resolve and positivity! We have certainly seen a marked increase in active and motivated buyers at the start of this year.
No need to wait for Spring
There are advantages of getting your property to market before the spring, one being that more property on the market also means more competition from other sellers! More choice of property on the market can also lead to buyers being somewhat less decisive. Perhaps putting off making a firm commitment to a property and waiting to see if anything new and better comes along. Just like with any other commodity, more scarcity of stock in the housing market can help to make buyers more decisive, maybe due to the fear of missing out.
Easter Move?
Those buyers and sellers who are committed to moving in the Spring may well set their sights on the Easter Bank Holiday weekend as an ideal time to move and a convenient deadline. Easter comes fairly late this year – with Easter Sunday falling on the 21st April. At just over 13 weeks away, now is the perfect time to get your property on the market with a view to an Easter move.
If you are thinking of selling, make a start now by arranging a free property consultation with one of our experienced agents – even if you are simply curious about the value of your property at this stage or would like some advice about marketing your property to its best advantage.
