Summer is in full swing and I imagine we all secretly enjoy the respite on our roads as traffic levels reduce during the school holidays.
There has however been no such respite in the property market with demand continuing to outstrip supply across all price ranges and with some exceptional values being achieved for properties in highly sought after locations and offering excellent accommodation.
Recent reports from the leading property websites such as Rightmove have shown that the number of new properties coming to the market has eased and the cycle of sellers not putting their homes on the market because of a fear of not finding a property to purchase has come to the fore.
Whilst this approach may seem understandable, it actually works against the interests of the seller who find themselves under pressure to find, have less room for negotiation because they are not in a strong position to proceed and then find they are under pressure to sell and don’t maximise the marketing and value of their own home.
Putting a property on the market before committing to a purchase enables a seller to fully explore the opportunities from a well marketed sale and to select the most appropriate buyer and price and, having done so, to use that strength of negotiating position to secure an onward purchase.
Many properties are only available to buyers who are in a position to proceed and so a wider section may well be available to select from too.
For those who entered the market earlier in the year, the summer is often a time for actually moving and using spare holiday entitlement to help get a new home set up and particularly for families to get established ahead of the new school year intake.
The lettings market is faster moving but the summer is often a time for students to get ready to occupy ahead of the new academic year.
With Bank of England Governor Mark Carney signalling likely increases in interest rates from 2016, now is an excellent time to secure a mortgage loan on one of the many excellent fixed rate schemes that are available.
Whilst interest rates are expected to rise very gradually and the base rate (currently 0.5%) is not expected to peak at above 2%, any increases will obviously impact on the cost of borrowing and so locking in a medium to long term deal at present rates looks appealing.
Michael Johnson
