So we’ve seen the kids go back to school and we’ve had the autumn equinox, the shops are filling up with Halloween items and there are less than 90 days to Christmas!!
Yes September has been and gone but what of the property market?
Well, the market remains remarkably resilient and reasonably buoyant. Despite the harbingers of doom about the Brexit negotiations, the economy looks OK. Inflation is a little higher than desired but unemployment is at record lows and the pound has recovered a little against other currencies.
Demand in both the sales and lettings market still outstrips supply and whilst prices have stabilised or adjusted downwards a little to account for “affordability” the underlying market looks strong with motivated sellers, landlords, buyers and tenants looking to secure transactions and move home.
First time buyer numbers are up in 2017 and they are able to compete attractively on purchases since the Government introduced its punitive additional 3% stamp duty on second properties.
New home numbers are also up although still way short of the sort of numbers needed across the country.
As we enter the last quarter there is still just about time to organise a sale and purchase before year end although “chain” situations are likely to see any plans now coming to fruition early in 2018.
The rental market moves much more quickly and tenants can often view and complete all the paperwork to move in within a week or two.
Looking further forward towards 2018 it does look likely that interest rates will start moving slowly upwards and so we expect a little more urgency to creep into the market in the coming weeks as people look to secure and fix their borrowing requirements ahead of any increase.
At the moment it looks as if 2018 will continue to see Brexit dominating the political landscape but we await the Chancellor’s autumn statement on November 22nd with interest to see whether there are any moves that will impact on the property market.
In the meantime, the team and myself are here, ready, willing and able to assist you with your moving plans so please do not hesitate to contact us.
Yours
Michael Johnson
Managing Director
