We can all breathe a sigh of relief that the kids are back at school and life has returned to some sort of normality.
Our eldest son started High School at Thamesmead last week and my youngest son is in his last year at St Nicholas; how quickly they grow up! We have had a great summer weather wise and I have managed to get out on the river in the evenings with the boys, if you haven’t tried SUP (Stand up paddle boarding) I would thoroughly recommend it!
With regards to the housing market, I am pleased to report that we agreed more sales and lets in August this year than last year. The market is always lower in terms of activity during the holiday period, September is usually a very busy month. So far each week has steadily got busier. We closely monitor our call levels and we are pretty much fielding five hundred calls a day which is our bench mark.
Some more pessimistic economic and political commentators predicted a storm post Brexit, we are seeing lower numbers of applicants registering for both sales and lettings; however, the number of transactions agreed is similar so far for the month of September compared to last year. So the good news is that the predictions of a market collapse following Brexit have not come to fruition!
There are plenty of buyers, in particular first time and investment buyers taking advantage of the record low interest rates. Please do contact Lisa, Priya or Mark for further information.
So far in September we have agreed sales on a number of homes in different price ranges, they include a fantastic newly converted/built family home in Richmond Road, a couple of conversion apartments on Avenue Road, a lovely three bedroom family home in Ashford and a building plot in central Staines upon Thames which expectedly had multiple offers.
In August we sold a number of apartments, a good selection of family semi and detached homes and a stunning home close to the river on a private road. We also sold a brand new stunning chalet bungalow and a riverside home in Thameside offering lots of potential. The lettings team had a phenomenal month with plenty of new landlords coming to the market.
We are currently negotiating on a number of offers, the mid-market between £400,000 to £700,000 is particularly busy. As I am typing I am also pleased to say that we are finally beginning to see more activity in the higher price ranges with a number of viewings happening today on homes in excess of 1 Million.
The weekend of the 24th of September sees the launch of Provident House situated in central Staines with prices starting at £295,000. I am delighted to confirm we are so busy with enquires that we have had to pull in extra team members for the day, in particular a familiar face is coming in to help us out .
On a broader market scale, I have spoken to a number of other agents to get their opinion on the market and in general it is in good shape. A good friend of mine who is involved in the sale of new build luxury London apartments has seen really great reservation levels which are always a good indicator. They have actually raised the prices!
In summary, there really is nothing to panic about, yes confidence was a little shaken but there is still plenty of appetite for good quality homes at market value for both sales and rental.
