Richmond Borough's Latest Property Market Update!

Spring has reliably been a season of a healthy property market. With the cold, damp and dark months of Winter behind us, we tend to see improved numbers of properties on the market - bringing more choice, and also more buyers emerging from the woodwork enticed by these potential new homes. Given it has been an unusual market of ups and downs over the past 12 months (feels like we should say that every year for one reason or another!), how is the market performing today?

The Headlines

Without completely re-hashing the last twelve months, there has been plenty of bad news in the media, coinciding with much speculation about falling house prices, adverse credit, negative equity and all sorts of other pleasantries. It seems that interest rate rises, cost-of-living crisis and the war in Ukraine are never far from front of mind. As much as we would love to say that the Richmond Borough is immune, we have seen this affect the market as described in previous market updates.

What is the latest?

We are seeing strong demand on anything within first time buyer territory - typically anything £600,000 and under depending on where abouts in the borough that you live. Moving upwards, these first time-sellers are then enabled to move forward and secure the typical second-step properties. As time goes on we should see this filter through to the mid and upper sectors of the market, but demand is still weaker than average for the larger family homes. Meeting and speaking with many first time buyers, we know that this demand is a combination of wanting to get out of the extortionate rental market, and an acclimatisation of the 'new normal' of mortgage costs.

Another noticeable comment on the market is that the condition of a property is having more impact than ever. With costs of labour and materials surging well ahead of inflation in recent times, it's become less attractive for purchasers to choose a home needing modernisation. If a house hasn't been updated in a fair amount of time, pricing needs to be modest to align with what buyers will be prepared to pay.

What we are seeing here at Bartlett & Partners mirrors what others are seeing on a wider picture. Rightmove recently shared their latest House Price Index and you may find some of their results make interesting reading.

Rightmove Says...

Tim Bannister - Rightmove's Director of Property Science summarises the Price Index to say; "This month’s strong jump in new seller asking prices looks like a belated reaction and a sign of increasing confidence from sellers, as we’d usually see such a big monthly increase earlier in the spring season. One reason for this increased confidence may be that the gloomy start-of-the-year predictions for the market are looking increasingly unlikely. What is much more likely is that the market will continue to transition to a more normal activity level this year following the exceptional activity of the pandemic years. Steadying mortgage rates and a generally more positive outlook for the economy are also contributing to more seller confidence, though there are likely to be more twists and turns to come. The market is still very price-sensitive and it is important that new sellers do not damage their prospects of a sale by overpricing initially and reducing later, with agents reporting that it’s the realistically-priced new instructions that are selling best."

The full House Price Index shares huge amounts of local and regional data, and all of it points to an improving market, or a more normal Spring market than many had predicted. If you are thinking of a move and are unsure on how recent changes will affect you, don't hesitate to get in touch - we would love to hear from you!

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