One month of 2024 is already gone… Just under 10 months until Christmas. So, what has happened in the property market already you ask?

The positive news for people looking to sell this year, is that more properties have gone under offer in the first 3 weeks of 2024 than the same time in 2023.  In fact 20% more have been agreed nationally.

Buyer registration is up 5%. This is likely to be because mortgage rates are lower than a few months ago. New listing are up 15% vs 23.  If those two stats continue over the first half of the year that will mean there are a lot more properties for sale and available for you to pick from.

-       Prices didn’t drop anywhere near as much as the media said in 2023

Shocker… The media got their forecasting wrong. Again.  Honestly I don’t know why people read newspapers anymore.  The data they report on is crazy, but that is a conversation for another day.

Data from land reg (up to Nov 2023) shows that prices have dropped year on year by just under 2%. Not the 15/20/30% some people tried to scare you all with.  Why did the market not collapse? Simply because of demand and supply.  Yes, transactions were way down (19%) but this was because of the stamp duty holiday fall out. We know that would happen, and it does not impact the homeowner average price, it only hurts the businesses in the property market. Violins out? Didn’t think so.

The truth is that there is still not enough properties for sale for demand.  While rental prices sky rocket and mortgage rates keep dropping this will continue to add to the demand levels.

-       Speed to sell and speed to complete

“How long will it take?” One of the top three questions we get asked by you the public on an appointment or valuation.  2023 national data says: 63 days to go from for sale to under offer and then 4.1 months to go from under offer to completed.  JUST UNDER 6 MONTHS!

So we hate to say it already but… If you want to get moved before the September school term, then you need to get a wiggle on.

We don’t expect you to do this but, if you go back to the end of 2022 and watch all our property videos on social media you will see that we more or less predicted everything above.  So if you want to chat to your local avocado partner about moving house please feel free to DM us, email us or book a valuation directly here.

Thanks for reading and see you when you need us.

If you have any questions or want to know more get in contact using details below ⬇️

hello@avocadopropertyagents.co.uk

01344 249500

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