April 2024 Market Comment

Welcome to the April 2024 Property Market Comment. As expected, we now very much find ourselves in a typical spring market with strong activity from buyers and sellers alike. A surge of much-needed new listings came to market over Easter and, last month alone, the number of listings across the country was up 17% on its long-term average.

This is very good news for those potential sellers who have been worried that they did not have enough choice of property for their onward purchase. This is no longer the case and if this applies to you, then you can be reassured that there is more coming to market every day. And bear in mind that a significant number of sales are concluded without the property ever having appeared on a property portal!

It is actually these new-to-market properties that tend to sell most readily at close to, or even over, their asking price, whereas the older stock, unless the price is adjusted accordingly, can sit on the market. This is because people coming to market now recognise that the market, whilst more or less in balance, does marginally favour buyers. These sellers are no longer chancing their arm, or risking a sale, with an inflated asking price – there is simply too much competition around for that – for the first time since the pandemic in fact.

So why not use that competition to your advantage? Come to market now, position your property favourably by pricing it right, and you should find a buyer quite readily. This would then put you in a strong position as a buyer yourself so that you can take advantage of the wider selection of stock currently on offer. Remember, it is usually easier to secure a lower price on a purchase than a higher price on a sale!

In terms of the figures, well depending on which report you read, house prices are moving at anywhere from -1% to +2% on the last quarter, with 42% of all stock listed this quarter already under offer or sold, with 109,000 sales agreed in March. Inflation and interest rates are easing, and the British property market has once again proved that it can weather anything we throw at it.

So if you’d like to find out how your property would sit, should it come to market, then please do contact us for some straight-talking good advice with a smile. It’s what we do!