Article written and provided by Jo Eccles, Managing Director at Eccord, for Beacon Gainer, private wealth advisory services group.
Stock shortages are significantly impacting the market and the number of houses available for sale are down more than 50% compared to the average levels over the last five years. (Flats are down 15%).
In terms of prices, reports show that houses sold in the last three months achieved on average 7% more than in the same period last year.
Looking forward, expected London house price growth is approximately 8% in 2022 and up to 35% over the next five years.
Buyers are having to be decisive, and those focusing purely on historical sales data with no recognition of strong competition or lack of stock are finding themselves underbidding and missing out on good properties in some cases.
In the mid-market, the £5m – £10m price bracket for houses remains one of the most competitive and 35% of the properties we are acquiring for our clients in this price range are off market or ‘pre-market’.
For some of the most highly sought after properties, the objective is to fight off the competition and secure a fair market price, factoring in healthy long term growth prospects.
Not all properties are being fought over though. There are some instances where a property has been mis-priced initially or become stale in the market, leading buyers to incorrectly assume it’s flawed. We have secured some exceptional opportunities for clients in these situations, where our clients mistakenly ruled out the property or never went to view in the first place.
