Market Comment – December 2022

First and foremost, may I take this opportunity to wish everyone a happy new year!

Having worked at Streets Ahead for 33 years, I think it’s fair to say I have experienced a number of December and Christmas markets. I was very interested to see how the December sales market panned out. It is with great surprise that it surpassed by expectations, with one of our offices selling 22 properties up to the 23rd December and 5 properties on the 29th, 30th and 31st.

All over the group, sales enquiries have been really good and absolutely exceeded by expectations. Whilst talking to a lot of my clients over the Christmas period, their sentiments have mirrored my opinion, in that Croydon which is the biggest borough in London, with nearly 400,000 residents, still represents fantastic value for money and as we all know, East Croydon station services London Victoria and London Bridge within 15 minutes. For those who don’t know Croydon, from Coulsdon to Crystal Palace, it has so much to offer and in this respect, I am more than happy to speak to any new prospective purchaser to go in to more detail about all of the features and merits that Croydon has to offer, whether they’re looking to buy 1 property or a major house builder. Sometimes I feel that Croydon is one of London’s hidden gems, in that is has so much to offer. To re-iterate, please feel free to email or call me directly and I would be happy to speak to any prospective person or company who is looking to buy or invest in Croydon.

At one point over the Christmas break, the number of lettings applicants was so huge I almost lost count and now as I reflect, this time last year there were 7 or 8 potential tenants for every property. That figure has now increased to 13 to 14 prospective tenants for every property and there was some unbelievable figures in that 2 separate properties in South Norwood, SE25, had over 65 internet enquiries each on the 1st and 2nd of January. In conclusion, the lettings market is as solid as its ever been.

I am mindful that whilst giving you all this upbeat good news regarding the housing market and the very pleasant surprise in activity in December, there will be challenges ahead with inflation and other factors. I am confident with the experience of our team and the benefit of the UK’s top trainer retained by Streets Ahead, the investment we are putting in to the staff and management will really be able to help and guide people through all the different market trends.

There is good news as well on the New Homes front. In December, we sold 3 units which were the last 3 units on 3 developments, and we have even had some people go on reserved lists. We are launching two sites in January, two in February and one in March and I am really looking forward to getting stuck in and getting reservations under way. As Croydon’s number 1 estate agent with New Homes, headed by Patrick Donnelly, we are really seeing traction in new enquiries, new sites, new schemes and innovation to existing schemes.

So, for all clients past, present and to come, again I wish you a very happy new year and as I always afore mentioned, I am always here to speak to personally if anyone needs any help or advice, it would be my pleasure to speak to you by telephone or email. I look forward to reporting back to you in February.