Market Comment – January 2018

Firstly, I would like to wish all out clients both past, present and future a very happy new year and whilst I have spent a month reading a lot of negative propaganda about the property market, I thought I would write to you on a more cheery note about the positive things in the housing market.

I note that many pundits are focusing on the London market, which clearly has seen a steadiness in transaction levels but actually this is not a bad thing and my experience and prediction, particularly for our 7 offices, will see a healthy owner occupier movement from first time buyers right through to retirement and it is possible we may see a slight drop in the investor purchases, however we have not experienced that in January. After launching new developments, there was no shortage of prospective purchasers which included both owner occupiers and investors alike.

Looking at the figures, it appears the areas in which we operate in have bucked the trend with property valuations across all the group being up in January compared with January 2017 and also the number of prospective purchasers has also increased in the same month, so as I reflect on the first month of the year, I am delighted to report to you that steady would be an understatement but solid and strong would be a better description.

Turning to new homes, I was thrilled at the number of people that turned up last Saturday to our launch of the River View Mews houses. The launch was reminiscent of any packed launch in the last 3 year and as a result of this we have secured nearly half of the development. If we needed proof that the market is still solid it was certain on this day, as it was the wettest day of the year and although the houses were nearly finished, it was a test of patience and perseverance to all those prospective purchasers that attended, all sloshing around in the mud.

I think the biggest spike as I look at the figures and reflect on January has been the number of prospective tenants register in January 2018 as this has been the biggest January registration number in the last 5 years and although when demand usually outweighs supply, prices can increase. In January we have seen a healthy number of stock come to the market from apartments to houses and we have seen no increase in rent. I predict this may be the case for the first quarter of more in 2018 and the areas we operate in still represent superb value for money, particularly with the fantastic connectivity to central London our areas offer.

Amongst all the negative news there is plenty of positive things to report to you and 2018 has certainly got off to a healthy start. I look forward to reporting to you in the next 2 or 3 weeks.

Once again, happy new year to everybody.