Market Comment – July 2017

July across the board can be best described as a steady month both for sales and lettings. There have been mixed reports about the housing market and July 2017 has been no stranger to the usual gloom mongers, so I thought it would be prudent to report to you with some actual figures across South London and across our operation.

The average sales price across outer London South is now £360,472 with house prices rising by 7% in the last year and 45% over the last 5 years, with the priciest transaction in the last 3 months coming in at £2,700,000. Looking at more detailed statistics, the priciest sale in Croydon in the last 3 months was in Fitzjames Avenue coming in at £1,100,000, £842,000 in Crystal Palace in Patterson Road and Coulsdon at £995,000 in Woodmansterne Road. In fact, Crystal Palace saw the biggest increase in the last 5 years for house price growth rising by 62%.

As I did last July and August, I am pleased to report to any prospective sellers or indeed purchasers that it is an Estate Agency myth that August is one of the quietest months in the year and during my 30 year tenure at Streets Ahead, I have experienced many busy Augusts and I have a strong feeling that looking at the activity in the last week of July, we are in for a pleasant surprise.

Turning to the lettings market, there has been small growth in rents increasing and we have experienced yet again the rental sector where landlords have really invested in looking after their property. This has attracted the top rents and once again we have achieved precedent prices in certain new developments. While rental growth across the UK has reportedly slowed down and some report 0.2% over a 12 month period ending June 2017, as opposed to the preceding year, it should be noted that all the areas that we operate in from Coulsdon to Crystal Palace including Croydon represent fantastic value for money, with East Croydon still being the hot spot being only 14 minutes from Victoria and London Bridge and attracting over 24million commuters a year. I anticipate an equally steady month in August across the rental market. Interestingly enough, our prospective tenants were up 9% in July compared to July 2016 and therefore there is a possibility for a bumper August.

Finally, on the 20th of July we were delighted to complete on our new office at 25 High Street, South Norwood and this for anyone like myself, who has been an agent for more years than I care to remember, has always been a flagship estate agency office and once again we will return this premises to our business and it will complement our flagship office at Crystal Palace and Addiscombe with ease.

I personally look forward to working there and meeting new and existing clients from South Norwood, with our opening due for September 9th. I will keep you closely posted on opening dates in this respect.

I look forward to reporting back to you later on in the month with local and national market updates