Hamptons – Market Update- 9th November 2016

Good morning everyone,

For those of you who are new to these reports I add all of our current sellers, past valuations and current buyers to a list of recipients for a monthly report of what’s really happening in the market.  There’s no sales patter and no pushiness, it’s just an honest and open take on the market as we see it.  As ever, if you want to be taken off the list please just ask.

Well what an October we have had here in Battersea, I am not sure if it was the turning back of the clocks or the scary pumpkins, however it seems the property market has come back to life with a far more positive vibe in the air.  We started to see a bit of activity towards the end of September which we hoped was a good sign of things to come and indeed it was.

Surprisingly even on a typically quiet half term week we saw the highest number of viewings since the start of June.  Showing buyers are out there and keen to get moved in before Christmas which has started to drive the market activity.

The property market although affected by external elements out of our control, still has supply and demand at the basis of it.  To give this relevance I thought you would be interested to know that comparing the below table to the same time last year (rather than just last month).  The number of 1 beds and houses on the market is identical, 2 beds are a lot higher at 40 compared to 26 and marginally higher on 3 beds with 12 live compared to 8.  The average time on the market so far has increased for 1 beds and houses,  however 2 and 3 beds has decreased along with £ per sqft on 1 and 2 beds, but increased for 3 beds by £94 per sqft and is exactly the same for houses.  So what does this data illustrate?

In general nothing revolutionary, things are taking a little longer to sell, prices have lowered a little compared to last year with the exception of 3 beds and there is more choice for 2 and 3 bed flats.

What it does indicate moving forward in my opinion is a brighter picture.  The activity in the flat market from buyers and sellers, will have a knock on effect to the house market as those two bed flat sellers turn into our house buyers.  So with a lower supply of houses and an increase in demand from new buyers and flat sellers that market is where the shift is occurring and looking at our neighbouring offices this has already started to happen with it being especially prevalent in Fulham.  So with this new window opening along with the statistic that traffic on the search portals Rightmove and Zoopla being at its busiest on boxing day and the pound surging to a 4 week high after high court ruling, there is a strong argument that getting online now so you are visible over the Christmas period will put sellers ahead of the curb.

For buyers it indicates that the tables are potentially going to start shifting back in favour of sellers.  Buyers who have been looking for a while are starting to feel a bit of pressure as there are more properties going under offer, and they’re beginning to lose out on those properties that they thought they had a couple of weeks to make decisions on – so are in turn realising that now is the time to make their offer and make the most of the slight price adjustment before it is gone.

The table below shows all of the fully available (not yet under offer) houses and flats between the commons, from Bolingbroke Grove to Clapham Common and from Battersea Rise to Nightingale Lane (source- rightmove.co.uk):

Santa’s Grotto

On an even more exciting note we have Father Christmas visiting us on 25^th November from 4pm to 7pm and he has heard there have been some very well behaved children in Battersea this year, so do come and visit him at our office here on Northcote road and start getting into the festive spirit with this, the light switch on at 5pm, mince pies, carol singing and much more.

As ever, this update, as well as all of my previous missives is available to view on our blog, which also links to our Twitter feed and can be seen here.

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