Richard Blake Header
Encouraging Signs
As the Brexit negotiations start in earnest and the government appears a little more settled there are definite signs of movement in the local property market.
There is also more property coming to market which is desperately needed. Good sales are being agreed in the middle market and first-time buyers are back.
Although the London market has slowed over recent months it is still a very important producer of buyers for local property. We have also seen demand increase from expats who are either looking to move back completely or have a bolt hole in the UK.
There is also a definite increase in second homebuyers who would otherwise have bought abroad but, due to the uncertainty over Brexit, are preferring to keep their holiday investments in the UK.
Bristol and Birmingham still produce plenty of buyers for local property and we are now even getting enquiries from buyers moving from further along the south coast i.e. Brighton and Bournemouth. This is all encouraging news for the local economy and there is again a degree of positivity returning.
Some of the recent reports on house prices have been rather gloomy with building societies reporting drops in values over a longer period.
Although we need to keep prices realistic, I have not seen any real evidence of price drops locally. In any market there are price reductions as certain properties find their level of value. All in all the signs are encouraging for a stable summer of trading.
First published By The Dart magazine August 2017 issue
