Without a shadow of doubt the cost of living crisis, mini budget and the warnings of a looming recession has had an impact on new property transactions, but reassuringly the local market has remained incredibly resilient. 

Supply and demand are fundamentally an ongoing issue in the housing market.  In our corner of Surrey there are simply not enough houses for would be purchasers.  On this basis, the events of late haven’t created a massive void in the market.  The effect on buyers, and to some degree sellers, means a readjustment to search criteria creating a price sensitive market.  Anyone serious about buying a property is still wanting to do so, but their buying power has taken a hit.  The natural response to this is a change in budget, which impacts on where and what they can buy.  In parallel, sellers keen to secure a buyer are having to re-consider the marketing of their home to suit this change.  To this end, price reductions are on the increase.  Encouragingly these are still generating new enquiries from those who hadn’t previously registered.  The impetus to move is still there but some are watching from the side-lines, waiting for the right opportunity to come along. 

The instability in the mortgage market does appear to be dissipating.  The BBC recently reported that “the average five-year fixed mortgage rate fell below 6% for the first time in seven weeks”.  As we say goodbye to the historically low rates and begin to settle in to a new era of higher mortgage rates, new entrants to the market will have a firmer idea of what their affordability is.  This shift in rates will have an impact on existing home owners too.  With an increase in the cost of living we anticipate that some homeowners will opt for a move next year to mitigate the increased cost of running a home This will naturally add more stock for those second or third steppers. 

The rentals market has experienced a resurgence of late. There are a number of factors contributing to this. We are seeing new stock coming to market as a result of the slowdown in the sales market. Landlords who were considering selling have now decided to re-let until prices stabilise. There are some sellers who, unable to sell their home, are renting it out to enable their onward move.  In addition, we have let a number of new build properties as the developers are adopting a wait-and-see attitude rather than reduce the asking prices.  In our area there is still a shortage of homes which creates a very competitive market.  We would urge anyone looking to arrange a new tenancy to read our latest article on tenant referencing.  

As always, we are on hand to assist with any enquiry in the sales or lettings markets, just contact your nearest branch.