The foundations of the Loughborough Property Market over this summer and autumn have continued to be principally sound; yet the existing political macroclimate
means that the critical element of consumer confidence has been reduced and
that is triggering some potential Loughborough property buyers and Loughborough
house sellers to falter slightly and hang fire making any firm decisions on
property.
With record low interest rates at 0.75%, low unemployment rates
of 3.8%, and decent mortgage availability - even those with low deposits were able to access 224 mortgage deals on the day of writing this article where only
a 5% deposit was required and 5 main stream lenders that would offer 100% no deposit
mortgages - Loughborough buyers have a lot going in their favour, aside from
the perceived political uncertainty.
Interestingly, Rightmove have stated that there are more
properties for sale today in the country than at any other time since 2016, and Loughborough
follows that trend. Even with that in mind, property values in Loughborough, and the surrounding area, have remained
reasonably stable according to the recent Land Registry figures in their House Price Index and it makes very interesting
reading.
Overall, property values in the Loughborough area are 0.3% lower than a year ago as the average property value in Loughborough
now stands at £257,000. When I looked at the types of Loughborough properties, a
slightly different picture appeared:
- detached homes remained the same (average £369,000);
- semi-detached homes remained the same (average £207,800) ;
- terraced/town house dropped by 0.7% (average £177,000);
- flats/apartments dropped by 2.9% (average (136,900).
Yet, Loughborough Property Market Blog readers will know that I
always like to measure the health of the Loughborough property market not only
by house prices but transaction levels as well - in the last year, 1912 properties were sold in Loughborough. This is higher than the 10 year average of 1852 properties per annum.
Considering the uncertainty that the country has been through in
the last three years with Brexit, I don’t think that’s too bad and
shows the underlying resilience of the Loughborough property market.
Now looking forward towards the end of the year - how will Loughborough
house values change following the forthcoming election?
Loughborough buy-to-let landlords and first-time
buyers seem to be sustaining their preceding activity levels, which is heartening
news. It’s quite conceivable that both cohorts are presently profiting from the
marginally increased numbers of homes in on the market in Loughborough, which not
only offers them greater choice, but aids with their negotiations. The
suggested stamp duty changes made me look at previous changes in the
last decade and their effects have been rather short term.
That means those selling their homes in Loughborough need to
be realistic with their pricing, and, as most sellers also buy a property, what
you might lose on your sale you will make up on the purchase.
The election and Brexit, to be honest are all short-term distractions
from the long-term issues of the UK and Loughborough property market. Until we
start building at least 300,000 properties a year to meet the demand for UK
property, demand will always outstrip supply, meaning irrespective of short-term fluctuations that may (or may not) be caused by domestic and world
events then prices will always, in the medium to long term, remain stable and increase.
For more thoughts on the Loughborough Property market please feel free to call me on 01509 260777 or email me.
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