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Spring Bounce or Boris Bounce?

STOP PRESS: Mortgage approvals, sales activity and buyer enquiries are all on an upward trajectory as we head towards Spring. Check out our 8 page review of the key trends in the local and national property markets

House prices are a much talked about subject – an Englishman’s home is his castle, after all! So, let’s start off by looking at some stats from last year:

In the Crediton area there were some 250 property sales that completed in 2019. Properties in the town had an average price of about £235,000. The city of Exeter averaged about £290,000 and nearby village of Copplestone had an overall average price of £205,000. House prices in Crediton were broadly similar to 2018 and 2017.

When you look at the different types of properties that have been selling, terraced properties on average sold for £190,000, detached properties £335,000 and semi-detached properties averaged £250,000.

So, what do these figures tell us?

They actually suggest that the property market in this area is actually pretty darn good. Bear in mind the Brexit pinch, more recently the general election and Christmas for good measure, and it’s actually been a remarkable and resilient mid Devon property market over the last 12 months.

There is certainly an air of post election confidence (some refer to it as the “Boris Bounce”) and at Helmores we have seen a noticeable spike in activity both in terms of new buyers registering and new properties coming to the market. Many estate agents are predicting a property boom but some market analysts do not agree. In other words its a real mixed bag of predictions!

The RICS have forecast the following for the UK market at a whole in 2020:

1. Outlook for number of transactions is flat for the year ahead

2. National house price growth projected to come in around 2% over 2020

3. Rents to rise further, and at a faster pace, as supply/demand imbalance intensifies

Our view is that the mid Devon market will perform better than the RICS are predicting but we remain cautious about the possibility of a boom. The thing about this area is that Devon has a lifestyle attraction that generally means that the market performs better here than other parts of the UK. People from other parts of the country often want to retire to Devon, or relocate their work here for a better life – and who can blame them! In fact some towns in Devon saw sizeable price increases in 2019 – Exmouth average prices grew on average by almost £7,000 and Kingsbridge in the South Hams nearly £9,000. This was in stark contract to London prices which on average fell by £13,000.

So what about Brexit?

It’s hard to say what the knock on effect will be on the market as there are so many variables at play, yet the most influential ones have more to do with people’s short and medium-term response to the uncertainties surrounding Brexit than the divorce from Europe itself. What I can say is that over the last year many people have had the attitude of “life goes on – let’s just get on with it” and that’s very much reflective of the above stats. It certainly seems to be far less of an issue than the 48.1% of disappointed voters expected it be.

At the end of the day, people still need to move home whatever the economy or “Boris Bounce” or Brexit effect might have on the market. There will always be growing families, people downsizing, job relocations, divorces, deaths…the list goes on.

If you’d like one of my experienced valuers to pop round and give you some one-to-one advice regarding your property & situation, you can book a time online HERE (we’re always buzzing around the area). Our advice is free, no obligation and will only cost you a coffee with 2 sugars 🙂

They’ll share with you our 11 step sale process which results in our clients benefiting from 99.1% of asking price vs a 95% national average.

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