As we enter into the second half of 2020 (and what a fun year it has been…) last week we saw a lot of data on the house purchase market specifically:
House purchase market busy
Figures from HM Revenue & Customs showed house purchase transactions were down 52% on the same period last year, but up on April’s numbers.
Our own figures back that up but also show a much stronger market at the higher end that we deal with (the average price of a home in the UK is £247k, where our average is just under £1.2m).
At the start of 2020, about 35% of our business was purchases. That dropped to 6% in April, but has since recovered to 38% for June so far.
I think the next months figures from HMRC will also show that improving trend. The purchase market that we deal with (primarily London/Home Counties) seems to be very busy. From talking to our clients we are seeing people being out bid (some deals even going to sealed bids) and also having to go over asking price to secure a property. Not at all what we expected to see, but that is what is happening.
Get offer ready
If you are looking to buying, and haven’t touched base with us recently, I would urge you to do so. Getting you ‘offer ready’ is essential in such a competitive market. We can nail down the finances, and more importantly the costs, ahead of you finding a property.
When you do find somewhere, we are happy to engage with the Agent and help manage the whole process. Understandably, Agents are closely vetting their offers at present, so we can help you with that process and it really can be the difference between you securing the right property or not at present.
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