Reading Property Market Update – September 2021
Strongest ever buyer competition for a new home
By Charlie Higgs – Owner Village Properties
Buyer demand for property is at its highest level ever recorded, with demand for each new property coming on to the market more than double that of pre-pandemic levels. With these ratios of buyer demand and the relatively low levels of new properties coming to the market, we are seeing the rise of the ‘power buyer’. Buyers with nothing to sell and cash in the bank or first-time buyers with mortgages agreed, these buyers are in a strong position, out-competing buyers who still have to sell their existing property.
How to become a power buyer
A power buyer is simply someone that can demonstrate to a homeowner, via their estate agent, that they are immediately able to offer and proceed to purchase the property without any delay. This essentially means that the buyer must be chain free, having sold their existing property and have the money in the bank, with additional finance if required, already agreed and in place up to the purchase price of the new home. Or be a first-time buyer, with a good deposit and a mortgage in place.
Power buyer check list –
• Immediately Proceedable (No dependant property to sell)
• Cash in the bank (with proof)
• Finance agreed and arranged in principle (with offer of mortgage)
• Already appointed a lawyer (Reputable, fast-moving conveyancer/solicitor)
House prices at an all-time high
This record has been broken numerous times this year, which is the average price of property coming on to the market, up by 0.3% on the previous record to £338.462, this according to Rightmove’s September house price index. This new high is the national figure, up just £15 on the previous high in July, which would suggest that prices are finding some stability.
Locally, in the South East, the increase is higher at 1.2% in the month, at an average property price of £453,551, representing a year to date increase of 8.5%.
Autumn forecast
We are seeing some early signs of a more balanced autumn moving season to come, with an increase in the number of properties coming on to the market, offering buyers a little more choice, with the number of new property listings for the first two weeks of September being 14% more than the last two weeks of August.
With more property coming to the market, we expect this to have the knock-on effect of stimulating market activity, encouraging existing homeowners to put their properties on the market if they are looking to onward purchase.
In normal years, the property market is traditionally busy during the Autumn months, and whist the last few years have seen little in the way of traditional market swings in activity, with some normality returning, the signs of a more normal run-up to Christmas are looking more likely.
Whilst it is still a very strong sellers market, buyers looking to move will need to sharpen their resolve and maximize their appeal to homeowners who will often have several offers to choose from and will inevitably go with the buyer able to move the quickest.
Sell before you buy
In such a frenzied buyers market, there is an increasingly strong incentive for existing homeowners looking to onward purchase to ‘sell before you buy’. As we discussed above, this strategy creates the ‘power buyer’ status.
Thanks for reading
Charlie Higgs – Village Properties
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