What’s happening in the property market – February

February has been a great month for us. The market is moving and the number of enquiries we are receiving has been increasing each week with a number of agreed sales in this month.

Rightmove’s monthly house price index shows the average national asking price of property is £299,287 that is up a massive 2.9% from last month and up 7.3% since this time last year. Rightmove suggest this is the year of the first time buyer and with prices and demand at an all time high.

In the East of England the average asking price was £321,630 – up by 2.8% since last month and up a huge 10.7% on last year. There has been a 5% uplift in new properties coming to market report Rightmove. This is the highest number at this time of year since the credit crunch of 2008.

There is a 10% increase in supply of starter homes coming to market nationally since this time last year which is great news for first time buyers. Team this with continued low interest rates and it will be a recipe for success for some taking their first step onto the property ladder. Buy to let investors have also been striking whilst the iron is hot – keen to snap up homes before the 3% stamp duty raise comes into force in April.

Nationwide’s house price statistics for February show the average national selling price was £196,930 which was up 0.3% on the previous month with an annual change of 4.8%. They reported that the number of mortgages approved in January rose sharply though this was most likely due to those impending stamp duty changes.

Chris Plummer Relationship Manager at Tortoise says ‘the house price growth and market transactions in the first quarter of the year shows a mixture of the sentiment seen in the market at the end of 2015 and the expectations of 2016. Therefore an increased number of buy-to-let transactions have taken place releasing families to move up the ladder to 3 and 4 bedroom family homes.’

If you are thinking of bringing your property to market give us a call on 01733 592020 to see how our 12 week Marketing Plan can work for you.

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