The housing market is always in constant flux and it’s affected by many factors like political, financial and buyer confidence. Clearly this year and last month (October) have been interesting with Brexit ‘will we or won’t we?’ hanging over us all.
This has affected the Stratford-upon-Avon housing market and although it remained reasonably sound in 2019, there was some slow down which has meant that some buyers and sellers have been hanging fire until we all understand more about what might happen.
With interest rates at a record low of 0.75%, a low unemployment rate of 3.8%, and decent mortgage availability Stratford Upon Avon buyers have a lot going in their favour. Even those with low deposits have a sporting chance. There were 224 mortgage deals available on the day of writing this article where only a 5% deposit was required and 5 mainstream lenders that would offer 100% no deposit mortgages.
Rightmove have recently stated that there are more properties for sale today in the UK, than at any time since 2016. Stratford-upon-Avon follows that trend, too.
Property values have remained reasonably stable and The Land Registry has just released its House Price Index for Stratford-upon-Avon and the surrounding area which paints a good picture overall.
Property values in the Stratford Upon Avon area are 0.9% higher in 2019
Overall, property values in the Stratford Upon Avon area are 0.9% higher than a year ago as the average property value in Stratford-upon-Avon now stands at £382,300.
But when I looked at the different types of properties, a slightly different picture is shown.
Take a look:
- Stratford Upon Avon Detached homes rose by 1.4%
- Stratford Upon Avon Semi-detached homes rose by 1.3%
- Stratford Upon Avon Terraced/Town House rose by 0.7%
- Stratford Upon Avon Flats/Apartments dropped by 1.5%
And splitting down the types of Stratford-Upon-Avon into property types looks like this:
- Stratford Upon Avon Detached £549,300
- Stratford Upon Avon Semi-Detached £333,600
- Stratford Upon Avon Terraced/Town House £288,700
- Stratford Upon Avon Flats/Apartments £214,800
And overall? Overall it looked like this for 2019 in Stratford-upon-Avon:
701 properties sold – lower than the 10-year average of 774 properties per annum.
That’s not too bad considering the Brexit uncertainty in the UK. It looks like the housing market is holding a steady course, but time will tell.
What will happen after the election on 12th December?
Well a new PM could certainly change things up and those interest rates and buyer confidence will soon come into play.
Stratford buy-to-let landlords and first-time buyers seem to be sustaining which is really great news for the town and area. The suggested Stamp Duty changes did make me look at previous changes to Stamp Duty in the last decade and their effects have been rather short term.
What it could mean is that sellers would need to be a bit more realistic with their sale prices. Of course, what you lose when you sell you gain when you buy so it’s all very give and take.
Brexit doom for the housing market?
To be honest, even with political unrest, there’s a housing shortage and until we build the estimated 300L houses a year to cope, there will be a supply and demand favour in the sellers’ hands.
Brexit or no Brexit, Stratford-upon-Avon is a desirable area and one that remains a sort after place to buy and rent.
