Estate agents seeing rise in house moves

Yet the impact is affecting the market in ways that might surprise you, as according to some agents, the pandemic has actually seen a boost in house buying and selling over the past 12 months.

Lincolnshire estate agents Pygott and Crone, whose head office is in Sleaford and with further branches across the county, including Boston, have reported a major shift within the property market regarding buyers’ and sellers’ attitudes.

According to a recent survey of 1,000 homeowners, as many as 26 percent are considering moving within the next year, with more than half (55 percent) of respondents directly linking their reason for moving to COVID-19 and the fact that many of us are obviously spending more time at home.

As well as desiring a bigger garden space, other important factors include finding somewhere with more natural light to boost serotonin, as well as the importance of a home office to promote remote working, and a home gym in order to stay fit.

To give the housing market a helping hand during the coronavirus pandemic, back in July the government announced that homebuyers won't pay any stamp duty on homes valued up to £500,000 until March 31, 2021.

This was then debated in Parliament on Monday (February 1) after a petition calling for the government to extend the holiday was signed by more than 130,000 people.

The decision will be made as part of chancellor Rishi Sunak’s budget announcement on March 3.

William H Brown’s Boston branch partner, Chris Steinbeck, said that they have seen record numbers of sales agreed at their branch thanks to this break.

With the deadline for the holiday soon coming to an end, Chris said: “We expect to see a busy couple of months ahead and growing pressure from buyers who have been waiting for their sales to proceed to completion, and because of a frustratingly delayed conveyancing process, are now edging closer to the deadline than they might have originally thought would be the case.”

Chris added that the unprecedented demand for affordable housing in more rural areas, along with limited new instructions to the market, has meant that house prices have risen over the last year.

Simon Richardson, listing residential sales manager at William H Brown Sleaford, added: “With the deadline fast approaching, the next two months for estate agents and solicitors are going to be very difficult. Taking advantage of the holiday was the main driver for a lot of people, so for those that may have left it late to purchase a property with the current conveyancing timescales, they will be putting on the pressure come March.”

And what about house prices?

Newton Fallowell has over 30 branches across the Midlands, including Sleaford, Boston, Horncastle, Spilsby and Caistor.

David Spackman, managing director of Newton Fallowell, agreed that the holiday had given many people the extra nudge needed to make the decision to move and they were expecting plenty more before the end of March.

He said: “We noticed that following the stamp duty holiday announcement there was certainly a surge of new buyers registering. This significantly outweighed the number of available properties to buy or indeed to let, and often resulted in multiple viewings and offers, leading to people offering more than the asking price in order to secure the property.

“For the sales market I suspect some of this was due to the “stamp duty savings” and for tenants it was finding a home that suited their lockdown needs, i.e. a garden or a spare room from which to work etc.

“Of course, there were already many thousands of people committed to move, so [the stamp duty holiday] would have come as a very welcome bonus for them. That said, we also sell a large number of properties to first time buyers, who in the main are already exempt from stamp duty.

“Solicitors are clearly under enormous pressure from those clients who are caught in transactions, who I’m sure have based their costs on the stamp duty savings. Again, we also have to remember that there were plenty of people already committed to move pre the stamp duty holiday, but of course if they have not yet managed to move, I am sure they will equally want to make the savings if possible.”

Simon said that for William H. Brown, COVID-19 has actually impacted the housing market in a positive way during the summer 2020, and the branch averaged 98 percent of sales agreed at the asking price.

“The negative impact has been delays on the conveyancing process due to people being furloughed and solicitors working from home, combined with the increase in in-house sales, and therefore more files on solicitors desks,” he said, “That’s been the issue and will continue to be the issue until we can return to normality.”

David said that Newton Fallowell’s agents found that the number of transactions across the group remained broadly similar to that of 2019. The noticeable difference being that the vast majority of transactions took place in the first and fourth quarter, the latter resulted in a build-up of sales waiting to exchange contracts, and solicitors being overloaded.

If you’re looking to sell your house over the next few months, the experts have provided the following advice for you:

Chris: “For those looking to buy in the next few months, be prepared for competition from other buyers and expect to offer close to, or even over the asking price on hot properties to secure the sale. For those looking to sell, I would advise them to act now! The market is full of committed buyers wanting and needing to see their property, and we can assure customers that we can manage the process safely, both remotely and under our COVID-Secure guidelines.”

Simon: “The main advice I’d give is to make sure you budget correctly. With stamp duty being re-introduced as of April 1, this is a cost that we’ve not been used to since June last year, but it’s not one to forget about. Also, if you want to move it is possible, despite the current situation. As an agent we have been successfully working with PPE and extensive health and safety measures following all the latest guidance since we re-opened."

David: “I think the best advice I could give anyone is make sure you know what you can afford and what it is going to cost you to move. If you have a property to sell, find out what is worth before you start looking, you might be pleasantly surprised. A major change in the marketplace is the ever-moving mortgage market - lenders seem to have different offers coming and going on a daily basis. There are so many rules surrounding the lending criteria, i.e.: furlough, deposits, job security etc that you really do need to talk to an expert.

“Newton Fallowell employs advisers in most branches, or we have advisers ‘on tap’ for this very reason. Once you know where you stand with regards to a mortgage offers then be sure you know where you want or need to live and be clear with your agent about the type of property you want. Spend time explaining your needs and be opened minded. Don’t be surprised if you miss out if you’re not in a position to proceed.