Why is the local premium property market performing so well?

Here in the Maidstone & Barming office, we’re not sure if we can remember another time when there were so many opportunities out there in the property market. It’s been one heck of a year for us, putting smiles on the faces of buyers and sellers alike, and we’ve done this by keeping on top of all the latest movements in the market.

A key part of our approach is the way we complement our unrivalled knowledge of local opportunities with a firm grasp of market movements. We do this by regularly looking at the various property related statistics which are available to us. The most important source is the Land Registry, which records all home sales and tells us what’s happening to sales rates and price levels.

The chart above illustrates a very good reason to be happy. Long-term house price growth in the area has been strong, with the average annual rate of growth since 2000 sitting at an admirable 9.4 per cent. The broad base of the market and the solid fundamentals underpinning it mean we expect this to continue in the medium and long-term.

Another reason to be happy is the abundance of liquidity in the market. In laymen’s terms, this means that lots of people are buying and selling and the market isn’t in danger of stagnation. In the second quarter of 2018 (the latest full quarter for which data is available), there were 499 sales. This is 52.1 higher than the same quarter just eight years ago.

With demand for homes increasing, vendors are in a healthy position where they can realistically hope to achieve the asking price, or higher, for their property. When you compare lack of availability to high demand, it seems even more plausible that you will be happy with the final sale price.

On the whole, the thing we’re noticing most is how much sanity there is in the market at the moment. Because mortgage lending is a lot more sensible since the credit crunch, price froth hasn’t built up, which is good news because it lessens the chance of a crash. We’ve got so much more to say so why don’t you pop into our office for more information?

Prices over time vs region and national

Published about 4 years ago

A lot has happened in the property market recently, particularly when it comes to prices. However, what’s happening locally doesn’t always reflect what’s going on regionally or in the country as a whole. This chart shows prices side-by-side and reveals telling patterns.