Santa may be enjoying some well deserved rest and relaxation on a lovely Welsh beach, but now is the time for homeowners wanting to move in time for his next visit to be taking decisive action!  With the average time to sell a home in the UK being 62 days you may feel you have plenty of time but unfortunately the average time for conveyancers to complete a transaction from the point of sale agreed is now 154 days! Meaning for those just coming to market now it might mean a move in the New Year and of course for those already on the market but struggling to sell then a change of strategy now is essential.

Record High Asking Prices

Average asking prices in the upper quartile have risen by 1.3% compared to last year, while the ONS has reported that average house price across the UK is up 1.8% against last year.  Pent up demand from home movers who put plans on hold last year has helped with the number of sales agreed in the first four months of the year 17pc higher than the same period in 2023.

Inflation Falls to Lowest Since 2021

CPI inflation fell in April 2024 to 2.4%, this was largely driven by a fall in household energy bills.  This positive news has led to a rise of 0.3% in the Pound against the Dollar and has had many MP’s calling for cuts in interest rates.  All of this against a backdrop of wages holding up at around 6% helping to turn the tables on household sentiment and positivity like this is always great news for the housing market.

Although we know many MPs would really like to see cuts to interest rates we are confident that other economic pressures will mean that the MPC will resist and we think rates will remain at the current 5.25% until the end of the year, perhaps with a 0.25% cut in November at the earliest. 

Although a cut would be further good news for the housing market we feel there is enough positive sentiment around for us to see a continued resilient market throughout 2024.

So Why Isn’t My Home Selling?

We are aware that despite this optimism and positivity there are lots of homeowners who have been trying to sell their home now for far more than the average 62 days and if you are one of these unlucky home movers then you are probably wondering why? There are a whole host of reasons why your home may not be selling and we would encourage anyone in this position to review these factors before deciding to adjust their marketing price.  Here are just four of the factors you should consider before changing your price;

Quality of photography.  In this digital age home searching is not immune to our decreasing attention spans, with the swipe right culture applying to home searches too.  You only get a few seconds to make a good impression on apps like Rightmove and OnTheMarket.  It is therefore really important that your photos are the best quality and eye catching.  Although the tried and tested front of house photo is a great option it is also a good idea to mix it up a little and if you have a feature that is sure to be a real crowd pleaser then you should consider using this as your lead image.  We like to review the performance of our adverts weekly and if needed rotate around the images we are using.  We typically have around 60-80 images on file although we don’t use them all at once this means we have a stock library we can use to keep our adverts fresh.

Floor plans and land plans.  Sounds basic but believe it or not some agents still do not include these as standard.  If you don’t have one, speak to your agent ASAP and get one added to your adverts.

Social media exposure.  These days most agents will have a Facebook page, but many of them do not leverage them properly to get the best reach and exposure for their clients.  Using a multi-platform strategy that includes, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn and Youtube agents can reach tens of thousands of potential buyers.  We consider this a great way to reach a more ‘passive buyer’, someone who is interested in moving but is not quite at the stage where they are checking the property portals twice daily for new listings. It is also a great way to show potential buyers properties that are outside their current search criteria.  When I started in agency there was no computer searches and as an agent we would always tell buyers about properties in the next village over or one just outside their budget, the likes of Rightmove cannot do this, but we have found by using our tried and tested techniques we can replicate this through our social media campaigns.  

Property Videos. Professionally produced video tours are a useful way to showcase a home and are loved by property buyers, who say they help them to get an honest feeling for how the property flows and for the ‘feel’ of the home.  In addition to sharing videos on our website and on property portals we have found they are a great tool to use in combination with our social media strategies, with increased reach and engagement from video on many platforms. By reviewing your current marketing position and implementing a detailed plan it is possible to revitalise a floundering campaign.

How will the General Election affect things?

Traditionally a General Election causes uncertainty in the market, with some buyers putting their plans on hold until the results of the election are known. However, historically the Election has had very little impact on average house price growth, with the rate of growth preceding an election being almost identical to the growth rate after the election. With the recently lower rates of inflation and widely predicted cuts to interest rates that we think may come in Autumn it is likely that the market will continue to move along relatively unchanged and if anything we expect getting the election out of the way before Summer might actually improve the market overall.