The Forecast is Good!
As I write this the weather is glorious and Wales is looking at its spectacular best and despite what the Met Office tells me about rain around the corner I know the forecast is looking good! Ok, so maybe not the weather forecast but the prime property forecast is certainly looking positive. The Bank of England has today announced the reduction in the base rate from 5.25% to 5.0%, the first time in over four years we have seen the rate cut. Nationwide have announced that house prices are rising at the fastest rate we have seen for 18 months and Zoopla is predicting an increase in average house prices of 2% across the UK in the second half of the year. Even better news is that the average time to exchange from sale agreed is now the lowest it has been all year and at under 120 days meaning there is still time for you to be in your new home before Christmas, but you will need to take decisive action. If this isn’t the first time you have received a market update letter from me you will recall that around 8 weeks ago I predicted the cut in the base rate and a buoyant Autumn market. Just after publishing the report the General Election was called and the result of the election has had a pleasant unexpected immediate impact on the housing market with an obvious increase in buyer activity which has lead me to now bring forward my prediction of a buoyant Autumn market to include the remainder of the Summer, possibly this immediate increase is a consequence in the pent up demand that we referred to in our last report caused by so many people waiting for inflation to settle down before making a move meaning there were probably a lot of people delaying their move from 2023 who are now becoming active. With more properties coming to market there is now more choice for home movers but with sales volumes up 16% and set to increase it is likely we will see a market more tipped in favour of sellers than we have seen over the last 18 to 24 months. That said the average price of property coming to the market is down 0.4% as sellers are keen to attract the best buyers, adding to the importance of making sure your marketing price is competitive in todays market. 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 59 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 are able to 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. If you have been trying to sell without success and would like a free, no obligation review of your current marketing campaign get in touch – daniel.thomas@luxurywelshhomes.com