Residential housing market gets off to swift start
Property consultancy Carter Jonas has experienced an unusually swift start to the residential property market this year. The movement in the residential housing market after the Christmas ‘hibernation period’ normally gets underway in a tentative manner at the beginning of February, however for the Carter Jonas office in Northampton this year could not be more different.
Head of Residential for Carter Jonas Northampton, Ian Cattle, explained: “The amount of interest we have received already this year from people wanting to buy properties as well as launch them on to the market has been far busier than we have seen in a number of years.
“As a rule, the usual trend for the residential property market is for it to pick up around the beginning of February, leading up to our busiest time of year which is Spring and Summer.
"However, this year the movement began immediately upon our return to work after the Christmas and New Year festivities. In forty eight hours we agreed the sale of three properties and received offers on many others, which is the sort of activity we would usually expect to witness from February onwards.”
The strong 2012 figures were pre-empted by encouraging 2011 year end figures. The Northampton office achieved sales in excess of £4 million in November, and enjoyed a busy December, finishing the year off strongly. The Northamptonshire residential market is forecast to maintain similar trading conditions this year to last year, and Carter Jonas believe that “best in class” properties will hold firm during the year as demand for such products remains strong and supply is extremely restrained. Last year, the average price of house sold by Carter Jonas in Northamptonshire was £690,000 and the average time it took to sell a property from release to legal exchange of contracts was 5.8 months. A total of 64% of all houses sold in 2011 by the Northampton office were purchased by local buyers, proving a stable and affluent catchment area. Finally, the shortest marketing period before a sale was agreed was just one day!
Posted by: Carter Jonas LLP
