What’s happening in the Medway Property Market?

If you’re in the market to buy or sell a property or just generally interested in the housing market then stay tuned for your Medway Housing Market Update for November.

Are more properties being reduced?

During October, 4001 properties were available for sale in The Medway Towns, 297 more than in the previous month of September. 1115 properties were listed for sale, 113 less than the month prior. 762 properties sold, 127 less than September and 675 properties were reduced throughout October, 171 more than the month prior. With political uncertainty rippling through the markets it’s clear to see less properties were listed and sold during the month of October.

Are mortgage interest rates coming down?

Rightmove state ‘Buyer demand is still 20% higher than the more normal market of 2019, but it is down by 15% in the last two weeks compared with the same two weeks last year.’ So even with a hike in interest rates and political uncertainty there are still plenty of buyers in the market. Zoopla also announced 900 new mortgage products have been added to the market, also suggesting ‘Mortgage rates are expected to fall to 4-5% next year and this is likely to be the new norm.’ Further backed up that all fixed rate product interest rates came down on 31^st October. Zoopla also claim that 48% of buyers are using cash or very small mortgages to purchase property. That’s just under half of all transactions not effected by the interest rate rises.

Are house prices dropping?

With regards to prices, the average price of new properties listed to the market for sale increased again in October by 0.9% according to Rightmove. Just 23% of all properties on the market for sale have felt the need to reduce their price in order to get sold.

In my case study for the month I’d like to tell you about the sale of King George Road in Chatham. A 3 bedroom terraced house listed for Offers Over £270,000. In 5 days 13 viewings were booked with 5 offers received following the open day. All offers exceeded to list price of £270,000. Activity on the ground from buyers is still very strong as you can see. It seems many buyers are looking to lock into a fixed rate as soon as possible with fear of them increasing further.

Now could be a great time to list your home for sale, with less properties coming to the market and buyer demand still higher than the ‘normal market’. The shortage of properties for sale still seems to be underpinning house prices. My advice is listen to the market, if you’re a buyer and your offer has been rejected because a higher offer has been made, unless you increase your offer, the other buyer will likely buy that property. If you’re a seller and you have just 1 offer with no other viewings booked in or no viewing at all then something is wrong. Listen to the market.

If you’re looking to sell a property or buy one in The Medway Towns then please give me, your personal estate agent a call on 07557783325.