If you’re looking to buy or sell a property right now then here’s everything you need to know about the market right now in March’s edition of the Medway Property Market round up.

Throughout February, 4300 properties were available for sale within Medway, up from 4100 in January. This is the highest amount of stock available for sale we have seen in the area since March 2021. Throughout the UK, Zoopla report a 61% increase year on year on stock of homes available for sale. This comes as no surprise considering the lack of homes that have been available for sale over the past few years. What this does show is homeowner confidence in the market and economy as a whole which is a positive sign for the year ahead.

Supply and demand when talking about anything in the word, will have an impact on it’s value. Prime energy drinks, petrol, toilet rolls and tomatoes. The housing market is no different. Across the UK, Zoopla report buyer demand is down by 51% year on year but 8% up on the pre-pandemic years of 2017-2019. Again, not a surprising stat. Supply and demand is controlled by cause and effect. What is causing and effecting people to take action and move? Over the past few years, people have moved for multiple reasons in such a short space of time caused by the pandemic. More space, bigger garden, home office, closer to family members, change in working life and of course the stamp duty holiday. If tomorrow, Prime energy drinks were on every shelf in every shop and the craze finished, people would no longer be selling them on Facebook for £10 a bottle. This is exactly what’s happening in the housing market right now. Properties being reduced in Medway increased again in February to 663. Zoopla suggest sellers are having to reduce their price by 4.5% (£14,000) on average in order to achieve a sale. This however is just a third of the price gain homeowners have achieved since 2019.  If you’re selling and buying at the same time, this price drop will be relative on your sale and your purchase.

New properties being listed to the market continued it’s upward trend in February with just over 1000 properties coming to the market in Medway, of which 10% have already sold. 803 properties sold in total in Medway throughout February, the most we have seen since September 2022.

But what does all of the above mean? Properties are selling at a good rate which means there is still a market out there and a crash which some predicted seems more and more less likely. Sellers will need to be more realistic when it comes to pricing to capture the attention of buyers where they have so much choice. This is not only about price, this comes down to the agent you are working with too. Is their marketing showing your property in its best possible light and are they exposing it to as many buyers as possible. How pro active are they? If you can’t get hold of them, can buyers? What’s their selling strategy? All of these things need to be considered before employing an estate agent.

Rightmove report that their research over the past 5 years shows March is the best time to sell. The number of buyers enquiring about homes for sale on Rightmove is usually highest at this time of year. We see more buyers looking to move in March than in any other month of the year. Competition between buyers for the homes available is traditionally at its peak. So if you’d like to take advantage of this and list your home for sale with me in March then please get in touch to arrange a marketing consultation and valuation appointment.