You’ve all seen the doom and gloom, scaremongering headlines about the housing market used for click bait and to sell more newspapers. In your July edition of the Medway Property Market Update I’m here to set the record straight and tell you exactly what’s happening in the property market right now.

Despite the Bank of England base rate rise buyer demand is still up 6% vs the last ‘normal’ market of 2019 and sales agreed are up 8% versus the 5 year average. UK annual house price growth still sits at +1.1%.

Available properties for sale continued to increase throughout June with 2191 available for sale compared to 2151 in May of this year and 1306 in the same month last year.

New properties being listed to the market for sale dropped in June compared to May with 594 properties being listed for sale. Still however above the average of 525 over the past 12 months. The average price of these new listings came in at £375,000, increasing from £354,000 in May. This shows The Medway Towns outperforming the rest of the country as Rightmove report in their most recent index that average asking prices drop by £82 in the month of June.

413 sales were agreed throughout the month of June, the second highest of any month year to date and well above the 12 month average in Medway of 387. The average price of these properties being sold also increased in June to £330,000 versus £318,000 in May. More good news is that the average number of days on the market for properties in Medway decreased in June to 108 versus 140 in May, the lowest we have seen in any month year to date.

The average price properties in Medway being reduced in the month of June came in at £20,000, a decrease from the month of May.

There’s no hiding that mortgage rates have increased, but in most cases a monthly mortgage payment is still cheaper than rent so many first time buyers are still keen to purchase to save money and this demand is still high. Properties will only need to be reduced if there are no buyers in the market that can afford the monthly payment based on the asking price in comparison to what else is available for sale. With the amount of properties available for sale, buyers have choice, so now more than ever it’s so important to focus on the factors you can control as a seller. The presentation of the property for photos and viewings, how it’s marketed by the agent and how pro-active they are is the difference in properties remaining on the market for 15 weeks or being sold within the first two.

In the month of May and June, all properties I have taken to the market have sold in an average of 9.75 days with an average of 9 viewings per property and an average of 100% of list price achieved. With the lowest priced property at £240,000 and the highest priced at £700,000. This is proof that across all price ranges, if you get the marketing right and work with a pro-active, hungry estate agent who has a strategy, the bad news headlines you read are completely untrue.

If you’d like to discuss the Medway Property Market in further detail please get in touch today and I would be more than happy to give honest, professional advice based on your personal circumstances. You can visit my website for an instant online valuation of your property or get in touch for a free in person no obligation valuation with me Tom Dix, your bespoke independent estate agent in Medway.