Is there a New Homes Boom in the West Country?

Comments such as “those homes sold quickly” or “they’re selling them as fast as they can build them” have started to creep back into everyday conversation in the West Country.

Demand for new homes throughout the South West appears to be at fever pitch when compared with the housing market for the last seven years, and in isolation, the supply and demand imbalance going into 2014 looks similar to the boom conditions of pre-2007, but with one exception. 

During the Boom, buyer demand not only outstripped the supply of new homes, but prices increased on a weekly basis.  This time round, whilst demand is good with most new homes sites reporting the majority of homes selling from plan stage, pricing has shown only modest growth over the last year with expectations in 2014 for demand to strengthen but for house prices to stay in check. 

According to Chris Baxter, Corporate Director of Bradleys Estate Agents, the  levers behind increased new homes demand are, the introduction of Help to Buy in the second quarter of last year, relatively stable interest rates on mortgages and because new homes developers HAVE to sell their product to tight deadlines, reasonably priced homes. This is likely to continue into 2014. 

Going forward, again unlike the boom of pre 2007 where almost anything sold irrespective of house type or position, this time round if the product does not fit the demand in any specific location and/or the end product is priced too high then the homes will not sell. This is a factor of the market that Bradleys can help developers with at planning stage given its extensive market intelligence on buyer trends across its network of 32 West Country Offices.

Anecdotal evidence at branch and site level also suggests that many buyers in the market place are showing a preference for a new home purchase with a home offering lower running and maintenance costs, a ten-year NHBC warranty and the reassurance that they are purchasing a home that has no on-going property chain. 

Bradleys New Homes department, which handles sales on new homes sites throughout Somerset, Devon and Cornwall, has seen a relative uniform picture of this trend going into 2014 irrespective of County or price range. There are a couple of factors on the horizon that may exacerbate the situation, one being a possible shortage of skilled labour in the house building industry and the other being any intervention by the Government or the Bank of England to adjust interest rates or impose lending constraints, although it is perceived this is highly unlikely in the run up to the 2015 election.

 

Chris Baxter 
Bradleys New Homes Director 

Free! - 23 Hours and 50 minutes

The news for the property market just gets better and better. Mark Carney has now stated that even if the unemployment threshold he set at 7% before he would consider increasing interest rates is achieved, he still won't consider increasing  rates for the foreseeable future. He has also confirmed that increases when they eventually come will be gradual and will remain lower than before the crisis. This is fantastic news for buyers and homeowners and again proves that there has never been a better time to buy. Cheap mortgages are available and so long as buyers have a 5% deposit then now is the time to buy. The Governor of the Bank Of England also confirmed that the UK economy has the strongest growth in the developed world so confidence is high and the market is set to grow further. I have said previously that nothing is spiralling out of control and the modest 3.5% increase seen in 2013 should be similar again for the South West in 2014. In the world of estate agency that just means that here at Bradleys we are actively seeking new instructions to feed the increasing supply of buyers. It is documented that 25% of sellers make a snap decision  on choosing an agent based on no more than 24 hours' worth of research. I for one, if I was one of those vendors would do myself a favour and cut the research to just a very quick 10 minute search on allAgents.co.uk to see who delivered the best customer service in my area and therefore save my self the other 23 hours and 50 minutes of research! Equally it is also well documented that 40% of vendors research and consider their choice of agent for 4 - 6 months before taking the plunge and giving their instructions. Those people will make their choice based on all the factors needed to gain a good rating on allAgents.co.uk so think how much time those people could save? Why take chances with the sale of your most important asset, trust Bradleys, the agent with a proven, tried and tested track record as confirmed by their customers. If you are thinking of selling then use allAgents to choose your agent, you can read the reviews given by Bradleys previous very happy customers, I guarantee it will save you time, money and heartache.

Francis Marshall FNAEA
Managing Director
Bradleys Group

Getting the best price for your property.

With more people viewing properties now than in the last five or six years, it is extremely important that houses for sale look their very best to maximise their value potential. Richard Greetham Director Bradleys Estate Agents makes a few suggestions on how to start.

In the US staging – preparing a property for sale - is big business. Professional staging firms clean, de-clutter, furnish, re-furnish, hang pictures and even decorate to make sure that an individual property looks, smells and feels its very best. Getting a property ready for sale sometimes costs thousands but can add tens of thousands to a sale price so is usually well worth doing.

In the UK staging hasn’t really taken off - despite the TV property programmes that show just what a difference a fresh pair of eyes and a bit of imagination can make.

But while we may not feel the need for a stager we should be aware of that vital first impression which is influenced by the cleanliness, neatness and order of a well-maintained and well-loved home when it is shown at its very best.

As we come into the spring, property selling season now is a good time to think about how your property will appear to a buyer. Your home will look more spacious with fewer things in it. Surfaces should be cleared of clutter. Also it is surprising what a difference can be made by taking away just one piece of furniture from each room. Everywhere will look so much more spacious. Give your home a deep clean and if you don’t want to do it yourself get in a good cleaning company to do it for you. As the evenings draw in get the fire going if you have one. A fire in the home is one of the basic human needs and people always respond.

Telling a seller that the look or condition of their house is not actually doing them any favours can be hard for anyone including an estate agent. It is a highly personal subject. So make it easy on yourself - ask your agent what should be done. And then follow his or her advice.

Preparing a house for sale takes practice and the understanding that more of a blank canvas is preferable, so potential buyers can build and decorate in their imaginations without the distraction of other people’s taste. So if you are selling this Spring choose an agent who is not merely going to put your home on the market but  make yours the one that’s most desired.

That is the real way to make more money from a sale - it won't come simply by adding a few thousand pounds to the asking price and hoping for the best.

For a free appraisal of your home contact you’re nearest Bradleys Estate Agents.

Richard Greetham

Director

Will ‘Help to Buy’ kill ‘Buy to Let’?

There has been a lot of speculation about what is going to happen to the Lettings market, in light of a steadily improving sales market and in particular the effect on the continually popular Buy to Let arena.

The view of Lyndon Bent, Director at Bradleys Estate Agents who oversees the letting of over 1000 properties a year in Devon, Cornwall and Somerset, is that Rental sector is to remain strong. He maintains Buy to Let could feature even more than before during 2014, despite the Government’s help to Buy scheme doing its best to kill off the lettings sector by dragging more first time buyers out of tenancies. The industry pundits view of life sounds out his beliefs.

The Help to Buy scheme for New Homes has been running for some time now, yet Bradleys Let nearly 10% more homes in 2013, than the previous year, so no adverse effect seen there. The extended scheme which came into full flow at the beginning of January will undoubtedly encourage some First Time Buyers out of the rentals sector, however a recent Rightmove survey of Tenants revealed that only around 15% of them acknowledged that their savings were on track to be able to find a sufficient deposit to buy. This is of course Contrary to the widespread knowledge that Tenants would prefer to buy rather than rent. Indeed the report also shows record levels of ‘Trapped Renters’ (those who would like to buy but can’t) has risen to 60%.

Add this to the economy still driving struggling homeowners into the rentals sector points to the reality that we are not likely to see a significant change in the rental sector market for some time to come.  

It must be conceded that we are currently in a period of Rental Value adjustment. MoveWithUs, who represent over 1000 estate agents across the country, issued their Rentals Index covering the last quarter of 2013, which suggests a £10 reduction in average rents in the South West. Down to an average of £780 per month, from £815 at its peak. This is a downward trend that started early last year across the country (except in London of course), but not necessarily experienced by all Bradleys offices. Indeed forecasts indicate Rental Values are now levelling out and maybe set to increase again throughout the year.

In summary, there is much for Buy to Let Landlords to look forward to this year. Property values are still competitive enough to provide good rental yields. Bradleys will continue to offer great investment opportunities to existing and aspiring Landlords by highlighting the potential yield of their properties for sale and best Buy to Let mortgage deals available though their Independent Financial Management arm.

For more information please contact your local Bradleys office or visit www.bradleys-estate-agents.co.uk

Lyndon Bent FNAEA MARLA
Director

 

Leave nothing to chance!

At a recent meeting of Estate Agents on the outskirts of London, one  agent remarked that the year had started disastrously with 9 fall throughs in the first 2 days of the year. He went on to explain the cause of the fall throughs were vendors who had agreed to sell but couldn't find anything to buy so pulled out of the deal.

This made me think about the market in general and also of agents business practises. At Bradleys we operate a strict policy of not instructing anyone to proceed on any sale until the proof of funds for the purchase has been seen, solicitors have been decided upon and there is a completed chain in place. This can take some time to get agreed but with a fall through rate of just 23% compared to the national average of 33% last year we are happy in the knowledge that we did everything possible to give the sale the best chance possible to complete and to give all in the chain the opportunity to avoid the dreaded costs of an aborted sale if the worst happens.

 

That made me wonder about the sales where the vendors had pulled out so freely. I wondered if the buyers had been made aware that the vendor hadn't found and the sale was dependant on them finding? I wondered what they thought about the cost of lost time and expense all for nothing? Vendors are our clients but we have a duty to all involved to ensure positions are represented honestly and nobody should knowingly be put in the position of standing a chance of losing time and money without being fully informed before proceeding. This made my thoughts turn back to allAgents and my advice to buyers is to use an agent that has a good allAgents ranking and I am sure this is one of the reasons all of our customers rank us so highly on allAgents.co.uk we are very thorough and leave nothing to chance when dealing with our customers lives and
money.

If you found this blog useful or you think others might then please like it or share it!

Francis Marshall FNAEA
Managing Director
Bradleys Group

What goes down must go up!

According to Isaac Newton, what goes up must come down. Fortunately, in the property market at least, what goes down must also come up. At least that is what happened in the 70s, the 80s and the 90s after periods of recession. Now it looks as if history is repeating itself.

Bradleys Estate agents are always glass-half-full people. But can anyone have failed to notice that things are on the up? High Street spending is up, employment is up, manufacturing is up, GDP is up, the service sector is up, lending is up and the property market is up. In fact the property market is back  in most areas. Is all this a blip? It is now looking unlikely.

The planets seem perfectly aligned for growth in the property market. This is a great time to buy or sell. Low interest rates, plenty of stock in many areas, keen buyers, less reluctant lenders – the market is set pretty fair.

But no matter how the market looks there are still some things we must watch carefully. If purchasing we need to keep an eye on interest rates – they also go up as well as down. If selling we must not get too ambitious and let our enthusiasm for achieving a top price blind us to reality – a glut of properties in the market means a lot of choice for buyers, and buyers never select an over-priced property when a sensibly priced one is available – would you? This is a time for level headed buying and selling - remembering at all times the laws of physics and of the market.

Richard Greetham
Director
Bradleys Estate Agents

Bradleys hits 50,000th Sale!!

Brian Hadfield, Janet Mullins and Mike Dibble.

Bradleys Estate Agents opened their first office in Exmouth at the beginning of June 1992. The company now have 33 offices and earlier this month the company exchanged contracts on sale number 50,000! This sale was a 3 bedroom detached house in Sidford owned by Brian Hadfield and his partner, Janet Mullins. To commemorate the event Director Mike Dibble visited them to make a special presentation. 

Mike Dibble said that the clients were incredibly patient vendors through the sales process. 'We were delighted when the sale exchanged contracts. Various hitches had occurred through the transaction but Brian and Janet stuck with it and got their reward in the end. Janet's niece used to work for Bradleys so I'm sure they were aware that not all sales go through like clockwork! The eventual buyers were very sympathetic with the clients and the issues with their ongoing purchase.'

Choose your weapon!

Many vendors when considering selling their property assume a sale by private treaty is the only method that applies to disposing their most valuable asset. Indeed many agents will only advise and offer this method. However there are many other ways to sell a property all of which our valuers are aware of and can offer the  vendor as part of Bradleys complete property service. These different methods have evolved over time to offer a better sales outcome in certain circumstances where private treaty can be found wanting.

One thing I look forward to at the end of the day is reviewing comments customers have left on the independent estate agency website, Allagents.co.uk. regarding our services whether they be good or bad. As Bradleys is rated third out of all the 12,000 + companies in the the UK we have a lot to live up to!

However one very recent review from our Mannamead office caught my eye as follows

 "As the executor of my late mothers will it was my responsibility to sell her home. I had four agents come and value the property and advise me on how to proceed. With winter fast approaching and the property costing me money to keep in good condition Ian Christie suggested the online auction, something I had not even thought about. The property sold within 4 weeks and contracts were exchanged approx 3 weeks later."

This to me sums up the advantage with the right property and the right circumstances converging to advise an online auction as the best method of sale. I am also glad to see our valuer identified this at the correct time with the right property and the vendor's position. 

The moral of this example is, if your agent cannot offer or indeed advise auction or tender as well as the normal private treaty method of disposal....look for one that does!

Chris Baxter

Bradleys Land & New Homes Director

2014 - The year of the seller!

2014 looks like it might be a year for the seller.  Estate agents often get the blame for pushing up prices. But it is buyers who set the pace. Whichever way you cut it a property is still only worth what someone is prepared to pay for it.

So here are just a few things to take into account if you are keen to move home this year.

By all means keep your eye on the big property portals like Rightmove and Zoopla. But by the time a new property hits those sites it could well be too late – there may be several people ahead of you in the queue. That is because they know what is coming on to the market before it actually does. So it is essential for you to get to know the estate agents in the area and ensure that you stay in regular contact with them. What we at Bradleys have learned is buyers do their research but want good local advice. So having 33 branches with  local estate agents that know their markets is key to successfully selling properties. Making yourself known and heard is the best way to keep ahead in the buying game. 

Within reason, in a rising market, dare to buy at a future value rather than the present one. Offer what you think the property will be worth by the time you complete several months down the line. By the time you do move the value of the house may have risen. This means you can sometimes afford to outbid more timid buyers. So don’t be mean with your offer – you could lose a really good property.

Make sure you are in a good position to buy. If you have a property to sell then sell it. At least have it under offer. If you were deciding between one buyer with a house to sell or another who had already sold which would you choose?

Be very careful of gazumping. Outbidding on a property where a deal has already been agreed may seem clever. But it very often leads to misery. First, the original buyer may top your offer. Second, if the owner is prepared to go back on the original deal to take a better offer he could well do the same again with you.  Gazumping is not illegal but many would agree it is far from moral. Take it from someone who knows - avoid gazumping like the plague.

Don’t be too gleeful at the amount you get for your property – the price you pay for the next one you buy could wipe the smile off your face! In other words what you win on the swings you lose on the roundabouts.

This year we will see many more initial asking price offers. Yet some buyers, still believing that they can wait or make silly low offers, will be left behind.

But all this still doesn’t mean that sellers can slap on any old price for their properties and expect a stampede. Buyers may be keen but they are certainly not desperate and definitely not stupid.

Richard Greetham
Director Bradleys Estate Agents

Computer says 'no'

Down here in the SW Corner of the country we are going quite well, sales are reasonable and the instructions are coming on. Probably we could do  more if we could get everything else technological in our world to work 100% straight away. We are trying to launch a new website but are having data issues. We are integrating a phone system but it's so clever it is taking a time to install, We are upgrading all of our computers but again it all takes a time because we can't deflect those that are vital to everything from the area of key importance. No this isn't a public moan, the Bradleys IT Team are the finest group of people we could ever have hoped to be lucky enough to work with but we are being held back by outside influences. Forces over which we have no control are effecting our business by putting obstacles in our way and by preventing the technology from working. This is a bit like life in general, we all aim for the perfect solution but we often have to accept that perfect is not always possible so everyone does their best to operate with the tools they have and those that keep at it get there in the end. The same applies to choosing an Estate Agent and if you look at our reviews on the Estate Agents review site allAgents.co.uk you will see Bradleys are not quite perfect either (but we a pretty close) with 1236 good reviews and just 12 poor reviews. If you are thinking of selling your property and would like to see for yourself why Bradleys receive awards for their customer service then contact your local office to request a free valuation.

Did I mention a new website? It's very close now and watch this space for further news.

If you found this useful or think someone else would then why not share it or like it?

Francis Marshall FNAEA
Managing Director
Bradleys Group

Horrendous weather affects property market?

Lyme Regis - © Richard Austin

Over a Dinner table at the weekend after a Saturday of curtailed sport due to bad weather, a friend asked "does all this bad weather affect your business?" 

Reflecting on the subject momentarily and knowing that during the same period of this horrendous weather our sales figures have held up I answered yes and no! Let me explain.

Over the last 7 Winters, weather has been sed as an excuse for a poor market as had many other events such as The World Cup, Greek default possibly even, too hot weather. However since last April we can chart a definite change in the market...call it an uplift in confidence, possibly the introduction of Help to buy. In any case, so far the weather, even at its most horrible, has not put off buyers seeking to move as our upbeat viewing figures already suggest for January. It does not stop there. Many more homes have come to the market with Bradleys. Perhaps homes with leaky. Roofs or walls have motivated some vendors to sell up!

It is not just the improving market that has put a stop to weather related inertia, the way buyers start their property search used to begin with tramping the High Street registering with agents....not now. Buyers browse the market and happily set up property alerts in the comfort of a warm home sheltered from the elements whatever they may be doing. A major shift in buying habits Bradleys have embraced through their evening and weekend customer care centre.

Oh and yes, weather can affect market activity. You know what we are all like with a 1cm of snow. Everything comes to a stop!

Happy house hunting. keep warm.

 

Chris Baxter

Bradleys Land & New Homes Director

2014 - Boom or Bust?

So what does 2014 have in store for us?

There has been much hype about the looming property price bubble so let me share the facts with you so everyone can see we are not on the way to boom and bust!

2013 was a good year for Bradleys, we launched our new eye catching boards, our Customer Services Department opened until 10.00 at night and we were awarded the title of the Best Sales Agent in the country for customer service as assessed by the independent Estate Agents review site allAgents.co.uk.

2013 saw us increase sales by 25% over 2012 which indicates that confidence has returned to the market. Prices rose just 3.5% over the region and that was consistent in both asking prices and sales figures. That rise took the average price of a property in the South West just over the 200K mark to £202,500 which is an increase of £7,500 from the average of £195,000 in 2012. These mediocre increases are a very clear indicator that the market is not about to go into overdrive!

Certainly there is increased interest from buyers and certainly there are more proceedable buyers about due to the introduction of ‘Help to Buy’ for the secondhand market. What is crystal clear though is the buyers are very savvy and spend their time on the internet establishing what is a good deal and what is overpriced so by the time they make contact with us they have a firm idea about how much they are prepared to pay and what they expect to buy for their money. My advice to sellers right now is that you have to compete for the buyer’s attention so it is important to have the very best presentation of your property that money can buy and get your asking price right. So is now a good time to buy or a good time to move? The answer is a resounding yes.

Help to Buy has made 95% mortgages available and has returned the first time buyer to the market place. Confidence is up in general for property and prices are going up, but in a controlled manner. We are all looking towards the next election in 2015 and elections usually spell success for the property market with Governments trying to create a feel good factor during the lead in. My advice is if you are contemplating buying or moving up the ladder then do it sooner rather than later as the low mortgage rates won’t last forever and the prices are starting to move.

Currently there is a good choice of property available so take advantage of the very favourable prevailing conditions and you will only do yourself a very good turn.

If you like this blog or think that someone else would find it useful then why not like it or share it?

Francis Marshall is the Managing Director of the Bradleys Group, the largest Independent Estate Agency in the South West and has 33 offices covering from Taunton to Penzance.

 

Francis Marshall FNAEA
Managing Director
Bradleys Group