Between the blistering heatwave and tropical downpours, together with drama at Westminster, July has been quite a month in more ways than one! But did the sunshine and political headlines have any impact on the local property market? Our Founder, Monica Bradley, shares her observations and views…
“July has, ironically, been one of our busier months to date,” says Monica. “Although many clients we’re arranging purchase mortgages for are away on their holidays, that hasn’t stopped us doing our best to make sure that deals tie up while they are relaxing in the sunshine. In fact, it’s a great compliment to us that our clients feel confident enough to leave their transactions in our hands whilst they’re out of the country!”
Monica continues, “We tend to see buyers and sellers ease off the gas slightly in the summer months, as nice weather can mean people tend to try to enjoy weekends, rather than go house hunting. But our current crop of movers are very motivated, and we’ve seen a lot of offers both made and accepted at a time when we’d expect things to be a little quieter, which is good news. In addition, we have spoken to a lot of clients over the course of the past month who are looking to remortgage, which makes sense as we have a lot of clients who have two-year products which are due for renewal between now and October.”
“What’s great is that even though the market was competitive when they took out their mortgage in 2017, now in the majority of cases we’ll be able to offer them the same or perhaps even a slightly better rate. What many people still don’t realise is that in many cases, it’s possible to apply for and book your new product up to six months in advance so you can move seamlessly from one rate to the next, even if you’re changing lenders.”
In terms of overall demand for properties around the area, home movers and investors have reacted to the news of Boris Johnson’s appointment as Prime Minister positively, and Monica suggests that confidence levels haven’t been affected, saying: “If anything, there is a significant degree of stability that comes with a new Prime Minister taking office, and many people had thought that Boris would win the Conservative leadership battle anyway. Certainly, it doesn’t seem to have had any negative impact on consumer sentiment in the local area. If anything, it seems that people are more confident now than they were previously.”
Monica concludes, “Demand for property would appear to be increasing around the area, and in many cases that is being reflected in asking prices. The market is still solid, and I’d like to think will continue in its current direction of travel for the second half of the year, regardless of what happens at the end of October”