Asking Prices of Bexhill Property up 2% since December
I had an interesting question the other day from a homeowner in the Old Town who asked me the difference between asking prices and values and why it mattered. When it comes to selling property, there must be an agreement between the purchaser (buyer) and seller (vendor) for a property sale to take place. The value a buyer applies to a property can massively differ from the value a seller or mortgage company places upon it. The seller, the buyer and the mortgage company must find an agreeable value to assign to a property so the sale can proceed.
In many of my articles about the Bexhill property market, I talk about values, i.e. what property in Bexhill actually sells for, but I haven’t spoken about asking prices for while. Now asking prices are important as they are one of the four key matters a potential buyer will judge your property on (the others being location, bedrooms and type). Price yourself too high and you will put off buyers. So let’s take a look at the Bexhill numbers.
Over the last 12 months asking prices (i.e. the price advertised in the paper and on Rightmove) in Bexhill have increased by 12%, taking the average asking price in Bexhill to £290,000 (up from £259,700 twelve months ago).
Interestingly though, when we look at, detached and semi-detached property, a slightly different picture appears. Twelve months ago, the average asking price for a detached house in Bexhill was £396,000 and today it has increased to £452,300 (a rise of 14%); whilst over the same 12-month period, the average asking price of a semi-detached property was £238,800 a year ago, and today it has increased to £268,400 (a rise of 12%).
However, my research shows that the supply of property for sale in Bexhill is beginning to increase. In December 2015, there were 537 on the market in Bexhill, yet today there are 573 properties on the market (up 7%). This will mean homeowners looking to sell will need to be conscious of how their property compares against others on the Bexhill property market. The Bexhill property market still has substantial momentum and sufficient demand remains to provoke more modest asking price rises. This noteworthy increase in supply since Christmas is currently providing more choice for buyers and is tempering asking price rises – and here is the devil in the detail – only 2% of the overall 12% annual figure (mentioned in para 3) has appeared since December.
There is also a second point to make. Asking prices are one thing, but what a property sells for (i.e. value) is a completely different matter. These are the average prices achieved (i.e. what they sold for or the average value) for property in Bexhill over the last 12 months.
Overall Average £239,100
Detached £348,300
Semi-detached £228,800
You can quite clearly see, there is a difference between what people are asking for property and what it is they are actually achieving and selling for. The underlying fundamentals of low interest mortgages and tight supply remain prevalent in the Bexhill property market however; the number one lesson has to be this.
If you want to sell, be realistic with your pricing.
As always, for more information and further blogs, please visit my website, www.bexhillpropertyblog.com
