Bexhill Property Market Update Summer 2019
In this week’s article on the Bexhill property market we look back at the last 12 months to see how many properties have sold compared to the long-term average, what’s happened to Bexhill property prices by property type and then we look forward to the short, medium and long term – what affects the new PM and his policies will have on the property market, both locally and Nationally.
The foundations of the Bexhill Property Market over the summer have continued to be principally sound; yet the existing political macroclimate means that the critical element of consumer confidence has been reduced and that is triggering some potential Bexhill property buyers and Bexhill house sellers to falter slightly and hang fire making any firm decisions on property.
With record low interest rates at 0.75%, low unemployment rates of 3.8%, and decent mortgage availability (even those with low deposits – there were 224 mortgage deals available on the day of writing this article where only a 5% deposit was required and 5 main stream lenders that would offer 100% no deposit mortgages), Bexhill buyers have a lot going in their favour, aside from the perceived political uncertainty.
Interestingly, Rightmove have stated there are more properties for sale today in the Country, than at any time since 2016, and Bexhill follows that trend. Even with that in mind, property values have remained reasonably stable as The Land Registry has just released its House Price Index for Bexhill and the surrounding locality and it makes very interesting reading.
Overall, property values in the Bexhill area are 2.1% higher than a year ago as the average property value in Bexhill now stands at £292,700.
When I looked at the types of Bexhill properties, a slightly different picture appeared ..
• Bexhill Detached homes rose by 2.7% • Bexhill Semi-detached homes rose by 2.3% • Bexhill Terraced/Townhouse rose by 2.3% • Bexhill Flats/Apartments dropped by 0.2%
and splitting down the types of Bexhill into property types ..
• Bexhill Detached £406,900 • Bexhill Semi-Detached £271,900 • Bexhill Terraced/Townhouse £231,600 • Bexhill Flats/Apartments £182,100
Yet, Bexhill Property Market Blog readers will know I always like to measure the health of the Bexhill property market not only by house prices but transaction levels as well ..
800 properties were sold in the last year in Bexhill,lower than the 10-year average of 961 properties per annum
Considering the uncertainty, the Country has been through in the last three years with the ‘B’ word issue, I don’t think that’s too bad and shows the underlying resilience of the Bexhill property market.
Now looking forward towards the end of the year… how will Bexhill house values change under the new Prime Minister?
Bexhill buy-to-let landlords and Bexhill first-time buyers seem to be sustaining their preceding activity levels, which is heartening news. It’s quite conceivable that both cohorts are presently profiting from the marginally increased numbers of Bexhill homes on the market, which not only offers them greater choice, but aids with their negotiations. The suggested Stamp Duty changes made me look at previous Stamp Duty changes in the last decade and their effects have been rather short term.
That means those selling their homes in Bexhill need to be realistic with their pricing, and, as most sellers also buy a property, what you might lose on your sale you will make up on the purchase.
BoJo, Brexit … to be honest are all short-term distractions from the long-term issues of the UK and Bexhill property market. Until we start building at least 300,000 properties a year to meet the demand for UK property, demand will always outstrip supply, meaning irrespective of short-term fluctuations that may (or may not) be caused by domestic and world events (including the ‘B’ word’), prices will always in the medium to long term remain stable and increase. Thank you for reading my latest blog.
For more articles click on www.bexhillpropertyblog.com or go onto the Redwell Estates website. Patrick Stappleton, Author of the Bexhill Property Blog. Com
The information was gathered from the following places: Property Values Growth is for your Local Authority from the land Registry. Property Value Types from Zoopla and House sale numbers from Land Registry
