WHAT'S happening with the market? Is it picking up?
If I had £1 for every time I have been asked these questions in my career in estate agency, I'd certainly have enough for a good family holiday – maybe even a deposit for a house.
Well, after several years of low sales transactions across the whole of the UK market – about half of the pre-recession peak of about 1.5m – analysts are forecasting about 1m house sales this year and at the same time we are seeing varying predictions of price increases of between two per cent and five per cent.
After a sluggish start to the year, here in the Exeter area, we are certainly experiencing an upward trend in both sales volumes and in house prices – with certain properties in the most sought-after addresses achieving prices far in excess of the credit boom.
We certainly sense that Exeter will at least keep in pace with, if it is not ahead of, national trends by the year end.
In the last six weeks, the number of offers we have received have exceeded any similar period since 2007, with weekly sales almost keeping pace with new stock coming to the market, resulting in steady month-on-month increases in local house prices.
Thankfully, the longer days and (slight) increase in temperature, together with an increase in the number of agents' 'sold' boards, are encouraging more would-be sellers to put their properties up for sale.
Normal seasonal buyer activity has increased more than we might have anticipated as – despite great uncertainty in the fragile economy in general – confidence returns to 'bricks and mortar' as a sound long-term investment.
As the second quarter of the year progresses, we can anticipate a greater flow of fresh properties coming to market which should, in turn, have a stabilising effect on prices in the re-sale market.
But we are already seeing steady increases in new homes prices, which look set to continue as Chancellor George Osborne's Help to Buy scheme begins to take effect and housebuilders can't work fast enough to meet demand.
Two very exciting new homes addresses are predicted to set new benchmarks for quality, exclusivity and indeed prices in the city. These are the long-awaited Millbrook retirement village on Topsham Road and City Glade the adjoining private homes development leading down towards the river.
Look out for details of both in future editions of the Express & Echo – or if you can't wait, give us a call.
