Welcome to Tedworth Property
As we head into the traditional holiday period and finally summer is upon us in a proper and meaningful way, a well-deserved break with family and friends provides an opportune moment to pause, take a breath and review our achievements of the first half of 2024 whilst also providing the moment to think ahead to the autumn market and reset our focus for the months ahead.
With over half the world’s population going to the polls this year, the subject of politics and what might (or might not) happen has never been far from the conversation. Thankfully, we were spared a long and drawn-out election campaign and with Labour and Sir Keir Starmer’s victory, it’s fair to say no one was surprised and this should lead to a period of sustained political stability which, in a property market that is driven by sentiment, can only be good for prime central London.
Buyers and sellers have to an extent struggled to navigate politics, inflation and interest rates, as well other dramatic global events over the past couple of years. Discretionary motivation has caused reduced sales volumes to be widely reported, but this should not disguise the significant numbers of potential buyers in the market who hold a strong ambition to buy, and who are particularly looking for a lifestyle motivated investment.
Prices overall have held up well, and if quoted accurately from the outset, we are finding the margin of negotiation to be relatively small. Modernised and well-presented properties remain most in demand, as inflation and labour shortages affected construction costs, to the extent that many buyers simply have little appetite to undertake refurbishment works, unless those properties are particularly keenly priced.
Property market forecasts for 2024 had generally been considered to range between -2.2% to 0% growth on average in Prime Central London, with predictions for only marginal growth of 2% to 3% coming about later in 2025.
The year so far for us has been positive with sales being agreed at all levels. Most pleasing is that the successfully negotiated offers we have achieved have reflected on average, a less than 5% margin of negotiation from guide price, versus a market wide average of about 9%. We take this as a valuable indication that our efforts to provide accurate and reliable advice to our clients is proving fundamental to the success we are achieving
Looking ahead, with the election having occurred earlier than anticipated, and lenders now starting to reduce mortgage rates, there is a chance that we will see marginally better growth than anticipated in coming months, but this will be dependent on a significant surge in confidence.
As announced in the King’s Speech earlier this month, planning reform is taking centre stage on the housing agenda, although more relevant for prime central London is the status of Non-Doms being phased out from April 2025, alongside talk of potential changes in SDLT rates and changes to the taxation of inheritance and wealth. Our consistent advice is that those who are motivated to sell will be best advised to take a realistic and pragmatic approach to pricing.
Only time will tell how the market unfolds in the coming months, but what we can be certain of is that the team are here to offer and provide sensible advice at all times and would welcome the opportunity to assist with any property related matters.
