Well, it doesn’t seem like two minutes ago that it was Christmas – and now it’s all over! One cold December afternoon, after arranging the office’s Christmas cards I thought I would nip out to Waitrose to get some lunch. I met an old client of mine in there and we got talking about the Locks Heath property market. I had just completed my research for my next blog article and I would like to share with you the parts of the conversation relating to the Locks Heath property market.
He asked me what my thoughts were about the last half of the year in regard to the Locks Heath property market and if there were any great buy to let deals around. In reply I said that, in my view, shrugging off the uncertainty of the initial post Brexit vote, I have seen an increase in supply and a rise in the number of properties selling at the lower to middle end of the market, meaning both first time buyers and buy to let Landlords have been returning in the last few months – proof the market is beginning to bounce back.
So let’s look at the numbers…
In November 2016, according to the three main property portals (Rightmove, Zoopla and OnTheMarket) there were a total of 335 properties for sale in Locks Heath. In November 2015, there were only 293 properties for sale, a rise of 14%.
When I split it down into bedrooms (note things like building plots and part commercial/part residential etc won’t be in these figures so the numbers below wont exactly match up to those in the above paragraph).
| # Properties on the market in Nov 2015 | # Properties on the market in Nov 2016 | Percentage Change | |
| 5+ Bedrooms | 43 | 39 | -9% |
| 4 Bedrooms | 84 | 88 | +5% |
| 3 Bedrooms | 53 | 87 | +64% |
| 2 Bedrooms | 77 | 101 | +31% |
| 1 Bedroom | 33 | 19 | -42% |
… and when I looked at type of properties it got even more interesting…
| Type of Property | # Properties on the market in Nov 2015 | # Properties on the market in Nov 2016 | Percentage Change |
| Detached | 139 | 149 | +7% |
| Semi | 37 | 48 | +30% |
| Terraced | 7 | 27 | +286% |
| Flat | 79 | 76 | -4% |
As the number of Locks Heath properties put up for sale has risen by 14%, homeowners have become more realistic about how much their homes are worth. This increase in homeowners wanting to sell suggests there is renewed confidence in the Locks Heath property market and there are also signs that people are being more realistic about pricing their property.
As you can see, there has been a significant uplift in terraced properties, which means they are a great choice for first time buyers and Landlords. So with a combination of realistic pricing and more properties on the market – both first time buyers and Landlords alike might be able to pick up a few bargains!
thelocksheathpropertyblog.co.uk 