Southend property market up date for July

Sales
The land registry figures released yesterday show that house prices around the UK barely moved. The percentage changed for June was just 0.1%, making the national average house price £166,072. The annual rate of change across the country is now 8.4%.
Southend has faired rather better with house prices rising slightly more in June by 0.6% making the annual increase 14.1% the average house price in Southend is now £157,438. We can break the market down further and see the average figures for each sector.

Detached £329,714 semi £206,509 Terrace £154,467 Flats £109,746.

If we compare the figures to the top of the market in June 2008 the average of all property was £170,339 and the different sectors were

Detached £356,733 Semi £223,431 Terrace £167,125 Flats £118,739

To the lowest point in June 2009 where the average of all was £137,966 and

Detached £288,934 Semi £180,967 Terrace £135,362 Flats £96,172

You can see clearly the U shape recovery in Southend house prices and how much we are off the top of the market we still are in all sectors.
It is also useful to look at the average property price for 2010 which shows the acceleration in prices between March and May.

January £151,254 February £151, 572 March £153,752 April £154,403 May £156,525 June £157,438

So what is likely to happen to prices over the next few months? At Tudor we have seen the market slow in activity during July the same as in June, with fewer buyers viewing properties. Those that have been out looking are making decisions quicker but are making offers substantially below the asking prices. I would not be surprised that when the next sets of figures are released from the land registry they show a fall in prices across the Southend area. Couple this with the possible rise in repossessions during the remainder of the year, my advice to anyone selling is to seriously consider any offer from a well placed buyer, even if it is below the figure you were hoping for. The reason being is that once you have an interested party in your property you are in a much stronger position to go and negotiate on your next purchase. It is important to remember it is the difference in the two prices that matters not what price you obtain for your sale.
With this approach and coupled with an offer in excess strategy to the market Tudor’s sellers have been able to sell, move and at a lower cost.

The Office for National Statistics have just up dated their figures which now show to June 2009, Southend has a population of 164,200, the East of England has 5,766,600residents and the total UK population is 51,809,700.


Rental
Recent findings have shown that there has been an increase in the number of tenants looking for properties to rent.
According to a report released in July, 16 per cent more tenants signed up to rent accommodation during the second quarter of 2010.
Research also found that June saw the greatest rise in the number of tenants looking to rent properties, with more than 18,000 people registering an interest in rental accommodation in one month alone.
It appears demand will keep on increasing and supply is lagging behind it, so the pressure on rents will go up over time.
This is good news for landlords as an increase in demand for properties is likely to benefit their rental incomes which will help off set any future rises in interest rates.
FindaProperty's research supports this after it revealed that rents increased by 2.3 per cent in June, taking the average rental price to £839 across the UK.

Mortgages
People who bought houses for sale in May paid the lowest average proportion of income on their mortgage repayments in 35 years, it has been found.
According to research from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML), the proportion of income spent on mortgage repayments in May was 9.5 per cent, while in April it was 9.6 per cent.
Though this drop is small, in comparison with May 2009's figure of 11.4 per cent, it has fallen considerably over the last year.
The Bank of England's Credit Conditions Survey, which suggested that mortgage lenders are restricting how much money they let people take out, will not affect the demand among people who want loans.


Alan Kirkman FNAEA
Director
Tudor Estates
29th July 2010