As 2015 gets underway, we look to the year ahead and wonder what it has in store for us. At the moment there is a good deal of uncertainty as to how the housing sector will perform this year. The collapse of oil prices, free falling values of some of the World’s major currencies and a weak Eurozone has led to a fragile global economy and coupled with the prospect of a close general election, the outlook is one of caution.
Despite improved trading conditions in 2014 and the recent welcome overhaul of the stamp duty system, many commentators are forecasting UK house prices to remain virtually static in 2015 and for the London market not to be quite as buoyant as it has been in recent years. However prospects for the country sector appear to be more upbeat with the expectation that rural towns and villages, particularly in Southern England, will continue to perform well.
As is ever the case, attractive rural and village cottages and houses for sale or let in the areas covered by Rural View including South Wiltshire, North Dorset, South Somerset and West Hampshire are sure to remain in strong demand particularly those in the most desirable locations.
For some years now the vast majority of home buyers have house hunted almost exclusively on-line. The days of relying just on advertisements in the local press or popping into the estate agent on the High Street have all but gone and in this digital age the mouse is king!
Bearing in mind the number of property transactions throughout the UK during the course of a year (roughly one million in 2013), it is perhaps surprising that there are so few property related portals with just three major websites; Rightmove, Zoopla and Primelocation. Rightmove is certainly the most dominant and is the 8th most viewed website in the UK. I used to refer to them as the Tesco’s of the internet but even Tesco’s at their height never had such a large share of the market.
Up until now the Zoopla Property Group has been the only serious competition for Rightmove and their heavy investment in highly visible marketing campaigns has meant that they remain a key player and attract large numbers of prospective buyers to their two sites; Zoopla and Primelocation.
Rightmove, being all too aware of their importance to estate agents and indeed, an agent not on their site might as well shut up shop, has for many years got away with commanding huge fees from their agent customers. The irritation that this has caused hundreds of estate agency firms up and down the country, large and small, has resulted in the formation of Agents Mutual and the launch on the 26th January of a new estate agents’ owned website called ‘On the Market’.
To ensure their commitment to the cause, to be able to advertise their clients’ homes on ‘On the Market’, Agents Mutual members are obliged to use only one other portal which means they have to drop either Rightmove or Zoopla/Primelocation. This is something that we at Rural View are uncomfortable with as we feel that this is restrictive and contradicts our duty to promote our vendor clients’ properties to as wide an audience as possible.
We certainly welcome the challenge to Rightmove but it is unlikely that many firms will have the nerve to ditch them and instead ZPG, whose two sites are popular and fees reasonable, will be the innocent if unintended victim leaving Rightmove as strong as they were before thereby defeating the raison d’etre of ‘On the Market’. We will be keeping a close eye on the new portal and will, as ever, act accordingly in the best interests of our clients.
As has been widely reported, the headline news in yesterday’s autumn statement from the Chancellor of the Exchequer was the much needed overhaul of the way Stamp Duty is calculated. The new system is much fairer and the vast majority (reputedly 98%) of buyers will now pay significantly less tax on residential property purchases that complete from today, 4th December and onwards.
Previously a buyer paid duty on the whole purchase price of the property, the rate being determined by which price band the house fell into. This was something that impacted on the saleability of homes whose true value fell just into the threshold of a higher band, for example the duty payable for a house that sold for £500,000 was £15,000 and for one that sold for £500,001, it was £20,000, the additional £1 costing a buyer an extra £5,000 in tax.
Under the new rules, the amount of duty is based on incremental bands. New rates have been set but a buyer only pays tax on the portion of the sale price that falls within each band. It has also resulted in the first £125,000 of any house purchase being free of any liability. The new bands and rates are set out below:
Purchase Price of Property New Rates
£0 – 125,000 0%
£125,001 – 250,000 2%
£250,001 – 925,000 5%
£925,001 – 1,500,000 10%
£1,500,001 and over 12%
Note that tax is paid on the part of the property price within each tax band
Notes from HM Treasury explaining the reforms in more detail can found on the link: Stamp duty – factsheet . There is also a link to an on-line calculator: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/tools/sdlt/land-and-property.htm
We completed on the sale of a client’s property this morning. Originally the completion date had been set for yesterday but by happy chance the seller and purchaser agreed a few days ago to change it to today, a lucky break for the buyer as she ended up saving £3,000!
There has been considerable speculation in the media since yesterday’s announcement as to what effect these changes will have on the housing sector with predictions that they may lead to fresh stimulation of market activity and a rise in property prices. It remains to be seen what will happen in reality and whilst lowering the cost of house buying is clearly good news for the industry, those of a more cautious disposition may argue that the positive impact will be negated by concerns about next year’s general election, the wider economy and possible interest rate rises.
If you have any views on these changes or would like further information, please get in touch, it would good to hear from you!
This has been a year when normality has been all but forgotten. Traditionally one would have expected a slow impetus in the earlier months building towards a bustling late Spring and Summer market, falling back for the holiday period and then pushing ahead again in the Autumn.
The housing market in 2012
2012, however, has been turned on it’s head for most of the year. January saw a great deal of activity as those looking to buy in the latter months of the previous year had enough of waiting and took the plunge. We then saw moderate activity over the next few months as motivated sellers went through the process of bringing their properties to the market. All was looking good…until we all downed tools for the pomp and ceremony of the Jubilee, followed apace by weeks on end of dazzling Olympics and Paralympics. There was actually a significant chunk of this period when the phone hardly rocked in its cradle. September then took a good while to get in gear and activity eventually returned in October.
Despite this, the market has remained fairly stable for the most part, if pretty flat. Much of the activity has depended on realistic pricing and location. As always, the houses in the best situations have faired better than those, for instance, on main roads. There has been a steady stream of price adjustments, especially since the end of August and possibly too late in the day due to the distortion caused by our Summer of Sport. These falls in value reflect the recognition that one cannot be too bullish in such a fragile and subdued climate.
Mortgage lending has freed up to a certain extent but interestingly is down on 2011 levels, possibly more a mark of personal confidence and ability. The better news, however, is that we are (for the moment at least) out of recession and although it is far too early to mention those green shoots, there is some positive talk around.
As an illustration of 2012 it is worth mentioning a couple of sales that we were involved in this year. Both very different, but displaying the key ingredients of Price, Location and Marketing.
A: Property X (attractive house in a road affected position), taken over from another agent after four months of little activity, marketing improved and price adjusted we were able to generate scores of viewings over a number of weeks and agree a sale.
B: Property Y (period house in a prime location), priced correctly, marketed well from scratch and a sale agreed within three weeks.
What we expect from the housing market in 2013
And what of 2013? Without the excuses of national celebration it will hopefully pan out a bit more sensibly than this year. A feel better factor of avoiding a triple-dip recession would be great and would surely provide some buoyancy. The market needs the lift that growing confidence can provide. In the meantime, though, people still have to move house and simply need the right recipe to achieve success.
Rural Property with Golf Course
We are currently marketing a substantial property with a golf course in its grounds on the Dorset/Somerset border. Not just any old pitch and put though, this is a challenging eleven hole course with a proper water hazard in the form of a large lake, undulations and 200 yard holes. On the face of it this should be a shoo in for a golf-mad buyer who would pay a premium for the ready enjoyment of his or her passion….oh, and with a great house chucked in to boot.
Marketing property though is not quite that straightforward and for every golfer there are other home owners who would rather graze horses or keep alpacas on the land and this would certainly be a realistic option in this case. So as well as emphasising the golfing aspect to prospective purchasers, we also have to widen the market and suggest alternatives for the use of the 7.6 acres on offer. This is naturally quite vexing for the owner who having spent many years and a great deal of money on his creation but he accepts our advice that not everyone will share his dream and is moving on.
Rural Property with Cricket Pitch
A property near Tisbury in the Nadder Valley with a cricket pitch was sold not so long ago and the same rule applies. Despite careful groundsmanship of the perfectly kept wicket, there is limited added value to having a county standard pitch on your property when a buyer might prefer to put up rugby posts for his budding Jonny Wilkinsons.
Sport and leisure activities are an important aspect of our lives from the personal interest point of view and for our well-being but only a limited few sporting installations are likely to add value to our properties. A case in point being outdoor swimming pools. For some buyers a pool might be high on their wish list but for many the expense of heating and maintaining one, the lack of opportunity to actually make use of it with our fickle climate and safety concerns where there are small children around, can be a detrimental factor. Indoor swimming pools in contrast are much more likely to create positive interest.
Properties with Gym
For some, a gym for some is regarded as not much better than a torture chamber but a well maintained tennis court will often prove popular with families. We are frequently asked whether a property’s garden is large enough for a court.
Equestrian Properties
The most sought after leisure facility is an equestrian one. Suitable acreage, stabling and preferably a ménage are highly desirable amenities. This market is huge and the house itself can often be of secondary importance to the buyer compared to the quality and extent of the facilities to keep and manage horses.
Riverfront Properties for fishing
River frontage or close proximity to a well stocked body of water is a very attractive proposition to a keen fisherman. In a different league all together however is a sporting shoot where hundreds of acres of open countryside and accompanying woodland are needed together with the skills of a good gamekeeper. For those with the means, the addition of this lifestyle to a seriously good house is an essential part of a package, for the rest of us though, a paddling pool and a tree house will suffice!
