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Market Report October 2023

The busy property market autumn season is now well underway and anyone who wants to be in their new home by Christmas will be seriously thinking about putting their offers in. On the other side of the coin, it's not too late to sell for a pre-Christmas completion either.

The recent Bank of England decision to keep interest rates on hold following on from 14 consecutive increases means that mortgage affordability is already increasing, with better deals appearing all the time.

So as the market continues to rebound after the usual summer slowdown, here's a look in more detail about what's going on locally and across the UK.

September in numbers

The monthly data from Rightmove is something of an industry benchmark for wider trends, as it covers all sectors of the market across the UK.

Their latest report shows that average new seller asking prices increased in September, even though it was by a small margin of 0.4%.

Enquiries from buyers were at a similar level to what would have been expected pre-pandemic, just 1% down on the same month in 2019. Perhaps due to increased pressure in the rental sector, first-time-buyer enquiries actually went up by 1%.

Although these are UK-wide figure they give a snapshot of the market in general, of course our local conditions are what really matters when it comes to selling and buying property in North Wales.

This is why the only way you can really be sure of getting an accurate picture of what's going on is by talking to a busy, successful local estate agent like us. When it comes to our own figures for September, we were instructed on property worth more than £2 million and sold homes with a combined total of more than £2.5 million.

Sales

Properties that are priced correctly are selling well, with Rightmove revealing that they are agreeing offers five days faster than at this time in 2019. In more good news for everyone involved, fall throughs are currently declining too.

The number of new properties coming to market across the country increased by 12% in the first week of September, with high end 'top of the ladder' properties seeing new listings go up by 24%.

The most welcome news for those looking to buy a new home is that average five-year fixed mortgage rates across all loan-to-value ratios dropped down to 5.67%, from 6.11% at their July peak.

Even better deals are expected in the coming weeks as the interest rate staying steady filters down through the banking system.

Rentals

While rents remain high and demand strong the rental sector is still an attractive proposition for landlords in North Wales.

Even more good news came in late September when the Government scrapped proposals which would have required all rental properties to be rated a minimum of 'C' for energy efficiency. This will save landlords thousands of pounds in outlay.

However, it's another example of how ever-changing legislation can affect costs and profits in the rental sector, as well as having a knock-on effect on increasing rents too.

All good landlords will want to make sure their properties are fit for purpose, so the Local Authority Delivery Scheme offering grants of up to £5,000 and the Boiler Upgrade Scheme being worth up to £6000 for various improvements is something that you should know about.

Our specialist Lettings services include keeping you up to date with all the relevant information you need to have a successful rental portfolio, whether that's a single buy to let or a larger collection of properties.

Covering a wide area across Denbighshire and Conwy through to Flintshire and everywhere in-between means we really know what's going on in the North Wales property market

So if you're considering selling, buying, letting or renting get in touch and we'll help you in every way we can.

Call us on 01745 591811 or email rhuddlan@llestates.co.uk.