Is there a reluctance to sell property in Leigh?

 

Apathy has hit the Leigh housing market as sellers await the outcome of the general election and stricter mortgage regulation suppresses buyer demand. This is mirrored around the UK as Rightmove reported the number of homes registered for sale per estate agent fell to its lowest level for five years in December, with available stock 10 per cent lower than in the same month a year earlier.

Looking at Leigh, in the summer of 2014, each estate agent in Leigh had on average 45.7 properties on its books (as there were a total of 777 properties up for sale in Burton at the peak in the summer just gone). Our research shows that number has plummeted to 38.5 per agent in December and looking at first three weeks of January, this number will lower by the month’s end.  While the lack of new properties coming onto the market in the later months of 2014 in Leigh  pushed asking prices up slightly from November to December, traditionally a quiet season for the housing market, property sellers will need to work hard in 2015 to complete a sale.

The length of time a property takes to sell has increased over the last few months. Two bedroom properties in Leigh are now taking 94 days to sell, three bedroom 72 days, four bedrooms 97 days, but here an interesting figure, one beds are taking on average 137 days to find a buyer

2015 will be the year of the selective mover. With only 315 brand new properties a year being built in Leigh since the turn of the Millennium (we should be building 610 per year if we took our equal share from around the UK), this woefully low and insufficient number of new buildings in the town over the past few decades and a systemic change in the type of properties homeowners want (with families splitting etc so we have too many larger houses and not enough smaller ones), buyers are becoming dissatisfied with, and therefore dismissive of what is up for sale.

I would confirm the heat has gone out of the Leigh property market and I anticipate a moderate reduction from the high transaction volumes seen in 2014. That might mean Leigh landlords could bag a bargain during this period of uncertainty, especially if the financial markets do not like the election outcome. Markets and buyers do not like uncertainty, but savvy Buy to let landlords know buy to let is a long term game, and irrespective of short term apathy, reduction in the quality and quantity of stock for homeowners to buy  or the election, if people don’t buy property they rent. Southend Council are building anymore properties, the council house waiting list is decades, not years for the better type of property. The only other place to get a roof over your head.. Rent a property! Good old Bricks and Mortar!

Therefore, if you are considering buying a property for investment in the near future, as I don't sell property, I am always happy to give you my considered opinion on which property to buy (or not as the case may be) to give you what you want from your investment.