With demand for Newbury homes at an all-time high, around 36% more Newbury properties have sold in the last 18 months than the long-term 20-year average.
Looking back over the previous years, after uncertainty following drawn out Brexit negotiations, homeowners and buyers were more confident about their move in 2019.
The first lockdown in the spring of 2020 did nothing to quell this pent-up urge, and since the late spring of 2020, the Newbury property market has been on fire! The lockdown changed what homeowners were looking for in their new home. Proximity to public transport dropped down the wish list for buyers, whilst properties with larger gardens and rooms that could double up as home offices tended to be at the top of most buyers’ wish lists.
Looking at the supply side of the equation, in the last five years, an average of 204,410 new homes per year have been added to the number of properties available in the UK. 239,600 properties came back into the market when they became available after their owners had sadly passed away. Yet still, that isn’t enough. The country needs at least 300,000 new dwellings to keep pace with current demand.
So, how long does it take to sell a Newbury property now?
Terraced / Town House – 27 days
Semi-Detached – 17 days
Detached – 80 days
This means it is very much a seller’s market in Newbury, empowering vendors to push up their asking prices in high demand areas. However, most sellers are also buyers, which means the advantage they have on selling their property is turned on its head when they come to buy.
Some sellers prefer to find their future home before putting their current home on the market, making the lack of properties on the market more exaggerated than it may otherwise be.
Classic chicken and egg – so what do you do first?
Finding a suitable new home is very much have a chicken and egg scenario. Some homeowners are waiting for the right property to come onto the market before they list their current home for sale. This will probably mean that when the suitable new property becomes available it will sell even before the photographs have been taken of your own home.
Proactive vs Reactive
There is another way of doing this. It’s a technique estate agents used before the internet and it’s called ‘chain building’. With our Pending Sales service, we slowly build a group of people in a chain who are aware of your timescales and desire to find the right home prior to marketing. There is no cost to this and no legal commitment to go through with the sale.
By taking a proactive approach versus a reactive, panic listing situation, only relying on waiting for properties to appear on Rightmove or Zoopla, you stand a much better chance of finding your perfect home. A great first step on your journey to a new home is to get on our mailing list and talk to us about your requirements.
