Market Update: Bushey 2023

The last few years have repeatedly been referred to as ‘un-precedented’ for different reasons and different times and the last three months of 2023 have been no different.

The property market is typically a robust arena as there will always be people who need to move.

The political decisions taken last September sent financial shockwaves through every business and citizen of the UK and from this impacted everyone including buyers and sellers in differing ways depending on where they were in their journey.

People who were already in the process of buying and selling with agreed mortgage products at what then became apparent were attractive rates were really keen to conclude their transactions. Indeed the end of 2023 has been one of our busiest ever for exchanges an completion.

Now for newer entrants into the market there was an initial pause as the markets took time to settle down. We then had buyers who had realised that, although mortgage rates might have gone up, if the rates were likely to be even higher in twelve months time then targeting a purchase now is still a prudent approach to take.

To ensure our sellers have the best ‘kick off’ to 2023 we have worked with new sellers on a range of properties which are currently exclusively available to people registered with us as an agency and then these properties will go live on Boxing Day.

There will likely be a decent amount of stock coming from a variety of agents on Boxing Day which leads us into what the start of 2023 will look like.

Buyers (and existing homeowners) are going to have to get used to 5% interest rates being around the normal level going forwards. This might mean some pricing adjustments but we expect that to fall back to 2019/2020 levels so not a huge adjustment just one which moves back by a couple of years.

Buyers should be preparing themselves by ensuring their mortgages are in place and solicitors instructed ahead of viewing properties and sellers should be live to any offers made on their homes even if they are a little under what they had initially hoped for.

If Covid has taught us anything is that we never know what is around the corner.

2023 will likely be a market where buyers and seller’s who need to move will take the steps to make that a reality.

Rising utility bills mean that some owners of larger houses where they simply don’t need the amount of space and ongoing maintenance costs can make their life style much more comfortable by downsizing.

Families who need larger properties and are looking to make a move to a family home for the next 10+ years will still be a big part of the market.

Those who have found rental prices reaching higher and higher levels may look again at how they can get on the property ladder.

Benjamin Stevens have decades of experience in challenging markets and are well equipped with guidance for how sellers and buyers can approach the 2023 market.

Whether you are ready to move or you are just starting to think about moving. We have the perfect valuation type for each step of your journey.

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