Stacks Property Search and Acquisition | Bath, Cotswolds South, Gloucestershire East and Wiltshire North

Spring 2012

Jo Aldridge — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 11:17:00 +0000

The most recent Rightmove House Price Index is indicating that there will be more activity this year and that average asking prices are up 1.6 percent this month. There is increasing confidence in some sectors of the market but activity is still patchy.

Simon Lambert in the Daily Mail recently wrote

“Economists the CEBR have predicted house prices will rise by 15 per cent over the next five years, as a shortage of homes counteracts economic gloom. However, If house price did rise 15% over that period it would be an average of 2.8 per cent annually – a far slower rate than the 1980s to 2000s period. Estate agents still report a stand-off between sellers and buyers, with the former reluctant to cut prices and the latter unwilling to pay over the odds. Home sellers must either have a desirable property to sell in an in-demand area or be willing to lower their expectations, if they want to get a sold sign up outside their house. But the real mark of this housing slump is not the statistics based on mortgage approval figures (Halifax and Nationwide) or even sold prices (Land Registry and others), it is what’s happening to the homes that aren’t selling. With buyers seriously limited, properties that don’t tick all the right boxes are sitting on the shelves unless sellers are willing to cut the price, and with low rates keeping forced sellers to a minimum many are just sitting unsold. “

As ever market towns such as Cirencester, Tetbury and Malmesbury remain popular and although they do not have a railway station, the nearness of the village of Kemble complete with its own station enable these areas to have excellent transport links, a major factor in determining desirability. Cheltenham with great access to the M5 and with a station that links the north, London and the south continues to be a great place to live, as do the villages around Chippenham ,Swindon and Bath with access to fast rail links and the M4.

Signs of more activity are there, sale boards with the magic word “Sold” are popping up around me, the word on the street is Spring is here! Let us hope this optimism will last!

Autumn 2011

Jo Aldridge — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 19:13:40 +0000

“According to Zoopla house prices in market towns have risen dramatically in recent years and look set to continue to do so, presenting excellent opportunities for investors, new figures seem to show.

According to data from Lloyds TSB, average property prices in market towns across England have risen by 103 per cent from £114,718 in 2001 to £233,416 in 2011, which is equivalent to an increase of £989 per month over the past decade.

More than half of the market towns in this survey have seen house prices at least double since 2001, while two out of three market towns now have an average house price that is above their county average.

Overall, house prices in market towns are, on average, £25,592 (or 12 per cent) higher than their county average. People perceive them as nicer places to live. They are quite often close to good shops – you might have to travel less than if you lived in the countryside, so people are willing to pay more for that. Rural house prices seem to have gone up faster than urban house prices and a lot of market towns will be in rural areas, which may be another sector that people might want to look at for investment. ”
Market towns such as Cirencester, Tetbury, Stroud, Malmesbury and Devizes offer attractive locations to concentrate a property search on especially as they have vibrant communities whilst being surrounded with attractive countryside. Bigger centres such as Cheltenham and Bath continue to be popular with their cultural amenities and excellent communications.

Late August 2011

Jo Aldridge — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 11:45:45 +0000

The school holidays have been in full swing, always traditionally a quieter time in the property market but now thoughts of the return to school only a couple of weeks away might start to bring more much needed property onto the market. There seems to be an uneven market with low interest rates versus difficult to find mortgages and slow economic growth. We may not see much improvement in house values and transactions until next year. Housing markets have become far more divided with the London market streaking ahead whilst even the prime spots in the country market seem to have lagged behind. The usual flow of London buyers heading for the countryside has weakened and as a result vendors of country properties this coming autumn would do well to price their properties sensibly in order to achieve a successful sale.

Nonetheless this surely must be a good time to buy a country property providing you get the best possible advice on values and locations.

JUNE 2011

Jo Aldridge — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 10:20:13 +0000

Summer has arrived and with it the details of property begin to reflect the changing season with photos of gardens in full bloom appealing to the eye. Beware the brochures showing those dark skies and the lack of leaf on trees, how long have those properties been on the market? Are they too highly priced? It is worth asking the questions.

Having said that activity in Cheltenham and Bath has been busy with Bath according to Savills achieving high prices . The country house market has been a little slower but with London going great guns the market in rural areas is expected to grow.

Savills has also remarked on a trend in Bath to sell high value properties and buy at a lower price in a less fashionable area in order to lower mortgage repayments.

But as always good country houses at sensible prices are still not going to linger on the market. Pricing is the key.

April 2011

Jo Aldridge — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 18:55:55 +0000

Spring seems to have arrived early in the countryside with balmy weather more usual in the summer months being the order of the day. This undoubtably makes the urban heart beat faster for the countryside style of life.

A recent article in the Telegraph highlighted a trend amongst young couples with families taking advantage of the active London market to sell their city homes and move out to the countryside where they were seeking good schools, a reasonably brisk commute and life in a slower lane whilst exchanging the city flat for something more spacious.

Country houses sensibly priced seem to be selling fast and one recently marketed property priced at £1.5m in need of a complete makeover has received at least ten offers. Buyers need to be in a proceedable situation in order to succeed in that sort of market.

Over priced property however is still languishing and unless adjusted in price may well continue to hang around.

January 2011

Jo Aldridge — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 18:41:51 +0000

At this time of year very often it seems that nothing is happening and we are just waiting for Spring! But under the surface no doubt people are wondering whether to enter the property market …to buy….to sell, or at the very least to ask their local agents for a valuation.

According to Savills latest research prime regional markets such as Bath and affluent rural areas like the Cotswolds have transaction volumes within 25% of their pre credit crunch levels. There seems to be a few more properties now venturing onto the open market and a number of “quietly marketed” testing the water prior to a full launch later in the year. Lucian Cook, head of residential research, Savills: says “ January`s web hits are, on average, 30 per cent higher than other months of the year. “There may be some bonus money but not a glut. We think about £1bn will come out of bonuses into property,” he says. “If you have the equity, then this may be a good year to use it before 2012, when we may see house price growth.’’

So if finance is available and if you can find the right property at the right price in the right location this must be a good time to buy or at least to start looking!

January 2010

Jo Aldridge — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 13:29:41 +0000

According to Savills latest research prime regional markets such as Bath and affluent rural areas like the Cotswolds have transaction volumes within 25% of their pre credit crunch levels. There seems to be a few more properties now venturing onto the open market and a number of “quietly marketed” testing the water prior to a full launch later in the year.
Lucian Cook, head of residential research, Savills: says “ January`s web hits are, on average, 30 per cent higher than other months of the year. “There may be some bonus money but not a glut. We think about £1bn will come out of bonuses into property,” he says. “If you have the equity, then this may be a good year to use it before 2012, when we may see house price growth.’’

So if finance is available and if you can find the right property at the right price in the right location this must be a good time to buy or at least to start looking!

December 2010

Jo Aldridge — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 15:05:31 +0000

December 2010
With Christmas weeks away, and with most of the country deep in snow or frozen to the core activity has slithered to a virtual standstill. Market trends are hard to forecast but one leading agent states that “ mainstream and prime markets are on the cusp of a second slip in values as buyer sentiment weakens. For many sectors of the market the expected falls will be relatively shallow and short lived, though we expect a two speed recovery with the equity rich prime markets outperforming the mainstream over the next five years”
Locally, at least 2 potential developments with farmhouses and barns with planning consent have attracted good interest but on the whole there is less property coming to the market and fewer buyers willing to commit at this time of year.
With property prices in a state of flux, albeit temporarily, buyers need professional advice more than ever.

Summer 2010

Jo Aldridge — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 15:30:10 +0000

Summer 2010
With more houses now coming to the market buyers are able to a certain extent to pick and chose, however great care should be taken with values. At about £2m and under there are still signs of a steady demand for sensibly priced and desirable properties. The higher end of the market seems to be adopting a more tentative approach and any property that smacks of signs of ambitious pricing could well be languishing on the market.
This could well be a good time to buy your new home with a greater selection of property being available than we have seen for some long time but get that price right!

January 2010

aldridge — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 16:14:49 +0000

The end of 2009 and the first days of 2010 have seen this part of the world, like most of the country, a virtual winter wonderland. However picturesque this might be it is not exactly conducive to viewing or from the estate agents point of view an ideal time to market property. More than one viewing has had to be aborted due to the weather and road conditions. But now with the snow having cleared away there are the signs of a tentative start to new or “renewed price wise” properties returning to the market. Certainly not a flood – but the signs are there!

2009 ended on quite a buoyant note, a good improvement on the start of the year. 6% price increase on an average property was not unknown and some of the more prestige properties might have achieved an increase of around 10%.

The RICS estimates that current stocks of property are around 20% less than twelve months ago but getting a mortgage seems a little easier.

With interest rates still low this surely is a good time to buy. The Election to come might distract us for a bit but with city bonuses back in the news it looks likely that property prices might continue to move very gently upwards.