Tim Burgess – Branch Manager, Donna Vallis – Office Controller, Geoff Morgan – Director Winkworth Northampton Estate Agents

Geoff Morgan, Director at  Winkworth Northampton Estate Agents:

The relative inertia of 2010 gave way to activity in the property market earlier this year, and that is likely to continue well into the late autumn, when traditionally enquiries start to slow down.  Regular readers will have noted the positively eulogistic observations of some agents out there with comments such as, “Never been so busy”; “Great levels of interest across all sectors”; Demand is outstripping supply”, and so on.

The university town of Northampton is experiencing unprecedented demand for one & two bed properties to rent, and with that (demand) exceeding supply prices are steadily rising.

In some of the more desirable areas a 2-bed house can fetch up to £700pcm – not much by London standards, but in the region of £75pcm more than in 2010.

Conversely, property sales are typified by an overall lack of new instructions, buyers taking their time to reach a decision (as they know the house will still be there in weeks to come), and only those vendors who fully appreciate that the asking price is academic – it is really only the difference between the sale and next purchase that is meaningful – and are willing to be realistic in their expectation, who are getting the interest and viewings.

In this region, properties above £½million are taking an inordinate amount of time to sell, with presentation, location, and spacious accommodation being key to success.

There is a genuine ‘window of opportunity’ over the next few months to sell your home, as interest rates will remain low and sensible mortgage products come to the market, and whoever you chose to work with should now be stepping up a gear to deliver you that proceedable buyer.