Chiswick estate agents share their predictions for the market in 2016 with local online news website
ChiswickW4.com. Increased tensions in the Middle East, tumbling Chinese share prices, stock shortages and stamp duty changes are said to be fuelling volatility in the Chiswick property market.
Some agents said that while it was difficult to predict the market for 2016, it was unlikely that things would remain static. Others believed that the market would hold 'steady' but would not prove to be a bumper year for price rises.
Christian Harper of Chiswick estate agent HarperFinn: "This could be a rollercoaster year. Chiswick property prices will either increase by at least 10% - 15% to fill the void of transactions that didn’t happen in 2015 due to stamp duty changes, amendments to lending criteria and world economics, or the prices will take a 10% dip as China’s stock prices and worldwide market pause for breath."
Balance of optimism and realism
Last year local property prices appeared to have marked time. In the year to September 2015 prices were up by 1% overall with smaller sized units doing better during the year. The overall average in W4 hovered close to the one million during the course of the year.
The shortage of property coming to the market continues to put upward pressure on prices in the short term. Christian Harper: "Already this year I am meeting clients seeking 10% increases to asking prices stating that 'new year means new pricing'. I am inclined to feel that the market will rise and thus my New Year's message is to be optimistic with pricing, whilst appreciating that clients may need to be proactive with price reductions after the property has been on the market for 4 weeks.
Read the
full article here, including a table of Chiswick property prices from July-September 2015.
