Buoyant year for Chiswick property

The latest Land Registry figures reveal a slow start to the year with only 46 sales so far reported. As reported on local news website ChiswickW4.com Local estate agents agree that the second lockdown at the end of 2020 and confusion over the extension of the Stamp Duty holiday discouraged both buyers and sellers.

It is understood that COVID-related working restrictions resulted in delays in processing deed documents, so the final number of transactions is likely to be revised upwards, though it will be low by historic standards.

The loosening of restrictions and the extension of the Stamp Duty bonus has brought about levels of activity that agents describe as being similar to the boom days seen at the peak of the market.

Christian Harper at Harpers of Chiswick: “I am delighted to report that activity in Q2 has been electric so far, with activity at an all-time high from my perspective. I haven’t seen so much demand in my thirty years of business. I expect to see at-least a 300% improvement in actual sales compared to Q1, especially considering the end of the stamp duty holiday on 30th June will fall into Q2.

“My general observation for 2021 is how some well-known local estate agents appear to be concentrating on revenue rather than the job that we are all paid to do, get the best price for our clients. Despite being in a bull market I constantly come across agents valuing low whilst selling the idea of generating more interest and getting over asking price.

"This behaviour results in buyers thinking they have a chance before disappointing most of them. Whilst this works for some it certainly doesn't work for all. It often leads to re-negotiations during the sales process or selling at under market value.

"I prefer to ask the ‘best outcome’ price and look to achieve it rather than play games with frustrated buyers.”

According to the Land Registry, the average price of a property in the W4 postcode area sold so far this year is £951,237 which is down by 11.2% from the end of 2020 and 6.5% over the last year. With so few sales recorded it is difficult to say with certainty that this represents a true picture of the state of the market although there does appear to have been some softening of prices in the first three months of 2021.

Read the full article here along with comment from Paul Cooney at Horton and Garton.