Reasons why this could be a great time to sell
Sian Hiatt, Sales Manager, provides a few reasons as to why right now could be a fantastic time to sell your property...
Knowing whether it’s a good time to sell or not isn’t always an easy thing to figure out but there are often certain trends that a seller can look out for. There are questions that you should ask yourself before reaching a decision - things such as how high is buyer demand in my area at the moment? Have local house prices been trending up or down during the past several months? How has the property market been in general? What could all of this mean for me and the potential sale of my property in the coming months?
Of course, if you’re struggling to find an answer to these questions then you can always contact your local estate agent to gather their expert opinion - which is something you should also look to do regardless!
As for the here and now in May 2021, what we can say is that we suspect many estate agents in Cardiff and across the rest of the UK have likely experienced record visitors to their websites and a record number of enquiries received over the past 6 months or so. The housing market is the strongest it’s been for a very long time - certainly the strongest it’s been in the last decade.
In our opinion, that makes this a great time to sell but read on to find out why that’s the case.
Increasing house prices
The first thing that a seller should know is that buyer demand has sky rocketed during the past year. Property experts claim that the level of buyer demand is actually outstripping the number of available homes on the market by quite a margin - in fact, the biggest margin that we’ve seen during the past decade.
This pent up demand has led to property prices surging with the average UK asking price currently standing at over £321,000, which is a 2.7% increase in the past year.
Although the number of properties available on the market across the country is currently far fewer than usual, the number of agreed sales have actually been 12% higher year-on-year. It’s estimated that around two-thirds of properties that are currently on sale are already sold subject to contract - which means there is a fantastic opportunity for those who are thinking about selling in this current market.
The impact from the stamp duty holiday extension
A positive for home buyers, which also positively impacts home sellers, is the stamp duty holiday extension which has removed the fee for all property sales (up to price of £250,000) that complete before the end of June 2021. This provides buyers with an opportunity to save thousands when purchasing a property, but it does mean they have a deadline to get their purchase over the line before stamp duty is reintroduced. This deadline is naturally increasing immediate buyer demand and is creating fantastic opportunities for sellers to also benefit.
When stamp duty is reintroduced for property purchases that take place after July 31st 2021, the threshold will revert back to £180,000.
Help to Buy scheme in Wales
Buyer demand in Wales has also been boosted by the new government Help to Buy scheme which provides a shared equity loan to home buyers of new-build properties. The scheme allows buyers to purchase a property in Wales up to the value of £250,000 with just a minimum 5% deposit.
Anybody who has been considering selling their home can put themselves in a very strong position. The momentum that has gathered from the stamp duty holiday extension, buyer demand outstripping supply, and this new Help to Buy scheme means there are plenty of great reasons to sell right now.
To take advantage of the current housing market and discuss the sale of your property in more detail, don’t hesitate to get in touch with our knowledgable sales team here at CPS Homes. You can contact us by calling 02920 668585, e-mailing enquiries@cpshomes.co.uk or by popping into one of our three Cardiff branches.
