September LonRes reports a sales lull and rentals swing
The September LonRes report is out and unsurprisingly, the last month in prime sales saw a lull in fresh instructions and enquiries. However, it wasn’t so much ‘quiet’ as ‘back to normal’ for this time of year.
This was actually very welcome for agents like us, who have been extremely busy processing the flurry of deals that were made in June and July. The quieter market gave us a bit of breather for some much needed admin, but we expect the return of the international market and post summer-holiday domestic enquiries to start to build over the next month.
As for rentals, it’s amazing how a few months can see a market completely swing from one extreme to another; with a tenant led market suddenly becoming a landlord driven one. This means that quick decisions are paramount and there’s no time to waste weighing up pros and cons. Competition for quality, convenient accommodation is fierce, If you like something, take it, pay the holding deposit and act super quick to seal the deal!
Our rental-retained search requests are up as prospective tenants need help finding quality rentals and there has been a noticeable wipe-out of quality stock for certain property types; principally 2 bed apartments under £1000 per week and houses between £1500 and 2500 per week.
LonRes Highlights
Sales
Space is definitely a premium, with the market driven by domestic buyers looking for more space and in more permanent, family friendly areas such as SW London and the leafier areas of W and NW London.
The average size of properties sold in July and August this year was 20% higher than the 2016 to 2019 average.
Those looking to remain in London were buying longer-term family homes and were prepared to pay a premium for the right property in the right location.
New instructions appear to have settled down too with new listings down 37% on an unusually busy August 2020. They have returned to normal August levels.
However the number of homes listed in August was 11% higher than the 2015 to 2019 average, following a 6% rise in July.
Lettings
Conversely to sales, the increase in prime London lettings has been with tenants choosing location over property size.
In July and August, with the return to offices, there was a marked rise in the number of pied-à-terre lets in central locations. This will most likely continue as more businesses demand workers return, at least for part of the week.
New instructions were down 30% in August compared to 2020 but this has been instrumental in reversing the level of excess stock on the market, with properties available to let in August down 57% on August last year.
Rents are rising consistently month-on-month.
We hope you're ready for back to school, back to uni, back to the office. We're certainly ready for a busy Autumn...
For all sales and rentals enquiries, please don't hesitate to call us on 020 3838 8366 or email info@roseandpartners.co.uk