What a start to the year! Across the country estate agents have experienced a flying start to 2025, with March in particular having seen incredible levels of sales completions.
And why is this? March saw an end to a stamp duty relief that meant buyers would save a lot of money if their purchase completed before the close of the month. This inevitably caused a flurry of activity with people desperate to get their purchases across the line in time to benefit from the savings. The result? A lot of very busy and very tired estate agents and solicitors and, more importantly, a lot of very happy buyers and sellers!
However, I will not get carried away just yet. Whilst March might have been a very good month for the bank balance, it is a bit of a false economy. Many, many sales that would normally have completed beyond the end of March were rushed through more quickly than normal and this should inevitably mean a lower than normal level of completions will probably occur in April. Although, as I write this in mid-April, the list of predicted completions is actually quite high! We will see!
Having seen over 40 completions occur across our branches in just 5 days at the end of March, you would think that should be my highlight of the year so far, but it is not! I was recently reading some sales details of a property being sold by another local estate agent.
The house in question is a lovely estate just outside Pattingham which is being offered at a guide price of just over £3,000,000. Part of the text stated that three properties have recently been sold in the area – two plots for development at just under £2,000,000 each and a modern house that was sold for just over £5,000,000, presumably to underline the value of the area.
Berriman Eaton were involved in all three of these sales and I have never had a rival agent reference our success quite so publicly! I have, however, seen that the references to our sales have since been removed from the particulars, but I loved it when they were there…
How do I think the year will continue in the property world? As always, it is very hard to say, but there seems to be confidence out there. I have read a couple of reports that the high end country market is slowing down, but this is a market that always ebbs and flows, so there is nothing particularly unusual there.
I have been asked a couple of times if Mr Trump and his tariff war is going to harm the housing market and, strangely, I have had to answer that it may well help! There is a high chance that UK interest rates may be cut to counter any negative effect on the economy of a global, US led tariff war. This would clearly lead to lower borrowing costs and this always boosts the market. Again, we will see!
So, whist it has been a superb start to the year, it is too early to make any firm conclusions for the remainder of 2025. I will be able to form a more balanced prediction in my next article and, as always, you know where we are if you need any help or advice!
