If you’re selling your home, you’ll no doubt be interested in which homes are most popular among buyers – as this could influence everything from how high your asking price is to how quickly you can sell your home.
Well, recent research by London-based startup Proportunity has revealed that London’s terraced homeowners have seen the highest house price growth over the past decade, with terraced housing also being the best performing housing type across the whole of England and Wales.
Despite recent stagnation, caused in part by political and economic uncertainty, Greater London was home to the highest performing property types in all but one category over the last ten years.
Flats, terraced and semi-detached houses in the capital all outperformed their counterparts in other regions, with growth of 4.93%, 5.07%, and 4.33% respectively. Owners of detached houses in the East of England, however, witnessed marginally higher growth than owners of detached properties in London: 3.07% compared to 3.06%.
As mentioned, the top performing property type across all of England and Wales was terraced houses, with an average growth of 3.05%. By comparison, semi-detached houses saw growth of 2.9% on average, while flats witnessed growth of 2.35%.
The slowest growing property type, by contrast, was detached houses, with yearly growth rates of 2.33% since 2010.
The last decade was marked by the after-effects of the global financial crisis, which hit house prices badly across the country and led to a slow recovery for many parts of the country. Then came the EU referendum in 2016 and the subsequent Brexit uncertainty caused by the result.
However, despite these headwinds and potential complications, prices in London were largely on an upward curve in the 2010s – and, now that we have a majority government and a greater clarity over Brexit, the market has been given a boost by the election result and the much-documented ‘Boris bounce’, which means house price growth should continue to be strong as we enter a new decade.
Terraced homes in the capital, in particular, are clearly in high demand, with buyers likely to be drawn by their period charm and unique characteristics. An advantage they have over new-builds is their relatively limited supply, something which sellers can take advantage of during the negotiating process when it comes to asking price.
Why now is a good time to sell
It’s well-known that January is an excellent time to sell your home as there is an uptick in post-Christmas demand from buyers, eager to put their homebuying plans into action. This is likely to be even more so the case this year as the uncertainty caused by Brexit has eased for the time being, given people greater clarity and confidence to buy and sell homes.
Your home is unlikely to sell on its own, of course, even if you happen to be the owner of a terraced property in the capital. It’s easy to get complacent and expect your home to sell itself, but in reality you will need to market it effectively, advertise it in the right places, and work with the right agent to ensure your home is sold for the best possible asking price in the quickest time possible.
Once you’ve sold your home, and are ready to move into your new abode, it’s important that you bear in mind the additional costs that come with moving home.
How big has the post-election bounce been?
This month has seen the London house price recovery continue, with the largest monthly price rise ever recorded in January, according to the latest figures from Rightmove. This pushed the average London asking price to just over £612,000.
The findings show that asking prices for a home in London increased by £12,320 compared to December 2019, a rise of 2.1%, while the number of sales agreed also grew by 19% compared to a year ago. This came as buyers who had been put off by years of political uncertainty since the EU referendum in June 2016 returned to the property market following the Tories’ landslide general election victory last month.
The portal says it anticipates a buoyant spring market for London homes in the ‘window of stability’ after the election.
“The housing market dislikes uncertainty, and the unsettled political outlook over the last three-and-a-half years since the EU referendum caused some potential home movers to hesitate,” Miles Shipside of Rightmove said.
“There now seems to be a release of this pent-up demand, which suggests we are in store for an active spring market, with more properties being listed by new sellers than we have seen in recent years.”
Shipside warned against overconfidence from sellers, however, saying they shouldn’t overprice their homes in a market where buyer affordability is still stretched. As ever, setting your asking price at the right level is absolutely crucial, and something an experienced local agent can help you to get spot on. They will take note of local market trends and buyer demand to ensure you don’t overvalue or undervalue your property.
To find out more about selling a property in North London, East London, Hertfordshire, Essex and the surrounding areas, from Walthamstow and Hackney to South Chingford and Enfield Town, you can get in touch with your local Kings Group branch today.
You can also request a free and instant online valuation to give you an idea of how much your property could be worth on the current market.
