H&H Land & Estates Property Valuer, Grace Oakey, reports a buoyant start to the year encouraging expansion at the HHLE Penrith office.
The year started extremely well with the sale of six properties from our Penrith office during the first week of January alone.
Since then, the market has continued to be just as busy, and we have seen an increased pipeline of properties being offered for sale compared to last year which shows a very positive trend.
We have had a few complications regarding the government’s plans and the changes to Stamp Duty that have now been put into force, but I think buyers will continue to have confidence. This last month we have been very busy, and very grateful to the solicitors for their hard work, helping to achieve as many completions as possible before the end of March.
Spring is well and truly here and so are the lighter nights, so we hope to see more viewings, more offers and more sales going through.
Overall, first-time and cash buyers are buying very well. We are seeing a lot of ex-rentals properties come to the market as landlords respond to the effects of the changes to tenant’s rights legislation.
Anything with a couple of acres offered as a ‘lifestyle property’ and somewhere to house a few sheep, horses or ponies, or simply somewhere for the dogs to run around, is generally selling very well.
We expect the demand from first-time buyers and cash investors to naturally push the market up, which should feed into the market for family and mid to high end market homes and enable chains to proceed.
The spring and summer seasons show the Lake District and surrounding areas off perfectly to many holidaymakers who may be tempted to move to the area, increasing the number of eyes on properties which should increase the number of viewings and offers.
As always, I am optimistic about the market here in the North West. We are an experienced and dedicated team who keep a very close eye on this area, and we take a proactive rather than reactive approach to an ever-changing market.