As you’re no doubt aware, there’s a lot of doom and gloom surrounding the national property market at the moment. For example, the Nationwide index showed that in June, annual house price growth had slowed to a five-year low. Our area hasn’t been immune; in the first quarter of 2018, there were 25.5 per cent fewer sales than the same period in the previous year.
However now is actually the ideal time to make a move in the Didsbury property market. The first reason is that subdued market activity is simply a result of one cycle ending and another beginning. The factors which underpin our market, like a diverse demand profile and great quality housing stock are as solid as ever. Furthermore, there are no threats to the availability of mortgage finance.
In 2008, when the credit crunch wreaked havoc across the globe, the most direct impact on the UK residential property market was the evaporation of mortgage finance. Lenders drew up the draw-bridge in order to restore their margins, which meant it was hard for a lot of people to get a mortgage, and therefore the market almost ground to a halt.
In the aftermath, the UK government insisted that mortgage lenders tighten up lending criteria in order to avoid another credit crunch – the underlying cause of which was risky lending. The result was a project called Mortgage Market Review which had the effect of insulating the market against price ‘froth’ building up.
The second reason is that house prices will always rise in the long term. In Didsbury house prices are now 189 per cent higher than they were in the year 2000. That means that anyone who bought a home then has made 12,000 per year just by owning it. House price growth has been fairly muted in the last year or so because of where we are in the cycle. The market will inevitably start heating up again soon so now is the perfect time to make the next move.
The final reason is that a quiet market is always awash with opportunities. Buyers and sellers act in a certain way depending on market conditions. The best way to unearth the myriad opportunities out there is to work with an expert who has their finger on the pulse of the local property market. If you’re thinking of making your next move, please don’t hesitate to give us a call.
