spring 2010 berkhamsted sales insight · spring 2010 berkhamsted sales insight knight frank chris...
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spring 2010
Berkhamsted SALES INSIGHTKnight Frank
Chris Moorhouse
Office head, Knight Frank Berkhamsted +44 (0)1442 861 610
Chris Moorhouse, head of Knight Frank's Berkhamsted office,
discusses the local property market and what the next 12 months
might have in store.
How has the market performed so far in 2010?
The property market showed a good deal of
renewed strength towards the end of 2009 and a
good number of properties that had been on the
market for some time were sold. Since the
beginning of 2010 there has been relatively short
supply of property particularly at the middle to top
end. This has proved to be a frustrating time for
buyers, many of whom are ready to proceed, and
therefore transactions have remained relatively
low. Many of those properties that have come onto
the market have been somewhat highly priced even
with the renewed confidence that we have seen of
late. Although buyers are very keen, they will not
pay inflated prices when the economic outlook is
still uncertain. Since the beginning of March we
have started to see increasing levels of properties
coming to the market and we foresee this pattern
continuing through early summer, bringing
renewed choice to buyers and more competition
amongst sellers.
What advice do you have for sellers looking to
secure a sale at the moment?
Make sure that you adopt the right pricing strategy
to encourage demand for your property. To ensure
that your property is shown to the widest audience
chose an agent that covers local, regional, national
and international markets as you just do not know
where your next buyer is coming from. Our London
office and many of our Home Counties offices have
had a high number of sales being agreed to
international buyers in recent months who have
found UK property more attractive due to the weak
pound. Also we have seen many expatriates
moving back eager to secure a property near
London and with access to good schooling.
Finally, make sure that your property is
presented as well as it can be in all of your
marketing material, paying particular attention
to web exposure and brochures. A well informed
buyer is much more likely to view and more
importantly travel some distance to view a
property. Knight Frank are true specialists in
presenting your property to the market in the
very best and most effective ways, the results of
this are plain to see with our number of sales
and prices we achieve for our clients.
How do you see the property market performing
over the remainder of 2010?
Obviously this is a question that is difficult to
answer with any degree of certainty although as
I suggested earlier we are seeing a good deal
more property coming to the market as of late.
With this in mind we would expect the supply
and demand balance to shift more in favour of
buyers as there are more properties competing
for their interest, however buyers who see their
ideal property should not hesitate to make an
offer as such a property may not come back to
the market for some years. The general election
in May is bound to cause some ‘sitting on
hands’ which could limit transaction levels
through late spring and early summer but we
foresee no great policy change as regards the
housing or mortgage market and would suggest
that buyers and indeed sellers get on with
business as usual.
Total property for sale
Table 1
Market activityLast 3 months, year-on-year change
Newly available property for sale
New prospective buyers
Viewings
Sales
-29%
-50%
26%
-22%
100%
Berkhamsted at a glance
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"Since the beginning
of 2010 there has been
relatively short
supply of property
particularly at the
middle to top end"
29%7%
46%
18%
Home region London
Rest of UK International
19%3%2%
16%44%
16%
<£500k £500k to £1m £1m to £1.5m
£1.5m to £3m £3m to £5m £5m+
Figure 1
Location of our buyersBerkhamsted, last 12 months
Figure 2
Sales by price bandBerkhamsted, last 12 months
spring 2010
Berkhamsted SALES INSIGHTKnight Frank
80
82
84
86
88
90
92
94
96
98
100
Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb30
40
50
60
70
80
Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb0.0
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5
3.0
3.5
4.0
< £500k £500kto £1m
£1m to£2m
£2m to£3m
£3m to£4m
£4m to£5m
£5m +
Charting the market
Figure 4
Days to sale from instructionPrime country property, last 12 months
Your properties, our people
Figure 3
Price change by price bandPrime country property, last 3 months (%)
Figure 5
Average % of guide price achievedPrime country property, last 12 months (%)
Extraordinary living…
Guide price:
£1,400,000
73 Grove Road, Tring
For Sale
5 bed
Superb family home in an exclusive gated development
Guide price:
£1,225,000
5 Headlands Drive,
Berkhamsted
For Sale
5 bed
Peaceful elegance and London Commute
Guide price:
£2,250,000
Egginton House,
Eggington
SOLD
11 bed
New build family home in semi-rural location
Guide price:
£715,000
Ashridge, Waterside
Manor, Ivinghoe Aston
For Sale
5 bed
Chris Moorhouse
Partner
Julian Clark
Associate
Sarah Warrington
Negotiator
Laura Hayes
Office Manager
Knight Frank Berkhamsted
01442 861 610
136 High Street
Berkhamsted HP4 3AT
www.knightfrank.co.uk
If you have any queries or would like to obtain additional information on the UK or international housing markets please contact: Liam Bailey, Head of Residential Research, +44 (0)20 7861 5133, [email protected]
© Knight Frank LLP 2009 - This report is published for general information only. Although high standards have been used in the preparation of the information, analysis, views and projections presented in this report, no legal
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