Update on the residential sector

At Fenn Wright, the last quarter has been incredibly busy with a surge of activity in our region as demand soared.   With stunning walks in the many Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, miles of beautiful coastline to explore and excellent transport links, Essex and Suffolk have proved popular with buyers.

Demand for larger homes is high with the strongest sector for sales agreed being ‘top of the ladder’ properties (4 bed detached+), up 104% compared to the same period last year. The ‘second-stepper’ sector (3-4 bedroom excluding 4 bed detached), is up 55% and the first-time buyer sector of 1-2 bedrooms saw sales agreed up 36%.

With the Stamp Duty deadline ending on 31st March 2021, there is a lot of pressure on the survey, legal and lending sectors to get these sales across the line.  Rightmove estimate there are approximately 40% more sales currently going through the buying and selling process compared to this time last year.  We are finding that the current time taken to get from sale agreed to exchange is around 12 – 14 weeks, compared to 6 – 8 pre-lockdown.

Overall, prices have remained stable since they hit a record high in July, up 0.2% in September and up around 5% annually.

In summary, whilst it is very hard to predict what will be happening in the residential sector next year, we envisage a more traditional seasonal market with continued strong demand and stable prices in our region.

Get in touch with your local branch

View all properties for sale

Request a valuation