It's Spoooookkkkkkkkyyyy!

Migh the weather has changed. Despite that, we continue to be busy on exterior and interior projects. Read on to learn about what we've been up to as well as learning about what's new in the housing market.

Housing News

Housing prices experienced an increase, with the average asking at £368,231, up 0.5%. The number of sales agreed however are 17% lower when compared to October 2022.

Sellers who don't adjust their price expectations to match current activity levels are finding that their homes are being left on the shelf! Starting too high and reducing later damages the chances of a sale. Interestingly, here's some key stats which shows that pricing well is key to achieving a sale:

the number of buyers enquires per home for sale is 8% higher than the more normal market of 2019.
if a property receives its first buyer enquiry on the first day of marketing rather than after two weeks, the home is 60% more likely to find a buyer
The proportion of homes that are finding a buyer has dropped from eight in every ten at the height of the frenzy, to a more subdued sales rate of six in every ten,

The average fixed mortgage rates have fallen for 11 consecutive weeks - the average two-year fixed rate is below 6% for the first time since June, and the average five-year fixed rate is 5.43% compared to 6.08% 11 weeks ago. In the buy-to-let market, there are mortgages available below 5%.

Tim Bannister Rightmove’s Director of Property Science says:

Accurately priced properties succeed in finding a buyer in less than half the time that it takes those that need a reduction, and when they do find a buyer the sale is also 50% less likely to fall through. This highlights the importance for serious sellers of working with a local estate agent to get the price right first time, rather than testing a higher price and mistakenly thinking that they can just reduce later without damaging their chances of a sale.

A more stable mortgage market is providing some home-movers with more confidence about what they are likely to be able to afford, even with rates remaining well above the ultra-low levels of recent years.

In the last year, the average house price to earnings ratio has also decreased by close to 10%, meaning that buyer affordability, while still stretched, has improved compared to this time last year.

Those with a larger deposit have seen the biggest benefit from recent rate drops, with rates for those with a smaller deposit, typically those further down the housing ladder, not dropping as quickly. The mortgage market is much more stable right now compared to three months ago, giving movers a little more assurance over the rate they are likely to be offered and therefore what they are likely to be able to afford. Those looking to secure a new home for the new year should apply for a Mortgage in Principle to work out what they could afford, and listen to local estate agents about what’s happening in their local housing market.”

Take a look at the five year asking price trend below.

Source: Rightmove

Here's the impact of not pricing correctly as properties are taking longer to go under offer.

Source: Rightmove

To learn more, click here.

Zoopla

They report that UK house price inflation has slowed from +9.6% a year ago to -1.1%, with UK house prices falling 2% during 2024 although rising incomes will improve affordability. They expect 1 million sales in 2024 but this could be higher if mortgage rates fall back towards 4%.

Many thought that house prices would fall further in 2023, but several factors have prevented this:

the economy continues to grow slowly
unemployment is low
incomes are increasing
mortgage lenders are helping customers refinance, which is limiting the number of forced sellers

On top of this, tougher affordability testing since 2015 means there is more resilience in the housing market.

Buy to Let Investor?

If you are a landlord and unsure what's next for UK interest rates, including how you should gear your borrowing. listen to Ranjan Bhattacharya, of Succeed In Property here

What Have We Been Up to?

We've been working on a mix of staging, interior and exterior projects this month. We've also got some incredible wins to share.

Staged Home Goes Under Offer in 7 Days

We were delighted to receive a call from one of our developer clients last week. They were struggling to sell their fabulous development in Richmond. We staged their fabulous two bed apartment within a week of the client asking for our help.

Our client has gone under offer in 7 days.! This just goes to show why pricing and presentation remain key at all times but particularly now.

If you'd like to learn more about this project, click here.

Staging a Top Floor Apartment

The estate agent, Savills, who saw what we did in the Richmond apartment above, asked for our help with transforming another apartment closeby in Richmond.

We're currently planning the staging installation and can't wait to bring this empty apartment to life. Take a sneak peak ... before we get started.

Interiors

We're working on several interior projects including:

Transforming a Home Office into a Snug

We're at the final stages on this project. Our scope of works included:

- laying new flooring

- improving ventilation

- decor

- changing out a 1970s radiator to a modern take on a Victorian radiator

- creating a faux chimney

- creating bespoke built in shelving and storage

- hanging the new TV and soundbar on the new chimney wall

- sourcing furniture and accessories and new electric fire

- electrical changes

- styling the room

We've also addressed a surprise damp issue.

Take a sneak peak ...

Next month we'll share the finished room - we can't wait for you to see the final transformation.

Garden Transformation

A staging client of ours who sold their home has moved into their forever home and asked for our help with creating their back garden oasis. We've designed and now started on the transformation. We can't wait to share more details. Here we are at the making the "omelette" stage!

Stay tuned to learn more about this project and to see the transformation.

Bathroom Transformation

We've redesigned and are in the process of transforming a family bathroom for our client - from dated to super sophisicated. Our client has been incredibly brave and went with our recommendation for super large tiles in deep green with copper hints for their floor and walls and migh what a right decision that was. Here we are mid way through ... don't these tiles look incredible.

Coffee Talk with Steve Twynham

Ceri Owen, our founder, joined the delightful Steve Twynham, from Network B2B to talk through what staging and selling involves. Listen to how this can add value if you're thinking of selling, struggling to sell or even thinking about renting. Listen here.

Steve says about what we do:

"Its absolutely awesome."

Preparing Your Home to Sell Workshop

The majority of our clients have never heard of staging before they reach out to us. Many of our clients also have lived in their homes for many years. This week we were in touch with a client who has lived in their home 40 years so its a daunting prospect about thinking to sell then knowing what to do once they've made the decision to sell.

We're extremely excited to be launching a weekly workshop to answer all those questions you may have about getting your home ready to sell. We'd love to see you at our first event on 7 November in Maidenhead. If you'd like to attend, please take a look at the details below and book your seat at info@sortstyleandstage.com. Places are now limited so don't delay - we look forward to welcoming you there.