Navigating the property maze with our new and unique Property Finder Service by Associate Director, Emma Battson

Firstly, WOW! What a whirlwind these past 12 months in the property world have been. I can honestly say, in the past 25 years of working within this industry, I have never seen a market like it.

The sudden changes in the market have certainly been challenging to keep up with. From dealing with the past two years of tough covid restrictions, and on top the stamp duty relief which caused a stampede of people wanting to buy a new home – and when the Government reintroduced stamp duty again that snowball of demand to move didn't stop, it has very much continued.

Trends

Over the last two years, one of the biggest influencers of movement in the market has been the change for many to start working from home permanently. This has opened up fantastic opportunities for people to be able to relocate to different parts of the country, areas which were simply impossible for them to live in before, due to work commitments and travel. Not only this, but the lockdowns have also really highlighted the value of greenery and open spaces. As a result, we have seen a surge of people wanting to move to more rural settings and even coastal locations, the Yorkshire Dales being one of those hotspots.

Supply and demand challenges

The last 12 months have seen a national average house price increase of around 14%, the biggest increase on record since 2004. It had been expected that with the stamp duty holiday ending, together with furlough coming to an end, this would result in a drop in demand for properties, but in fact this did the exact opposite. The swift up take in properties, have seen a lot of people too fearful to place their home on the market, a worry of not being able to find a new home and selling their present home overnight. It would appear it is still very much a sellers’ market, although since January we have seen a slight drop in offers over the asking price, and more inline with realistic asking prices and mortgage valuations.

With all this sudden demand, Emsleys and the rest of the market are continually facing a lack of supply and there are further challenges on the horizon with The Bank of England raising interest rates four times since December and the cost of living, concerning many. These factors could actually encourage an increase in the numbers of people looking to downsize, in order to reduce running costs and/or release equity, particularly retirees and even possibly families looking to move closer to places of work to make a saving on transport costs.

As the year moves forward, we continue to require stock levels to increase, as this will not only stabilise the market conditions, but also drive more confidence for clients looking to move.

So, as you can see the market has been challenging! Here at Emsleys, the team has had to adapt quickly, and react to clients’ needs and wants. Vendors and clients need direction and help - and at Emsleys, this is one of our major strengths, particularly through a new service we are offering, the Property Finder Tool.

Emsleys Property Finder Tool

We understand that because of the shortage of properties right now, this is stopping potential sellers from putting their homes on the market, as they are concerned they can’t find a property they want.

To tackle the stock issue, Emsleys are thrilled to be able to offer a new and exclusive service called Property Finder.

This new service, completely unique to our local area will create the opportunities for our clients to find their ideal properties in their preferred location and will be readily available to all clients who place their home on the market with Emsleys to sell. It is completely free of charge too! We currently offer a NO MOVE NO FEE selling basis, so there's really no better time to trial the market, with no cost to pay should you decide not to move.

The property finder service, is a completely tailored, personalised and targeted service, in which we identify streets and certain house types that are of interest to you, and that are currently not on the market, within the local areas our branches cover and make contact with those properties to bring them together with you, the buyers, waiting for homes like theirs in the area. This is a really exciting customer focused, market driven solution that will most definitely help to alleviate the issue of low stock and potentially help you find the dream home you didn’t know was possible.

At Emsleys, we feel it's the personal touch that is very much needed in today's property market maze, we are here, helping you every step of the way.

Part of our nationwide network

This new and exciting service runs alongside our existing national relocation and network of independent estate agents partnership, that we currently offer through the Guild of Property Professionals – so if you are looking to make the move to pastures new, our network of connections to other high quality, professional estate agents nationwide, make looking for a new home in a new area, child’s play.

For more information, please contact your local branch for more details, and let Emsleys, your top rated, award winning local property professionals, get you moving!