Market Review December 2014 - Christies House Price Index - Local property prices have risen 15% this year

The latest Christies House Price Index, uses the most up to date reliable data from the Land Registry, and also confirms that property in the local area continues to represent an outstanding investment.

Local property prices have risen 15% so far this year. Medium and long term gains are even more exceptional. Based on past performance potential buyers will be very encouraged to see that prices have risen by 38% over the previous five years, by the same amount over the previous ten years and by an astonishing 165% over the previous 15 years.

What is perhaps even more impressive is that prices are now 15% higher than at the previous peak of the market in early 2008.

The comparison is based on the average price of all local properties sold including flats, maisonettes, all types of houses and bungalows. Figures for November onwards are not yet available - the Index will be revised as soon as the data is released so please check this page regularly for any updates.

Date..............Average Price.........Average Price Oct 2014.......YEARS............INCREASE 

Oct-99..............£117,772.........................£312,154.....................15....................165%

Oct-04..............£225,654.........................£312,154.....................10.....................38%

Oct-09..............£226,987.........................£312,154......................5......................38%

Over the years, and particularly in recent times, demand for properties in Cheam, Sutton, Carshalton, Worcester Park, Ewell, Epsom, Banstead, Chipstead, Kingswood, Tadworth and surrounding towns and villages has increased dramatically. Much of this demand is due to the location of the properties we sell, which are ideally situated on the fringes of London, bordering rural Surrey greenbelt countryside with picture postcard villages and market towns full of rich heritage and character.

Buyers flood into the area to take advantage of a wide range of leisure and shopping amenities. The local schools are nationally renowned and attract large numbers of enquiries, ensuring that property sale levels and prices have remained well above quoted national averages.Cheam, Sutton, Carshalton, Worcester Park, Ewell, Epsom, Banstead, Chipstead, Kingswood and Tadworth all enjoy flourishing local communities with many popular cafés, restaurants and varied independent shops and businesses; this, coupled with many high street names, creates an enviable mix of retail and food outlets.

Combined with excellent road and rail links, demand for property remains constant and represents an exceptional investment. Christies have an unparalleled understanding of the area and are dedicated to ensuring customers are always informed – not just on the property market and prices, but also the area and amenities. When looking at buying a new home, we believe it is imperative that our purchasers are fully informed about all aspects of the potential move.

Your estate agent should be able to answer any of your questions regarding this. We are proud to represent this area and convey that passion to anyone looking to move here.

Please contact us on 020 8643 7777 or email at sales@christiesworld.com

www.christiesworld.com

Market Review October 2014 - Christies House Price Index - Local property prices have risen 14% this year

The latest Christies House Price Index, uses the most up to date reliable data from the Land Registry, and also confirms that property in the local area continues to represent an outstanding investment.

Local property prices have risen 14% so far this year. Medium and long term gains are even more exceptional. 

Based on past performance potential buyers will be very encouraged to see that prices have risen by 38% over the previous five years, by the same amount over the previous ten years and by an astonishing 168% over the previous 15 years. What is perhaps even more impressive is that prices are now 14% higher than at the previous peak of the market in early 2008. 

The comparison is based on the average price of all local properties sold including flats, maisonettes, all types of houses and bungalows. Figures for October onwards are not yet available - the Index will be revised as soon as the data is released so please check this page regularly for any updates.

Date	Average Price	Average Price  Sept 2014	Years	Increase
Sep-99	£115,421	£309,524	15	168%
Sep-04	£224,003	£309,524	10	38%
Sep-09	£224,684	£309,524	5	38%

Over the years, and particularly in recent times, demand for properties in Cheam, Sutton, Carshalton, Worcester Park, Ewell, Epsom, Banstead, Chipstead, Kingswood, Tadworth and surrounding towns and villages has increased dramatically. Much of this demand is due to the location of the properties we sell, which are ideally situated on the fringes of London, bordering rural Surrey greenbelt countryside with picture postcard villages and market towns full of rich heritage and character.

Buyers flood into the area to take advantage of a wide range of leisure and shopping amenities. The local schools are nationally renowned and attract large numbers of enquiries, ensuring that property sale levels and prices have remained well above quoted national averages.Cheam, Sutton, Carshalton, Worcester Park, Ewell, Epsom, Banstead, Chipstead, Kingswood and Tadworth all enjoy flourishing local communities with many popular cafés, restaurants and varied independent shops and businesses; this, coupled with many high street names, creates an enviable mix of retail and food outlets.

Combined with excellent road and rail links, demand for property remains constant and represents an exceptional investment. Christies have an unparalleled understanding of the area and are dedicated to ensuring customers are always informed – not just on the property market and prices, but also the area and amenities. When looking at buying a new home, we believe it is imperative that our purchasers are fully informed about all aspects of the potential move.

Your estate agent should be able to answer any of your questions regarding this. We are proud to represent this area and convey that passion to anyone looking to move here.

Please contact us on 020 8643 7777 or email at sales@christiesworld.com

www.christiesworld.com

Principally Speaking

Nick Churton from our Mayfair Group global network offers some words of advice to those selling property over the coming months.

Standing on principle can be an expensive position to adopt when buying and selling property. In a level or falling market hanging out for a high price because - in one's own view - it is worth it can often backfire, because a property which is too highly priced can look out of step with the rest of the market. Can sellers really know what their properties will fetch? Surely they are worth what others will pay for them.

Property purchase and sale is seldom an end in itself. It usually forms part of a life-changing event such as gaining independence, committing to a partner, starting a family or reaching retirement. These events are bigger than any property in the scheme of things. So standing on principle can sometimes stand in the way of moving on.

We have just had two fairly good years of rising prices. We have got used to this. But all good things come to an end - until the next time.

Despite the lowest interest rates and some of the best mortgage deals in living memory the property market is showing signs of cooling. Some prices set in the spirit of acceptable optimism earlier in the year are beginning to look decidedly over-inflated now. And, as any skilled negotiator will tell you, one should always open realistically.

A general election is on its way, the European economy again looks worrisome and Christmas is round the corner.  If you have any big personal or family events which involve property purchase or sale now is the time to be reasonable about your expectations. Listen to buyers, listen to the market and listen to your experienced estate agent. Listen to your heart - and not your wallet. Wallets make poor property advisors. Good estate agents make better ones.

Please contact us on 020 8643 7777 or email at sales@christiesworld.com

www.christiesworld.com

Crying Wolf

Nick Churton from our Mayfair Group global network assesses the autumn property market and the aftermath of the Scottish referendum

Estate agents are always urging people to sell their houses for one reason or another. Well they would, wouldn’t they? Selling houses is what they do. But sometimes it really, really is better to sell sooner rather than later - and that time might well be now.

No market likes uncertainty. The people at Tesco will tell you that. And we seem to be entering a far more uncertain and delicately poised property market. The Scottish referendum highlighted this. In the last month or so of the campaign – and especially in the last few weeks - the English and Welsh property markets slowed noticeably. If a vote in Scotland can do this just think what a general election across the entire UK will do. Our next election is seven months away.

Now the rumblings of a Mansion Tax are getting louder with the Labour party seemingly making this an election pledge. Quite what this will do to the higher end of the property market is uncertain. But it is not hard to imagine that it could put some downward pressure on this sector. Will this in turn also have a knock-on effect in the middle-market?

Added to this pressure is the increasing number of people in the middle to upper end of the market who are downsizing - either to relocate to somewhere smaller and more manageable or to release capital for deposit-strapped offspring or even grand-offspring.

So to all those who may be waiting until next year before going to the market - or those on the market now who imagine they are not in a hurry to sell – you may all be in more of a hurry than you think. Despite some estate agents crying wolf once too often, this time the house really could be alight.

Please contact us on 020 8643 7777 or email at sales@christiesworld.com

www.christiesworld.com

Christies House Price Index - Local property prices have risen 9% this year

The latest Christies House Price Index, uses the most up to date reliable data from the Land Registry, and also confirms that property in the local area continues to represent an outstanding investment.

Local property prices have risen 9% this year. Medium and long term gains are even more exceptional. Based on past performance potential buyers will be very encouraged to see that prices have risen by 36% over the previous ten years and by an astonishing 165% over the previous 15 years.

What is perhaps even more impressive is that prices are now 35% higher than they were five years ago and are now 10% higher than at the previous peak of the market in 2008.

The comparison is based on the average price of all local properties sold including flats, maisonettes, all types of houses and bungalows. Figures for August onwards are not yet available - the Index will be revised as soon as the data is released so please check this page regularly for any updates.

Date..............Average Price.........Average Price July 2014.......YEARS............INCREASE 

Jul-99..............£110,142.........................£296,612.........................15.....................165%

Jul-04..............£216,795.........................£296,612.........................10......................36%

Jul-09..............£218,537.........................£296,612..........................5.......................35%

Over the years, and particularly in recent times, demand for properties in Cheam, Sutton, Carshalton, Worcester Park, Ewell, Epsom, Banstead, Chipstead, Kingswood, Tadworth and surrounding towns and villages has increased dramatically. Much of this demand is due to the location of the properties we sell, which are ideally situated on the fringes of London, bordering rural Surrey greenbelt countryside with picture postcard villages and market towns full of rich heritage and character.

Buyers flood into the area to take advantage of a wide range of leisure and shopping amenities. The local schools are nationally renowned and attract large numbers of enquiries, ensuring that property sale levels and prices have remained well above quoted national averages.

Cheam, Sutton, Carshalton, Worcester Park, Ewell, Epsom, Banstead, Chipstead, Kingswood and Tadworth all enjoy flourishing local communities with many popular cafés, restaurants and varied independent shops and businesses; this, coupled with many high street names, creates an enviable mix of retail and food outlets. Combined with excellent road and rail links, demand for property remains constant and represents an exceptional investment.

Christies have an unparalleled understanding of the area and are dedicated to ensuring customers are always informed – not just on the property market and prices, but also the area and amenities. When looking at buying a new home, we believe it is imperative that our purchasers are fully informed about all aspects of the potential move.

Your estate agent should be able to answer any of your questions regarding this. We are proud to represent this area and convey that passion to anyone looking to move here.

Please contact either Andrew Richardson, Jeremy Richardson or Richard Killoughery on 020 8643 7777 to get moving or email us at sales@christiesworld.com.

www.christiesworld.com

Back to School

Nick Churton from our Mayfair Group global network suggests some suitable prep before entering the property market this autumn.

One of the great triggers in the property year is the beginning of the autumn school term. Once the children are back to school there is more time for house hunting and just enough time to be in a new home by Christmas.

But just as the children are learning new things there are new things to be learnt in buying and selling property. Even to those who have bought and sold several times before, this is a new market. The property market is always in flux.  Even experienced estate agents won’t say they have seen it all before. But they have seen more than anyone else.

So here are some lessons that you might like to bear in mind if you are coming into the market this autumn.

The media hype in newspapers and on the TV and radio about a buying frenzy across the UK is far from reality. Certainly there are hotspots like central London and certain towns and cities where the market has surged ahead. But that doesn’t mean it is surging everywhere. In many locations values haven’t reached their pre-2007 levels. The market still remains a price sensitive one.

In fact many agents now think that the heat is coming out of the market even in the hotspot areas as buyers are beginning to resist what they believe are overblown prices.

Confidence is a crucial factor in the property market, and while confidence in the economy is better now than it has been for many years there are factors that do have an opposing effect. The mortgage lenders are working on stricter lending criteria. At the upper end of the market there is uncertainty and fear about a mansion tax being levied in the future. In Scotland many are waiting the result of the referendum that will be held on 18^th September. In the rest of the UK it won’t be very long before we are at the business end of a general election campaign with all the uncertainty that brings.

So some things about the market never remain the same. But some do. Buyers always like to purchase well and sellers always like to sell well – a recipe for conflict. So the big lesson for anyone entering the property market this autumn is compromise. With compromise come deals. Without compromise there is little but frustration and no move before Christmas.

So talk to those who have seen a great deal before. Take advice from mature and experienced estate agents. They are not there to take advantage of you – despite what the media likes to say. They are there to get the best deal for you. Don’t demand too much or accept too little. Be flexible. Understand the market conditions which apply today and not in the past – nor what you hope they may be in the future. And there the lesson ends.

Please contact us on 020 8643 7777 or email at sales@christiesworld.com

www.christiesworld.com

Passing the Baton

Nick Churton from our Mayfair Group global network looks beyond the Commonwealth Games to a slower paced event where the losers could be left without a home.

The Commonwealth Games has been a spectacular success of which Glasgow and Scotland can be proud. 


All the events have been exciting to watch - but perhaps none more so than the relays on the track, in the pool and in the triathlon. 

We all love a good relay. Yet some people may not have noticed another long-running event held over recent years in that other great sporting arena – Westminster. This is the minister for housing relay.

The government has just announced its fourth minister for housing since the start of this parliament four years ago. The Labour government before it had nine ministers in charge of this portfolio during its thirteen-year term. In a country that is crying out for some sort of cohesive housing policy – an area of government which, like health, education and the economy, needs long, long term goals and strategy - these statistics are a very poor indictment.

Thirteen housing ministers in seventeen years: one could be forgiven for questioning the deep commitment to housing policy from both sides of the House. In this relay both Labour and Conservatives have been passing the baton every fifteen to sixteen months on average. That’s hardly time for each runner to get up to speed, never mind time to create a sensible, sustainable, and socially, morally and environmentally acceptable legacy for future generations.

Anyone who has passed or taken a relay baton at full tilt will know how difficult it is to do well. Sadly the recent housing ministers all seem to have been travelling at walking pace at the changeover. So it’s not even the case that we are able to enjoy the action. There is no real action going on. But we would like to think that something is being done to provide enough modern and efficient homes for a modern and efficient society, and that the country can be saved from lurching from housing boom to bust. 

We also need reassurance that the failure of successive governments to implement meaningful long-term housing policies over the past four decades will not mean that low-paid workers and those who provide our vital social services struggle to even save up for a deposit, never mind qualify for a mortgage.

Let’s hope that whoever is in charge after the next general election will select a minister for housing who is good enough to hold on to his or her baton long enough to help make Britain be a place where everyone can find and afford a place.

Please contact us on 020 8643 7777 or email at sales@christiesworld.com

www.christiesworld.com