Right Sizing

Nick Churton of our London Mayfair Global Network reflects on the changing mood of home buyers and why now, more than ever, finding a property that fits well is important – at all stages of life.

We hear so much about up-sizing and down-sizing in the property market. But, now especially, the correct thing to do is right-size. That is to live in the space which suits you best. Today it is just not that sensible to rattle around in a huge family house when the children have left home. At a time of life and in a financial climate when it's best to hang on to hard-earned capital, spending it on rooms and space that are never needed is an extravagance.

Also, many 'empty nesters' are right-placing - seeking to return to town and city centres where they can be close to a larger range of facilities. Right-sizing also provides the opportunity to move into higher specification accommodation. For many trading down offers the opportunity to purchase a bolt-hole in the sun. Prices in countries such as Spain, France and Portugal are still rock bottom but there are signs that this is set to change, so now seems a very good time to buy abroad with cash.

Up-sizing is another matter. Co-habitation and starting a family often require more space not less. But this is a great time for first time buyers to be on the move as interest rates are still at their lowest ever. But there is so little on the market in many areas. This is putting upward pressure on prices. So the ability to buy with finance all set, and lots of determination to succeed quickly is required.

There are fears of further global financial turbulence ahead. We live in an uncertain political world and here in the UK there are big questions on our future relationship with Europe and a housing shortage. For many now is a particularly good moment for prudence - for right-sizing, right-placing and right-timing.

The market is still active and filled with great opportunities but caution is needed – caution, and good representation. It is no secret that successful people get that way because they obtain the best advice from the best people. That applies to those buying and selling property also. A good local estate agent who really knows the market is the key to successful right-sizing.Please contact us on 020 8643 7777 or email at sales@christiesworld.com

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The benefits of living in such a popular area

In recent times, demand for properties in Cheam, North Cheam, Sutton, Stonecot Hill, Carshalton, Worcester Park, Ewell, Epsom & Banstead and surrounding towns and villages has increased dramatically. 

Much of this demand is due to the extremely popular local schools which are nationally renowned and attract large numbers of enquiries. 

This helps to ensure that property sale levels and prices have remained well above quoted national averages.

Buyers also flood into the area to take advantage of a wide range of leisure and shopping amenities found conveniently throughout the Sutton borough and in the neighbouring towns and villages.

Flourishing local communities with vibrant High Streets offer popular cafés, restaurants and varied independent shops and businesses.

These are coupled with many high street names, creating an enviable mix of retail and food outlets. 

Local bus routes abound serving both the local and wider area.

These combine with excellent road and rail links, to ensure demand for property remains constant and represents an exceptional investment.

Christies have an unparallelled understanding of the locality and are dedicated to ensuring customers are always informed – not just on the property market and prices, but also the wider area and amenities.

For example, the location of the properties we sell, 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.

The A 217, A3 and A 23 all link with the M25 for the wider motorway network and also towards central London and the Underground service.

An array of golf course, health clubs, parks and downland are liberally sprinkled across the area providing a wonderful range of leisure amenities for all to enjoy.

Popular destinations include The Oaks, Nonsuch, Beddington, Carshalton, Rosebery & Alexandra Parks along with ponds at Carshalton & Ewell and the Hogsmill and Wandle Rivers, all offering great opportunities for walking and cycling. Equestrian enthusiasts will enjoy Banstead Woods, Epsom & Banstead Downs and Walton Heath.

When looking at buying a new home, we believe it is imperative that our sellers and 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.

Christies services include sales, lettings, public and on line auctions, design and build, and financial services referrals.

We also provide a Free Online Valuation Tool which may give a useful guide as to what your property may be worth - for details please click here.

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

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Award winning Christies Network Auctions October sale set to build on 2015 successes

As a leading auction house Christies Network Auctions were recently voted Property Auction House of the year in the annual NAVA awards. We will be holding our October auction at the Grosvenor House Hotel on London’s Park Lane at 2pm on Wednesday 21st October.

With a highly successful two day sale in September which saw an 89% success rate and sales valued at over £7.1 million, the October sale looks set to continue to produce excellent results for clients and an interesting 39 lot catalogue will go under Guy Charrison’s hammer.

With lots from 21 counties across the UK, Christies Network Auctions reach is truly national and our network of over sixty partner agents helps ensure that sellers maximise their opportunities of a sale through the combination of our local expertise and national coverage.

Guide prices for lots range from £4,000 for a parcel of two freehold ground rents in Staffordshire to £995,000+ for a substantial detached house in Iver in Buckinghamshire.

There is an interesting selection of properties for sale including a modern former church in Sutton at £700,000+, an apartment in London SW7 at £975,000+, industrial units in Margate and Watford and a number of development opportunities.

Bidding at auction can be done in the room, by telephone or proxy or over the internet and the auction will be screened live on the Network Auctions website at http://www.christiesworld.com/auctions.html

Our traditional auction offering is now complemented by Network-E, our online auction offering which is ideal for sellers who would not normally consider selling by auction but who would benefit from the greater certainty created within a less tight time frame. 

Anyone thinking of selling is invited to discuss with us all the options for disposal in order to maximize the opportunity for a sale and the value obtained.”

Christies Network Auctions are now looking to accept lots for inclusion in our remaining sale of the year in December, a two day event with days in London and Birmingham. This will be the last opportunity to sell by auction in 2015 and potential sellers are advised to contact Christies Network Auctions without delay to ensure that properties can be included.

For further information – please contact Christies Network Auctions on 020 8643 7777

sales@christiesworld.com

www.christiesworld.com

Latest Christies House Price Index

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 increased by 19% in 2014 and so far this year have already risen by 4% until the end of August. 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 five years, by 47% over the previous ten years and by an astonishing 127% over the previous 15 years.

What is perhaps even more impressive is that prices are now also 21 % higher than at the previous peak of the market in early 2008.

Date..............Average Price.........Average Price Aug 2015.......YEARS............INCREASE

Aug-00..............£144,696.........................£328,091.......................15....................127%


Aug-05..............£223,177.........................£328,091.......................10.....................47%


Aug-10..............£240,897.........................£328,091........................5......................36%

The comparison is based on the average price of all local properties sold including flats, maisonettes, all types of houses and bungalows. Figures for September onwards are not yet available - the Index will be revised as soon as the data is released.

In recent times, demand for properties in Cheam, North Cheam, Sutton, Stonecot Hill, Carshalton, Worcester Park, Ewell, Epsom & Banstead and surrounding towns and villages has increased dramatically. Much of this demand is due to the extremely popular local schools which are nationally renowned and attract large numbers of enquiries, ensuring that property sale levels and prices have remained well above quoted national averages.

Buyers also flood into the area to take advantage of a wide range of leisure and shopping amenities. Flourishing local communities offer popular cafés, restaurants and varied independent shops and businesses coupled with many high street names, creating an enviable mix of retail and food outlets.

These combine with excellent road and rail links, to ensure demand for property remains constant and represents an exceptional investment.

Christies have an unparalleled understanding of the locality and are dedicated to ensuring customers are always informed – not just on the property market and prices, but also the wider area and amenities.

For example, the location of the properties we sell, 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.

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

Bull’s-eye

Nick Churton of our London Mayfair Global Network takes a look at what it takes to sell property today and learns a lesson from history.

In 1415 the English archers were a formidable force at the battle of Agincourt - the 600th anniversary of which we commemorate on 25th October, St Crispin’s Day.It is said that each archer was so fast that at any one time he had two arrows in the air and one in the bow. From five thousand archers, that made a lethal hailstorm of missiles. But none was tightly aimed at one target. It was the mass that did the overall damage.

Putting a property on the internet is a bit like a cloud of arrows. There are tens of thousands of properties for sale out there. All one can hope for is that yours will somehow hit the mark. But most sellers want a little more from their estate agent than simply putting their property on the internet. After all anyone can do that. Most knowledgeable sellers demand targeted marketing as well. They want their agent to know the buyers and have a strong idea who will buy and for how much.

Sellers want their estate agent to have a clear idea about value – not because they have used a website algorithm but because they are so knowledgable about the local market that they have their finger on the pulse.

Nor are websites very good at negotiating deals and seeing through transactions – in fact they can do neither. People need to do that. And the better the people the better it is for a seller.

So don’t let your home become one of a crowd. Make it one on its own – an arrow perfectly aimed by a supreme marksman at a well-selected target. That way you will hit gold in the centre of the target. Bull’s-eye.

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

www.christiesworld.com

Press Release: Christies Network Auctions two day September sale success

As a leading UK auction house Christies Network Auctions enjoyed considerable success with our two day September sale which took place in London and Birmingham.

With lots covering the length and breadth of the UK a success rate of 83% was achieved on both days with a total of £6.7 million being raised from the sales.

Highlights of the sale were a house requiring modernization with a guide price of £179,000. The property had attracted an offer of £255,000 prior to auction but, acting on the auctioneer’s advice, the seller took the property to the room where a figure of £270,000 was achieved when the gavel fell.

A similar, but even more impressive sale, took place at the Birmingham day when a lot in Selly Oak which was guide priced at between £95,000 and £100,000 sold at £280,000. Again, there had been an offer prior to the auction at £180,000 but, acting on the auctioneer’s advice a much superior result was achieved by taking the property to the room.

Jeremy Richardson of Christies Network Auctions said: “These sales demonstrate the advantage that auction can have over a normal private treaty sale and the huge added value an auctioneer can provide in advising on maximizing value.

Our traditional auction offering is now complemented by Network-E, our online auction offering which is ideal for sellers who would not normally consider selling by auction but who would benefit from the greater certainty created within a less tight time frame. 

Anyone thinking of selling is invited to discuss with us all the options for disposal in order to maximize the opportunity for a sale and the value obtained.”

Christies Network Auctions are now looking to accept lots for inclusion in their remaining sales of the year in October and December. Both of these sales will also be two day events with days in London and Birmingham. These will be the last opportunities to sell by auction in 2015 and potential sellers are advised to contact Christies Network Auctions without delay to ensure that properties can be included.

sales@christiesworld.com

020 8643 7777

www.christiesworld.com

Back to School

Nick Churton of our London Mayfair Global Network suggests it’s not just our children who might be learning some timely lessons this autumn.

Mortgage lending at its highest in seven years’, ‘House prices jump 4.3% in the three months to July - the highest quarterly growth for 11 years’, ‘Rents across England and Wales rose faster in July than in any month since records began in 2009’. All these recent headlines point to a property market that is flying. Or is it?

Have we finally shrugged off the dark days of 2008? Perhaps we haven’t, for other headlines suggest a property crisis. There are far too few houses being built for the increasing demand. There is a crying need for more social housing. The rental sector will continue to grow because it is too difficult for first time buyers to get onto the property ladder - and all this on next-to-zero interest rates. What happens when they start to rise which could be next year? Also those startling headlines are across the board. They don’t show that some regions are still suffering and that London is not so buoyant as it was.

So what does this mean for the autumn market – the after-the-holidays, back-to-school property market? It means that, as ever, pricing is key. Sellers should not get too carried away by the headlines. Just because one area is doing well does not mean all are. And when there is extraordinary pressure on prices brought on by lack of stock it often means there could be a dip in values when there is a surfeit of stock later.

Our advice, whether buying or selling this coming autumn, is not to get too carried away. Stick to the tried and tested methods of sale and purchase. Sellers: ensure that your property is looking at its best, make sure that you have an agent acting for you with a superb track record in marketing and doing great deals in the local area, and above all price to sell. Buyers: look for the best conveyancing solicitors – they will save you time; check that you have all your funds arranged in principle and remember those potential interest rate rises will affect your repayments in years to come. Buyers and sellers: be flexible, be reasonable, be helpful and remember that this is not just about buying or selling a property; it is about moving on and starting a new life. Above all else, including money and principle, that is the most important thing.

www.christiesworld.com