As residential sales agents, we are always relieved to get back to our desks in January knowing that December is behind us. That being said, whilst December is a quiet month for agreeing sales, it is by no means inactive when it comes to the near-hysteria of meeting exchange and completion deadlines with almost everyone wanting to be settled in by Christmas!
Spring used to be the traditional peak-time for our market but this pattern has changed over the past five years: we now have to be fully geared-up for the immediacy of very keen buyer demand through January and February – and this year is no exception. In fact, the first two weeks of 2016 have been exceptional.
Whilst last year saw the strongest performances and demand for houses up to £800,000, we are now experiencing high demand in the early £1,000,000s and agreed four such sales in the second week of January. The reason for this is Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT). In last December’s Autumn Statement, George Osborne announced that buyers of additional residential properties - above and beyond their principal home - would have to pay 3 per cent above the current stamp duty rates from 1 April this year. This has, in particular, really made the London second-home buyers jump off the fence.
They know they have to make quick decisions on which house to buy if they are to exchange and complete by 31 March 2016. Solicitors are going to be kept busy! This is temporary good news in so much as this price bracket was the weaker sector last year. Post 1 April may well be another matter…
It’s interesting to see that our current London buyers are clearly successful business people – for once they are not, in our experience, stockbrokers or bankers. The volatility of international stock markets appears to be keeping ‘The City’ buyers well and truly in London for the time being.
As yet, the facts on the new SDLT aren’t set in stone, however. The Treasury is consulting on the SDLT changes until 1 February 2016 and everyone can have their say if they choose to hop onto the relevant HM Treasury website and relay their points of view.
But this is just one sector of the market. Looking right across the price thresholds, we predict a confident year ahead for our region and this is an opinion shared with most property experts. Forecasts for capital value growth through 2016 in East Anglia range from around 4 to 8 per cent. Our Suffolk, Cambridge and Northampton offices are going to be busy…
Spring used to be the traditional peak-time for our market but this pattern has changed over the past five years: we now have to be fully geared-up for the immediacy of very keen buyer demand through January and February – and this year is no exception. In fact, the first two weeks of 2016 have been exceptional.
Whilst last year saw the strongest performances and demand for houses up to £800,000, we are now experiencing high demand in the early £1,000,000s and agreed four such sales in the second week of January. The reason for this is Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT). In last December’s Autumn Statement, George Osborne announced that buyers of additional residential properties - above and beyond their principal home - would have to pay 3 per cent above the current stamp duty rates from 1 April this year. This has, in particular, really made the London second-home buyers jump off the fence.
They know they have to make quick decisions on which house to buy if they are to exchange and complete by 31 March 2016. Solicitors are going to be kept busy! This is temporary good news in so much as this price bracket was the weaker sector last year. Post 1 April may well be another matter…
It’s interesting to see that our current London buyers are clearly successful business people – for once they are not, in our experience, stockbrokers or bankers. The volatility of international stock markets appears to be keeping ‘The City’ buyers well and truly in London for the time being.
As yet, the facts on the new SDLT aren’t set in stone, however. The Treasury is consulting on the SDLT changes until 1 February 2016 and everyone can have their say if they choose to hop onto the relevant HM Treasury website and relay their points of view.
But this is just one sector of the market. Looking right across the price thresholds, we predict a confident year ahead for our region and this is an opinion shared with most property experts. Forecasts for capital value growth through 2016 in East Anglia range from around 4 to 8 per cent. Our Suffolk, Cambridge and Northampton offices are going to be busy…
Caroline Edwards
Partner
Residential Sales, Long Melford
T: 01787 888622
E: caroline.edwards@carterjonas.co.uk
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