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If you’re looking to sell, you need to get moving!
Tuesday, September 15, 2020
If you want to complete your property sale in time to take advantage of the Stamp Duty holiday, you need to get moving. At least that is the advice from both the Conveyancing Association (CA) and NAEA Propertymark. Similarly, property portal Rightmove advises home-movers to allow six months to complete their sale and take advantage of stamp duty savings before the deadline. On average, vendors need to put their property on the market by 26th September to complete before the stamp duty holiday deadline of 31st March 2021.
A conveyancing backlog caused by the market interruption of lockdown and the subsequent surge as the market re-opened, fuelled by the potential savings of the stamp duty holiday, may well vary from region to region but “We recommend that sellers should begin marketing no later than 26th September in order to meet the stamp duty holiday deadline of 31st March,” says Mark Hayward, Chief Executive of NAEA. And latest data from TwentyCI confirms that the average time from acceptance of an offer to exchange of contracts has gone up to 125 days, from 107 days a year ago.
The government’s new “Rule of Six” measures may encourage yet more homeowners to sell as they consider whether their current property will continue to suit their needs during the winter with such socially restrictive measures in place. The exceptionally busy sales market has already prompted an increase in house prices across the UK as demand outstrips supply. RICS says its house price growth indicator has now hit a four-year high, although its predictions about the housing market in 2021 are more measured.
Sellers taking advantage of the surge in buyer demand are more likely to find a buyer within the first week of marketing compared with this time last year according to Rightmove, but sellers are warned not to be too greedy on price. "Not only are more properties selling in the current market than at any time over the past ten years, but many sellers are finding that demand for homes following lockdown and the rush to beat the stamp duty deadline means they’re achieving a quicker sale, but only if they’ve been priced correctly. " says Miles Shipside, Rightmove Director and Housing Market Analyst.
If you are looking to sell, contact your local Frost Partnership office for a free market appraisal and professional advice about your local property market.
