It’s been reported nationally this week that the property sector is booming. Locally, Mansfield and Ashfield conveyancing specialists and estate agents are actually reporting “unprecedented” high levels of activity, writes Abby Chitty for Mansfield Means Business.
Following a strong start to the year, the housing market has undergone a significant number of ups and downs over the past few months.
In April, residential property sales hit their lowest monthly level since records began, due to the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic and subsequent national lockdown. As a result, house prices fell at their fastest rate since 2009.
When restrictions were lifted in May, housing commentators reported a surge in demand.
This was accelerated by the Chancellor’s introduction of a Stamp Duty holiday in July. The break from Stamp Duty on the first £500,000 of a property gave buyers more confidence in the market and a desire to capitalise on the saving.
Mark Bilton, Head of Residential Property at Banner Jones Solicitors, told MMB: “We’ve had instructions for over 500 new matter starts a month, equating to over 3,000 jobs, which is a record for us in such a short space of time. We have never had such sustained growth,”
Mr Bilton has been completing conveyancing transactions in Mansfield for 30 years and says he cannot remember the last time the property market was so strong.
“We initially thought that the second lockdown would stem the flow, but it doesn’t seem to have had any effect at all, we’re still taking on record numbers of jobs,” he says.
Echoing Mr Bilton’s thoughts is Matt Slade, Conveyancing Director at Fidler & Pepper Lawyers, which has offices in Mansfield and in Sutton in Ashfield.
Unprecedented demand
“Each year, we work with thousands of clients both nationally and locally, but at the moment the demand within the property market is unprecedented. Our staff are working very hard to meet this demand whilst at the same time trying our utmost to maintain a high level of service to our clients,” says Mr Slade.
However, he warns that the increased demand and ongoing issues related to Covid-19 guidelines is causing some inevitable delays.
Many conveyancers are becoming frustrated by the amount of time it is taking for mortgage offers to come through, as lenders remain cautious in this period of uncertainty.
Surveyors are also being booked up weeks in advance, and local authority searches are taking much longer than before due to Covid-19 restrictions at council offices.
People buying properties are also reportedly concerned about whether or not they will complete before the end of March when the Stamp Duty holiday ends.
Despite this, Mr Slade believes his team of Conveyancing Specialists are up to the challenge.
He says: “We are proud to be a process and technology-driven company and our aim is to keep clients up to date directly and through our 24/7 case tracker, Live Track. We have an experienced and dedicated conveyancing team who really are pulling out all the stops to keep our clients moving during this challenging time.”
Local estate agents are also reporting record levels of activity and say that the market is still buoyant.
Craig Parrott, who co-founded Open House Estate Agents Mansfield says that neither sellers nor buyers have been deterred by delays with local searchers and the limits on available solicitors.
“Since returning from the first lockdown, activity has surpassed all expectations in terms of listings and sales in what has remained a very buoyant market,” says Mr Parrott.
Simon Norton-Lane, Mr Parrott’s colleague and co-founder, added: “October and November have been quieter, but we feel this is more a case of how things are historically this time of year as opposed to the current economic climate. Listings in December can still meet the Stamp Duty deadline which will hopefully keep the market buoyant.”
Jon Brown, Co-director of BuckleyBrown Estate Agents, concurs that the market will remain buoyant heading into 2021, although accepts that it might slow down after the first quarter of the year when the Stamp Duty holiday comes to an end.
As an example of how quickly the market is moving, Buckley Brown recently marketed a property and it was sold within hours, and for the asking price.
He said: “The property market this year has been most promising and has in fact, turned out to be one of the busiest markets we have experienced since 2007.
“I believe that there will still be excellent demand for properties from buyers. We have experience of many buyers wanting to move this year because they are now in search of a larger property with space to cater for working from home as a result of home working becoming a necessity.”
The past year has certainly seen a few some ups and downs in the property market locally, and it remains to be seen how next year will pan out. What’s true though, there are professionals in Mansfield and Ashfield who can help you move.
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