Family houses in south of England prove to be top performers
Strutt & Parker’s first national Open House Day of 2016 held last on the last weekend of February had some of the highest viewing levels since the event began in 2008 and is looking to be one of the most successful Open House Days held in recent years.
696 properties took part across the UK resulting in 1,686 viewings and 74 offers totalling £50.3million thus far (26 accepted so far), with more are still being considered and coming in. These are outstanding results, especially from the south of England:
Houses priced between £600,000 and £1,650,000 in amenity-rich locations, both in towns and popular villages, attracted the most attention and generated the greatest buzz.
George Burnand from the Winchester office comments: “We have been very busy in Winchester, with over 50 viewings already on 14 houses. The top performer had 14 visitors, and many were in double figures. This is about twice as busy as the open house day we held last year in June.
George outlines a few highlights of the event:
“A house north of Winchester that had previously been marketed with another agency received five viewings on the day and is now under offer. Two new launches in the city both received double figure viewings and we are carrying out second viewings as a result.”
Successful across the country, other standout offices were Exeter, Norwich, Market Harborough, Chester, Ludlow, Shrewsbury, Banbury, Morpeth and Cirencester, all with excellent Open House viewing figures.
George concluded: “Despite stock levels being lower than they have been for some time, buyers were out in force enjoying the relaxed atmosphere and flexibility of being able to view as many homes as they want to, at a time that suits them. The fact that the gap between house prices in London and the rest of the country has been growing for some time means that you can get a lot more value for your money if you look a bit further afield – commuter belt, home counties and beyond.
“Encouraging news that the tide might be turning for a good spring market after a slow start to the year.”