Spring starts in January!
Strutt & Parker suggests that Spring starts early this year and there are many good reasons to proceed to the market in January.
George Burnand , Head of the Winchester office says:
“The first and most unlikely is that the daffodils are already up and in some cases flowering – normally we would associate this with March and home sellers might worry that their external photographs would quickly look dated; this year you can take them now and they will still look current in three months’ time!
“Secondly the Christmas break is a great time for thought and making decisions. It is a time when a lot of families get together without the day to day hustle and bustle of life and make real decisions on the future. Should they move – upsizing or downsizing – out of London for the schools etc. etc. The fact is that once the decision has been made they become buyers – they are not thinking about waiting until May, they will buy a house tomorrow if the right one comes along.
“The last is making a quick reaction to the second home stamp duty rise. If a house transaction completes before April to a purchaser as a second home then they will avoid the 3% rise.
“There is still a little uncertainty as to how this will work and the government is planning to consult on the policy detail, and once they have will release a detailed briefing paper on the subject.
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“Over the Christmas period this has been a much discussed subject, especially from those moving from London and the reality is that it makes buying a second home look less appealing. According to our data, 7.2% of homes purchased in the third quarter of 2015 were second homes, 5.2% were for investment and the remaining were for primary residences, so it is a significant part of the market,” says George.
“In my mind this is real justification for “going early”.
“The market was strong in the run up to Christmas and we are anticipating a strong early part of the year. For anyone who is thinking of selling their property possibly aimed at the second home market, I would encourage them to come to the market sooner rather than later at a sensible price so we can try to complete the transaction before the new stamp duty burden in April”.
“If January is too early we would be happy to discuss a launch via the National Open House Day which will be held on 27 February.”
Contact George and his team at Strutt & Parker on 01962 869999