Simon Cooper FRICS FAAV, Senior Partner at Stags, provides an update on the West Country property market.
The first quarter of 2019 is behind us and for most estate agents April is often a busy month. Sellers are launching their homes to the market and buyers from all over the UK are descending in their droves to house hunt in the West Country.
Though there is a lot of uncertainty in the political world and ongoing political issues in Westminster, the West Country property market still continues apace.
The number of completed sales from Stags is higher this year compared to the first quarter of last year, which is excellent news for sellers. Indeed, we have conducted 20% more viewings than in the same period last year, amounting to an average of 552 viewings per week. A large number of these are from people from outside the South West, proving that demand for a new life or bolthole in the South West remains strong from elsewhere in the UK.
A particular hotspot for Stags is the newly relocated office of Bridport, which is incredibly busy under its new management of Martin Bowen-Ashwin. Here, they have seen a massive jump in market share for properties for sale and sale agreed. Another high activity area is in North Devon at our Barnstaple office. Run by Simon Forman, this leading team is also selling a large number of properties this year. The office with the most new sales in March was Exeter, which has been particularly busy in the city itself. The head of property sales in the city is Beki Roberts, who has recently joined the company.
Another interesting statistic is the activity on the Stags website, where there was a jump in the number of sessions by 16% from February to March, which in itself is 6% higher than March 2018. Combined email enquiries from the two main property portal websites Stags uses, OnTheMarket and Rightmove, are also dramatically up on February and the number of followers of our various social media platforms is ever increasing.
Despite the goings on in Westminster, I remain positive for spring and, with many buyers ready and waiting, there is no reason not to consider putting your house on the market ready for late spring.
If you have a property you are considering selling, do not hesitate to contact your local Stags office today.
