Lancaster & Morecambe 01524 843322
Posted on Wednesday, July 1, 2020
June has been the month of pent up demand. Lockdown showed many people what they both wanted and needed from their home. The desire for a garden and a home which is versatile has been high on buyers lists.
People decided to move to be closer to their families. We’ve seen some people move due to relationship breakdowns and for others, it was always the intention to move, lockdown just put their plans on hold, until now.
As a company, we hit the ground running. The government set out our working regulations. We had our full PPE ready and we were already set up with video technology. In addition to the 154 buyers we registered in May, we registered another 227 people who were housing hunting in June. We booked 457 viewings. We sold 46 properties across the region. And we did it in a safe manner.
Sales in June 2020 are up, however, the reality is by just 7%. In June 2019 there were 237 property sales across Lancaster & Morecambe. In June this year, 254 homes went under offer.
Given the COVID 19 situation, I thought once again I would report on our region as a whole but then also break it down into the different regions. Sales in Morecambe are down year and year, however, in the villages, the sales are actually up by a whopping 50%.
In June 2020, 106 properties sold ( 96 sold in June 2019). 110 homes were listed for sale. There were just two sales above £500,000 - both of these were on Haverbreaks, one of which was sold by our company.
69% of the sales were under £200,000.
In Morecambe, 85 properties sold. This was 15% less than June 2019 when 100 properties sold. In Morecambe, there was just 3 sales above £300,000, one of these was with our company.
78% of the property sales were under £200,000.
Village life is in high demand, with many people looking for a more relaxed way of living and feeling they want to be part of a community. In the villages, sales are up by 50% year on year. Last just 41 homes sold in the villages. This year it is 62.
Only 46% of the property sales were under £200,000. Village life is more expensive.
When you really analyse the figures, you start to realise that the housing market isn’t actually as busy as people are saying. Year on year, activity is still down, it has a long way to catch up after those locked down months.
What is important now is that we are mindful of the market moving forward. The lack of supply is helping those homes on the market get sold. The supply and demand are what we now need to watch closely. We also need to watch the mortgage market.
If you are thinking of moving, now is a good time. Houses are selling. If you look at the graph I have attached you’ll see almost 20% of the houses that did sell, sold through our company. When you see on the graph there are 29 agents in the area, you might wonder how did we sell so many. Ask me - I’ll happily share with you how we do it!
My name is Michelle Gallagher. The way we sell a property has changed. There is now a new normal. But it is a new normal which is working. If you would like to talk about how to move during Covid-19, please call me on 01524 843322 or email me at michelle@jdg.co.uk
Who is selling what numbers? Click here to see the figures revealed.
