First-time buyers are going for gold this year

Larger homes are taking the longest time to sell and suffering the largest drop in price, as first-time buyers do the best when it comes to fruitful housing opportunities this year!

According to the latest housing market report from Rightmove 2016 will be a 'year of two halves',

Activity was skewed in the first half of year with a buy-to-let surge boosting property transactions to 12 per cent higher than in the first half of 2015. Buyer enquiries to agents in July were 18 per cent down on election-boosted 2015 though up 4 per cent on 2014.

The outcome of the second half of 2016 hangs on the strength of the traditional autumn market rebound.

Miles Shipside, Rightmove director and housing market analyst,  comments: “Many prospective buyers take a summer break from home-hunting and those who come to market at this quieter time of year tend to price more aggressively.

"This summer is also affected by both Brexit uncertainty and the aftermath of the buy-to-let rush in March to beat the stamp duty deadline. Most sellers seem to recognise that buyers may want some extra encouragement to get them to put their towel on a property to reserve it as well as on their sunbed!

“Buyers can often get a better deal at this time of year if estate agents match them up with motivated sellers. By autumn we should get a clearer view of the strength of any post-referendum hangover, though that also depends on buyers’ confidence to turn this interest into action. The latest interest rate cut making already cheap-to-borrow money even cheaper should act as an added boost to confidence.”

On a regional level, property prices have decreased month-on-month.

In August 2016, the average property in the East Midlands costs £194,908 compared to £197,705 last month - a small decrease of 1.4 per cent.

The decrease has been less obvious in the East of England with a monthly fall of just 0.4 per cent.

Keep up to date with all the latest property news on the Larkfleet blog as we continue to deliver news that we hope will help in your new home buying journey.