Branch manager of the Plymouth office, Jeremy Glover, provides a market update, from 2020 to the present day.

When the first lockdown was announced more than two years ago in March 2020, we all stayed at home for some seven weeks wondering where this would end up!

Unsurprisingly, there were immediate reports of doom and gloom and predictions that the housing market would crash. Property prices looked set to plummet as people with mortgages and those in rented accommodation seemed unlikely to meet their commitments. In fact, in May 2020, the Bank of England warned that house prices could fall by as much as 16% as a result of the pandemic.

In reality, the opposite occurred. The housing market went ballistic, for a number of reasons. Properties were in high demand with new requirements on purchasers’ wish lists. Outside space in which to relax became more important, while rooms for home working became popular with so many of us based at home. Grandparents re-located nearer their children as many felt cut off from their families during lock down. The general sentiment was that life was too short and this motivated many home movers to make changes.

The Government incentive of a reduction in the cost of stamp duty (SDLT) during the period July 2020 to September 2021 provided significant savings. This further fuelled the already buoyant market and created several ‘pinch points’ as the benefits were withdrawn. As a result, there were high numbers of completions at the end of March, June and September. This put a huge demand on the professionals involved, such as solicitors, surveyors, financial advisors and lenders who had to commit tremendous extra resource to get the deals through. This all occurred during a period of staff shortages due to Covid.

Fast forward to the first quarter of 2022 and Julian Marks Estate Agents reports an extremely strong selling market with continued high demand for all types of property in Plymouth and the surrounding areas from numerous proceedable buyers.

While property prices for houses and bungalow in and around Plymouth increased typically by anything between 12% and 20% during 2021, prices have continued to rise sharply in 2022 and, during this period, the Plymouth Office has undertaken some 18 ‘best and final’ situations to deal with multiple bidders for the same property.

Accurate pricing is important, and we are still finding the right property in the right location will attract strong interest at a very good price.

While there are bound to be challenges ahead as energy prices rise, the cost of living goes up and the property market adjusts, Julian Marks staff across all three offices look forward to providing a first-class service for clients with the aim of obtaining the best possible prices for their homes.