The foundations of the Reading Property Market over the summer have continued to be principally sound; yet the existing political macroclimate means that the critical element of consumer confidence has been reduced and that is triggering some potential Reading property buyers and Reading house sellers to falter slightly and hang fire making any firm decisions on property.
With record low interest rates at 0.75%, low unemployment rates of 3.8%, and decent mortgage availability (even those with low deposits – there were 224 mortgage deals available on the day of writing this article where only a 5% deposit was required and 5 main stream lenders that would offer 100% no deposit mortgages), Reading buyers have a lot going in their favour, aside from the perceived political uncertainty.
Interestingly, Rightmove have stated there are more properties for sale today in the Country, than at any time since 2016, and Reading follows that trend. Even with that in mind, property values have remained reasonably stable as The Land Registry has just released its House Price Index for Reading and the surrounding locality and it makes very interesting reading.
Overall, property values in the Reading area are 4% lower than a year ago as the average property value in Reading now stands at £436,800.
When I looked at the types of Reading properties, a slightly different picture appeared ..
- Reading Detached homes dropped by 3.3%
- Reading Semi-detached homes dropped by 2.9%
- Reading Terraced/Town-House dropped by 3.4%
- Reading Flats/Apartments dropped by 5.7%
and splitting down the types of Reading into property types ..
- Reading Detached £689,700
- Reading Semi-Detached £409,900
- Reading Terraced/Town-House £323,600
- Reading Flats/Apartments £255,400
Yet, Reading Property Market Blog readers will know I always like to measure the health of the Reading property market not only by house prices but transaction levels as well ..
3,975 properties were sold in the last year in Reading, lower than the 10-year average of 4,791 properties per annum
Considering the uncertainty the Country has been through in the last three years with the ‘B’ word issue, I don’t think that’s too bad and shows the underlying resilience of the Reading property market.
Now looking forward towards the end of the year .. how will Reading house values change under the new Prime Minister?
Reading buy-to-let landlords and Reading first-time buyers seem to be sustaining their preceding activity levels, which is heartening news. It’s quite conceivable that both cohorts are presently profiting from the marginally increased numbers of Reading homes on the market, which not only offers them greater choice, but aids with their negotiations. The suggested Stamp Duty changes made me look at previous Stamp Duty changes in the last decade and their effects have been rather short term.
That means those selling their homes in Reading need to be realistic with their pricing, and, as most sellers also buy a property, what you might lose on your sale you will make up on the purchase.
BoJo, Brexit … to be honest are all short-term distractions from the long-term issues of the UK and Reading property market. Until we start building at least 300,000 properties a year to meet the demand for UK property, demand will always outstrip supply, meaning irrespective of short-term fluctuations that may (or may not) be caused by domestic and world events (including the ‘B’ word’), prices will always in the medium to long term remain stable and increase.
