Cirencester property news
October 2009
The second homes market in the Cotswolds region has been given a huge boost recently following the re-emergence of London buyers after a credit crunch enforced absence.
In the Cirencester property market where up to one third of the houses bought will not be used as the purchaser’s primary residence, this is obviously extremely welcome. Unlike the last recession, stock levels have remained low and this has helped limit price falls. Buyers now recognise the property market may be close to the bottom, which is inspiring renewed confidence and competitive bidding.
During times of economic turbulence, discretionary spending is the first thing to be cut back. The purchase of a second home, unsurprisingly, falls into this category and Knight Frank’s Cirencester estate agents, which deals with country houses in Gloucestershire and north Wiltshire, saw very few second home purchasers during 2008. Interestingly, it was never a real shortage of funds that held back potential buyers - correspondingly, we have seen very few forced sales by those who already own a second home in the area - but uncertainty about what the future might hold.
After the collapse of Lehman Brothers last September, many of those in the financial and associated professions simply didn’t know if they would still have a job when they turned up for work the next day. Understandably, buying a new house for sale in Cirencester was not top of their agenda.
Sold property
Now, however, even though the economy has
some way to go before it could be said to be back on an even keel, people do feel more secure about their jobs and are ready to get on with their lives once more. For many, credit is not an issue as they are cash buyers meaning now is an excellent time to be back in the market.
With more demand, stock levels are now an issue, particularly for properties in the £800,000 to £1.5m price range. This has seen the return of competitive bidding, an example being an attractive cottage for sale near Northleach selling within three weeks in excess of its guide after 28 viewings and four sealed bids.
As soon as vendors realise that there is a healthy level of market activity once more and their properties will sell if correctly priced, we believe stock levels will start to rise offering more choice for the re-invigorated London buyer keen to buy into the Cotswolds lifestyle.