This week we had a call from a journalist, asking what effect if the stamp duty holiday is having on the local Lancaster and Morecambe Housing Market. They wanted to know if it had helped with sales and had their been an increase in enquiries because of it.
It’s an interesting question – if you follow our market reports, you’ll see that in July 2020, the sales figures were exactly the same as they were in July 2019. However, in our opinion, to judge it on 1 month is far too early.
What is notable is the renewed interest in the higher end of the market. Locally this is classed as sales above £300,000 – to put things into perspective only 2% of all sales in the area last year were above £500,000.
Enquiries for higher price properties have certainly increased. Overall, agents across the country have reported a 14% increase in enquiries. Agents which deal in sales above £500,000 have seen the biggest surge. Enquiries have almost doubled for some.
Closer to home, what we have seen is that people still want to save all they can. It’s created a demand for homes. A 3 bed house on the market in Heysham was just £125,000. It had 17 people wanting to see it. A home in Scotforth at £220,000 had 14 people wanting to it see it. A house in halton at £280,000 had 6 people wanting to see it. All sold for the full asking price.
The stamp duty savings locally might not be as big as they down south, however, neither are our property prices! And being Yorkshire born and bred, I’ll say this – ITS A SAVING
In our next stamp duty article we’ll look at when you need to be listing your home for sale, if you want to make sure you can benefit from the stamp duty holiday!
My name is Michelle Gallagher. If you would like to talk about all things property, please get in touch. Call us on 01524 843322 or email me at michelle@jdg.co.uk