Welcome to November’s local property report where we tell you exactly what is happening in the Lancaster property market. As normal – we focus primarily on LA1. November is always a strange month. Those who have been actively looking to move since the summer develop a sense of urgency. Those who are just starting to think about moving debate if they should put their plans on hold until the New Year. People talk about it being a quiet time – Christmas is approaching after all.
The number of active buyers drops – yet those looking are keen. These are the people that need to buy and want to buy pre -Xmas. New instructions tend to drop – this alone means there is less competition on the market for existing house sellers.
What is really interesting is that the national market is reporting a subdued market, in the main blaming uncertainty created in the main by Brexit. Lancaster, however, is bucking the trend. Is this because all of Lancashire’s 14 districts backed Brexit? Or could it be because of the city’s rather unique demographics? Why doesn’t the national press ever publish a positive housing story?
What happened in November?
In November 2018, 85 properties went under offer. This is up 10% on November 2017 and also up 10% on the month previous when just 77 homes sold. It is also a whopping 25% up in September of this year.
New instructions dropped dramatically. In October 2018, 127 new properties came available for sale. Yet this month it was just 79. This was a 38% drop in new instructions. More homes sold than actually came available.
Novembers breakdown is as follows
Upto £125,000 29 ( no change)
£125,001 – £250,000 45 ( + 5 )
£250,001 – £500,000 10 ( + 3 )
Above £500,000 1 ( no change )
What is happening in the higher end market?
There is no doubt that the higher end market is still exceptionally quiet. In LA1 above £500,000 there was just 1 sale. This was a large family home on Aldcliffe Road with a huge garden and canal views. It was £600,000. Homes on this street always sell quickly.
Once again I took a look at LA2, LA3, LA4 and LA5 – only 2 properties found buyers above £500,000 (they were in Caton – £535,000 and Austwick £825,000 )
The lower end market
There was no change in the lower end of the market which was disappointing given the increase in the number of house sales overall. There were just 12 sales under £100,000 and 3 of these were retirement apartments. In fact the lowest priced property to sell was a ground floor retirement apartment in Greaves. 60% of the sales under £100K were 1-bed properties.
What type of property sold in November?
Terrace homes are always going to be the most popular selling home in Lancaster. Lancaster is a city which is predominately terrace homes. What is interesting though this month is that apartment sales across LA1 have doubled since October and trebled since September. Apartments are always popular with investors, for example, 66% of the apartments we sold in November sold as buy to let properties.
Sales by house type
Detached 6
Semi detached 21
Terrace 38
Flats / Apartments 16
Bungalows 3
Sales by area
For the first time this year, LA1 5 was the most popular selling postcode – if you recall it is generally LA1 4. Given it is the first time – I thought I would take a closer look especially as we sell 1 in 5 homes in this area.
LA1 5 is an interesting postcode as it is the only postcode that crosses the River Lune taking in parts of Scale Hall, St Georges Quay, Marsh, Fairfield, Abraham Heights and also Aldcliffe. This is where the most expensive home sold. 25% of the sales under £100,000 were also in this area. 16 the properties sales were 2/3 bed properties.
LA1 1 9
LA1 2 14
LA1 3 19
LA1 4 20
LA1 5 23
17 different estate agents accounted for this months sales – up 3 from last month. At JDG we once again accounted for almost 1/5 of all the sales.
No one can predict what is going to happen in future months. What we can say though that now is the time to choose an estate agent which has the experience of working in a tougher market. Everybody needs somewhere to live. We all need a roof over our heads. Great estate agents will be talking to their databases. They will be advising you on what you need to do to get sold. It will be interesting to see what happens in December!
If you want to know to what is happening in your local property market, even on your street – please call give me a call on 01524 843322 or email me at michelle@jdg.co.uk My name is Michelle Gallagher and at JDG Estate Agents – we are here to help!
*All figures have been taken from Rightmove Intel.
Thinking of moving? Why not try out our handy online valuation tool? It is not as accurate as having us around but in under 60 seconds, you could have a good indication as to what your home may be worth. Why not give it a go!