Bleak winter hasn't stopped property market from hotting up
Think this year’s bleak winter weather has brought house sales as well as traffic to a grinding halt? Well think again. Here at Miller Homes our January sales have been up 45% on the same time last year - despite blizzard conditions and icy roads.
And if you’re thinking of moving but are worried the time is just not right – here is another piece of news to warm the spirit: in February the Halifax building society reported that January house prices were up 1.9% on December’s figures. This echoes what many estate agents are now saying – the number of people thinking of moving is on the up.
There can be no denying that the housing market has seen a difficult twelve months but there’s growing evidence to suggest that we could be turning a corner. Take our sales pattern for example – we’ve actually seen a 58% increase in our national weekly sales rates since September 08.
So why have we seen sales climb whilst the media is still reporting a stone cold property market in the country generally? Well there are a number of reasons for this most welcome upturn – not least affordability and price.
Firstly the new homes industry is very different to the ‘second hand’ homes market. Last year we were forced to introduce some very significant price reductions which many private sellers have not wanted to withstand.
As a result buying new is more affordable now than at any other time in recent years and buyers are really beginning to see that. People are finding themselves able to buy a home that had been out of their price bracket just 18 months ago and are upgrading from the three bed semi they might have had their eyes on last year to the four bed dream home further down the road.
Secondly there’s affordability. The media is packed full of reports that the banks are not lending – but many people have been pleasantly surprised to discover that they can get the mortgages they were after.
For those that have not been so lucky we created our own scheme – MiWay. Under this deal we effectively offer buyers the chance to pay 75% now and 25% later with help in the form of a long term loan from Miller Homes. (See www.millerhomes.co.uk/miway for details).
This scheme has been incredibly popular more so than we initially projected and it has shown us and the country that confidence isn’t the biggest issue for most house hunters – it comes down to affordability and when we deliver that people want to buy plain and simple.
The final stumbling block for many buyers is being able to sell their own home – but we take care of that too. Under our Part Exchange scheme on selected plots and provided a buyer meets the key criteria we will buy a customer’s existing home for an agreed price - meaning a chain hassle and stress free move.
So homes that are more affordable than ever schemes to get buyers access to some of the best mortgages deals on the market and help with selling your own home – no wonder buyers haven’t left us out in the cold!
MH
And if you’re thinking of moving but are worried the time is just not right – here is another piece of news to warm the spirit: in February the Halifax building society reported that January house prices were up 1.9% on December’s figures. This echoes what many estate agents are now saying – the number of people thinking of moving is on the up.
There can be no denying that the housing market has seen a difficult twelve months but there’s growing evidence to suggest that we could be turning a corner. Take our sales pattern for example – we’ve actually seen a 58% increase in our national weekly sales rates since September 08.
So why have we seen sales climb whilst the media is still reporting a stone cold property market in the country generally? Well there are a number of reasons for this most welcome upturn – not least affordability and price.
Firstly the new homes industry is very different to the ‘second hand’ homes market. Last year we were forced to introduce some very significant price reductions which many private sellers have not wanted to withstand.
As a result buying new is more affordable now than at any other time in recent years and buyers are really beginning to see that. People are finding themselves able to buy a home that had been out of their price bracket just 18 months ago and are upgrading from the three bed semi they might have had their eyes on last year to the four bed dream home further down the road.
Secondly there’s affordability. The media is packed full of reports that the banks are not lending – but many people have been pleasantly surprised to discover that they can get the mortgages they were after.
For those that have not been so lucky we created our own scheme – MiWay. Under this deal we effectively offer buyers the chance to pay 75% now and 25% later with help in the form of a long term loan from Miller Homes. (See www.millerhomes.co.uk/miway for details).
This scheme has been incredibly popular more so than we initially projected and it has shown us and the country that confidence isn’t the biggest issue for most house hunters – it comes down to affordability and when we deliver that people want to buy plain and simple.
The final stumbling block for many buyers is being able to sell their own home – but we take care of that too. Under our Part Exchange scheme on selected plots and provided a buyer meets the key criteria we will buy a customer’s existing home for an agreed price - meaning a chain hassle and stress free move.
So homes that are more affordable than ever schemes to get buyers access to some of the best mortgages deals on the market and help with selling your own home – no wonder buyers haven’t left us out in the cold!
MH
Published:
16 February 2009
at
07:02