Last week I wrote about what had happened to the property market as a whole since the deepening of the financial crisis ten years ago. But, as I write the Chichester Property News, it makes sense to focus on what matters to Chichester’s residents, landlords and tenants - the Chichester property market…
Like the rest of the country, property prices in Chichester peaked in late 2007 (at £291,021). Whilst the UK saw prices drop 10% in the following 12 months, in Chichester the drop was barely noticeable, with house prices down just 1%. Chichester wasn’t immune however to the severity of the drop between October 2008 and March 2009, where the UK saw property prices drop a further 10%. In Chichester those short six months saw prices collapse 21% to £228,594; a figure they hadn’t sat at since June 2004. Like the rest of the country, March 2009 would mark the bottom of the market.
But, whilst the UK would have to wait until August 2014 for house prices to surpass their previous peak, in Chichester the recovery was much quicker; rebounding to their previous highs by September 2012. The average property in Chichester is now selling for £368,328; 27% higher than the ‘peak’ in October 2007 and a huge 61% higher than the low of March 2009. So, whilst you might have preferred not to buy in Chichester between June 2004 and March 2009, anyone who did so should now have come out the other side ahead.
Like the rest of the country though, it is the number of homes being sold that still harbours the scars of the recession. In 2007 2,648 properties were sold in Chichester, but the following year volumes were down 45% (with just 1,450 sales in 2008). A decade later and the volume of sales has steadily recovered (2,094 homes were sold in Chichester in 2017) but they are still well down on the levels seen before the financial crisis. Unfortunately, this doesn’t look set to improve as the data for 2018 so far shows we’re actually on course to seeing the fewest homes change hands in Chichester since 2008!
(This article was featured in the Chichester Observer's property section on September 20, 2018)
Clive Janes, CRJ Lettings
If you are looking for an agent that is well established, professional and communicative in Chichester, then contact us to find out how we can get the best out of your investment property.
E-mail me on clive@crjlettings.co.uk or call 01243 624 599.
Don't forget to visit the links below to view my previous buy-to-let deals and Chichester Property News articles:
c/o CRJ Lettings, 30B Southgate, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 1DP
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