Chichester Property News: selling

Showing posts with label selling. Show all posts

Thursday, 25 May 2017

What properties are for sale in Chichester?

So you’re thinking of buying a property in Chichester. What could you buy…well that depends on what’s for sale in Chichester; so let’s take a look.

Of course what you can buy is largely dependent on your budget. The cheapest property in Chichester costs just £16,000 - a two bedroom mobile home on Lakeside. The problem is it’s not a permanent residence. The cheapest fixed abode in Chichester, excluding retirement and shared ownership properties, will set you back £129,950. That will get you a very pretty, if rather compact (at just 298 square feet), studio apartment opposite Florence Park.

On the other end of the scale, the most expensive property for sale in Chichester today is a seven bedroom detached house in Pine Grove priced at £1.75m (5,131 square feet).

Clearly property in Chichester is expensive…some more so than others! Let’s assume your budget is somewhere in the middle of that. In fact, the median property for sale in Chichester costs £320,000, which is up from £310,000 compared to 12 months ago. For that you could choose from a large two bedroom garden flat in Summersdale, or from several two or three bedroom terraced homes closer to the city centre, depending on whether you prefer more space or a quieter location.

Delving a little deeper into the median price by property type provides a good indication of what your budget is likely to be able to afford in Chichester:

1 bedroom flat = £195,000

2 bedroom flat = £280,000

2 bedroom house = £305,000

3 bedroom house = £375,000

4 bedroom house = £499,950

5 bedroom house = £635,000

What was also interesting to see was how much (or how little!) choice there is for prospective property buyers in Chichester right now.

There are a total of 615 properties for sale, of which 344 are still available to buy and 271 are now sold ‘stc’ (subject to contract/completion). This is actually an improvement on the market a year ago, when just 321 homes were still available and 205 had sold, but it is still low for a city that houses 26,800 people.

Those looking for a three bedroom house have the most choice, with 108 available to buy in Chichester. It is the smaller homes, aimed at our first-time buyers, where supply is particularly lacking. There are actually more four bedroom houses available (52) than there are one bedroom flats (36 available) or two bedroom houses (48 available). Two bedroom flats, which are perhaps the most common of ‘first-time buys’, is only just a little easier to come by with 55 available.

It seems that supply remains tight in Chichester, which limits buyers choices, keeps house prices resilient, and makes finding that dream home just a little bit trickier.

(This article was featured in the Chichester Observer's property section on 25th May 2017)

Clive Janes, CRJ Lettings.

www.crjlettings.co.uk

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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:

Follow The Buy-To-Let Property Investment Market in Chichester

Chichester Property Market LinkedIn Page for Clive Janes

CRJ Letting Agents Chichester Facebook Page

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Chichester Investment Property Management Specialist CRJ Letting Agents Website

c/o CRJ Lettings, 30B Southgate, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 1DP

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Thursday, 11 May 2017

Which month is busiest for the estate agents in Chichester?

I was chatting with a landlord in Chichester last week who had decided to sell their rental property but was struggling to do so. He was therefore considering re-letting the property rather than holding out for a seller who might not come along, having waited several months already. I told him if he really wanted to sell, it might be best to remain patient a little while longer as April-May is typically a busy time amongst estate agents in regards to selling property.

When I got back to my office this got me thinking…which month is the busiest for the estate agents in Chichester? I thought if I looked up the number of property sales in Chichester in each month of last year, I might be able to find an answer.

Here’s the month-by-month total for 2016:

January - 166

February - 171

March - 274

April - 82

May - 107

June - 132

July - 139

August - 135

September - 154

October - 168

November - 142

December - 155

So March saw far more property sales in Chichester than in any other month in 2016. BUT this is something of a red herring, as 2016 was quite unique due to the government’s meddling. A 3% stamp duty levy that came in on 1^st April 2016 for landlords and second home owners, meant there was a huge increase in the number of transactions getting pushed through in March (and January & February) to avoid this additional cost.

Because of this, I thought it best to go back another year to 2015 (a year that wasn’t distorted by government policy), where I found the following number of property sales in Chichester for each month of the year:

January - 124

February - 144

March - 174

April - 139

May - 169

June - 246

July - 245

August - 213

September - 192

October - 204

November - 188

December - 206

We can see that the number of sales were far more evenly spread throughout 2015 than in 2016. The comparison between the two years also highlights what a drastic affect the stamp duty changes have had on Chichester’s property market, as every month after they came into force has seen fewer properties sold in Chichester than in the same month the year before.

Back to my original question though, about which month is busiest in Chichester’s property market, and it would seem the peak in property sales in 2015 occurred in June and July, where 246 and 245 properties were sold in Chichester respectively.

Bear in mind though that these figures (from Land Registry) are when a property sale is completed, rather than when it is first agreed between buyer and seller. With the legal process taking at least a couple of months, we can conclude that the majority of sales are indeed agreed in April and May.

Clive Janes, CRJ Lettings.

www.crjlettings.co.uk

_________________________________

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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Thursday, 1 September 2016

When is the best time to sell property in Chichester?

I was chatting to a homeowner in Summersdale the other day who was frustrated by the amount of time it was taking to sell their home. They came to me as they had considered letting the house instead of waiting for a buyer, so they could move on with their lives. I told them if they really wanted to sell, it might be best to remain patient a little while longer as September is typically a good time to sell your home.

When I got back to my office this got me thinking…when is the best time to sell property in Chichester?

Perceived wisdom is that Spring and Autumn are the best time to sell. Sure enough, when I looked at the data for the time a property in Chichester remains on the market (averaged over the past five years), Spring and Autumn have proven to be good times of the year to sell:

January - 159 days

February - 154 days

March - 142 days

April - 136 days

May - 135 days

June - 133 days

July - 134 days

August - 138 days

September - 136 days

October - 136 days

November - 137 days

December - 139 days

I was surprised there wasn’t much of a drop-off in August, as it’s assumed people are too busy sunning themselves or looking after the kids on their school holidays to think about buying a new home.

Similarly, most assume December is a completely dry month in the property market, as would-be homebuyers are busy buying turkeys and waiting for delivery vans to bring their presents rather than buying houses and waiting for the removal van.

It was interesting to see when I split down the data further that terraced houses were very consistent in the average time they took to sell over the past five years (average 142 days). Flats took longer to sell than any other property type in nearly all of the previous 60 months (average 170 days).

Meanwhile the quickest property type to sell was more often than not detached houses (average 104 days), which seems a little counter-intuitive due to their higher-than-average asking price. More recently it is semi-detached houses that have become most popular in Chichester; currently taking just 87 days from listing to completion.

Remember that the flip-side of this question could be “when is the best time to buy property” and I’d suggest you’re more likely to get a better deal at the slower times of the year than when things get busier (there may, however, be fewer properties to choose from).

(This article was featured in the Chichester Observer's property section on 1st September 2016)

Clive Janes, CRJ Lettings.

www.crjlettings.co.uk

____________________________________

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

__________________________________

Thursday, 2 April 2015

Two bed houses in Chichester are in strong demand

This article was featured in the Chichester Observer's property section on 2nd April 2015.

I was speaking to a landlord last week who wanted to expand his portfolio and wondered whether the number of bedrooms should be a significant consideration as to which property he buys.

According to Zoopla, gross rental yields in Chichester average 5.2% for a one bedroom property, 4.8% from a two bed, 4.1% for a three bed and 3.5% from a four bedroom property.

This tends to correlate with the generally accepted concept that you receive a diminishing gross rental return as the size (and cost) of a property increases.

If we factor in the ground rent and service charges that come with flats, the best net return in Chichester actually comes from two bedroom houses.

Two bed houses are very popular with a variety of tenants, being suitable for an individual, two sharers or a young couple who can grow into the house; the second bedroom evolving from spare room/office into baby’s bedroom.

At the moment, however, there are only 15 two bedroom houses available to rent in the whole of Chichester. With another 15 being ‘let agreed’, this means 50% of the two bed houses that were available have been let already.

This highlights the strength of demand from tenants for two bed houses, comparing favourably to just 9/29 (31%) of one bed flats being let agreed, 17/42 (40%) of two bed flats and 12/35 (34%) of three bed houses.

Looking at the new-build developments in Chichester, I would anticipate this lack of supply versus the strong demand for two bed houses to intensify as developers are largely focusing on three and four bedroom homes.

This is understandable as developers are able to achieve a higher sale price for these larger homes without using much additional land (or no extra land as many are doing this by adding the third bedroom as a third storey of the property).

This should mean that two bedroom houses will become an increasingly desirable property in the future due to a dwindling supply compared to the overall housing mix. This should lead to them having minimal void periods alongside strong rental and capital growth.

So if two bedroom houses are so great, which one should you buy? Well, this is where it becomes tricky as there are just 65 two bedroom houses for sale in Chichester, of which 34 (52%) have already sold. This again shows the strength in demand for two bedroom houses, this time from buyers, as the overall sold rate in Chichester stands at 42%.

If you’re thinking of investing in a new buy-to-let and would like to discuss your options, please get in touch.

Clive Janes, CRJ Lettings

www.crjlettings.co.uk

01243 624 599 / clive@crjlettings.co.uk

___________________________________

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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