It’s hard to escape the stories in the news about house prices. It’s always something that people will take interest in trying to find the right time to buy or sell. Over recent months we have seen interest rates rise from their all time low of 0.1% to their current rate of 4% and there are mixed reports of what house prices are currently doing and what will happen throughout 2023.
Here we take a look at what has been happening in Macclesfield over recent months to understand what may happen to house prices this year in our area. We are quite fortunate in that our town has lots to offer a potential buyer. Things buyers tend to consider when looking for an area to live in are things like schools, employment opportunity and proximity to cities, transport links by road, rail and public transport as well as lifestyle factors such as places to socialise and eat out and proximity to countryside walks and green space. We also have a good mixture of buyers looking to move from house to house within the town and also people looking to move in to the area.
When there are more buyers than properties available house prices tend to rise and the opposite when there are more properties available than buyers looking to buy at that time. Therefore looking at the current activity levels can be a good indication of what house prices might be doing.
New Instructions
Looking at new listings on rightmove over the last few months we can see that there was the seasonal drop over November and December which also coincided with some uncertainly in the mortgage market. This has recovered well with a steady level of new listing at the start of the year.
Sales Agreed
If we look at new sales agreed in the same period we can see that has mirrored the new listings and therefore points towards a steady market with a good percentage of houses listed going on to be sold.
(Data is of new instructions and new sales agreed on the rightmove website each month for the core Macclesfield areas, SK10 & SK11 excluding SK10 4 and sk10 5 postcodes).
If the number of sales compared to new listings stays this steady then we can assume that house prices will stay steady throughout the year as demand keeps up with supply. However there is no denying that the property market has become more price sensitive with buyers typically viewing more houses before making a decision and we are seeing more viewings on each of our properties to achieve that offer. In many cases recently buyers are starting off the negotiation process under the asking price as was more common before the exceptionally busy market we saw from the end of 2020 to the end of 2022 where offers going above asking price was frequently seen.
For help and advice if you are looking to sell or buy in the area get in touch with us today…
