Derby Property Market Snapshot

With the kids back at school and everyone getting back into their normal routines, there’s been a significant spike in activity over the last couple of weeks in relation to new properties coming to market. 

With 352 “newly listed” properties on Rightmove.co.uk over the last 14 days, that’s an increase of 23% on the figures reported in our previous account. Whilst these results will include price reductions of over 2.5% and vendors who have decided to change estate agents, there’s still plenty of new properties of all shapes, sizes and price ranges. Excellent news if you’re looking for your next ideal property due to the sheer amount of choice!

There has, however, been a drop in the amount of properties that have come to market and achieved a sale in the first week of marketing. 23 properties have managed to locate a buyer in the first seven days of marketing compared to 35 in the previous newsletter. Whilst it is a significant drop, it does not really give an accurate indication of how busy the market is. Paying testament to this is the fact that some we’re still selling record amounts of properties, as you can see from the “The SOLD Report – See What’s Selling” article included in the newsletter.

Taking a look at the £300,000 upwards market from across Derbyshire, there were 220 new instructions. Another notable increase of 22% on the figures reported in the previous issue. Eight of which have an asking price of at least £1,000,000. Also, there were eight properties priced £300,000 and above that managed to sell within the first week of marketing. The most expensive being a six bedroom detached period home in Duffield with a price tag of offers over £895,000.

Rather refreshingly, the newspapers have been featuring some positive news about the UK housing market recently. There have been numerous reports of rising house prices, increases in the numbers of first time buyers and banks lending more. The Telegraph quoted the number of first time buyers as being at a six year high and that there is a “contagious confidence” in the housing market. 

This is certainly great news not just for the housing market but for the whole of the UK economy as it will no doubt have a knock-on effect. There’s much more positive news further afield too with the U.S. economy also showing signs of “shrugging off higher interest rates” with home sales in August at their highest in six and a half years, as reported by Yahoo.

In other news, it has recently been reported that Mortgage lenders are saying “no” to people who’ve had “payday” loans. According to Estate Agent Today, people with payday loans are being routinely turned down for mortgages.

One broker said that in the last 12 months, 85% of mortgage applications it has dealt with have been turned down where applicants had payday loans on their credit history.

Of these refused applications, over half (57%) had no other issues with their credit file other than the recording of a payday loan within the previous six months.

Ascot Mortgages said most of its clients had deliberately cleared their payday loans before making the mortgage application.

However, whether paid off or not, the brokerage warned that the mere existence of a payday loan will have a very negative impact on a borrower’s suitability for a mortgage.

This week also sees the launch of our brand new residential property magazine “derby”. It’s being delivered completely free of charge to 50,000 Derby homes and if you haven’t already had one delivered, you’ll no doubt be seeing one very soon. It’s a first for Estate Agency in Derby and a fantastic way of getting your property in front of 50,000 local people! We’d love to know what you think of the magazine and welcome any feedback.