“December saw a slightly busier market than we’d anticipated, with both buyers and sellers consistently active throughout the month, and local estate agents even conducting viewings and valuations between Christmas and New Year’s Eve. We would suggest that whilst this is unusual, and certainly didn’t happen during the same period last year, it is an indicator of current market conditions and sentiment, which bodes well for a busy start to 2019.
Of the clients we assisted with mortgages for purchase, we observed that the majority were home movers, mostly families who wished to move to a larger property, but there were also some Buy To Let investors and First Time Buyers in the mix, which underlines ongoing demand locally at all price points. As a result, property values remained steady last month, if not increased slightly in certain favoured locations and conurbations, particularly where there are fewer properties available and vendors are seeing multiple viewings and offers.
Our advisers also assisted a significant number of clients throughout the month who wanted to arrange a remortgage and plan their finances for the coming year. With so many competitively priced rates available, particularly five-year fixed product category, we were able to help a lot of homeowners save significantly their monthly mortgage payment over the long-term, which was a nice way to end 2018!”
Wednesday, 9 January 2019