“September was consistent with August, and the market stayed steady across the whole of the month. Buyers appear to be motivated, and there is now a little more stock around than in previous months which has helped to even the balance between supply and demand in many towns around the region, although in some more requested areas there is still competition for properties and therefore multiple offers. As a result, prices are holding at similar levels to those which we’ve seen for most of this year so far.
As a consequence, we arranged a significant number of mortgages for those who were purchasing last month, at all price points. In particular, we noticed a lot of First Time Buyer activity, particularly when purchasing new build due to the incentives available from developers and also the Help to Buy schemes. Buy To Let is still ticking over as well, with the local area still well-placed to provide attractive rental yields for investors. We’ve seen a number of landlords coming back to the market, as they have now taken the relevant taxation advice in order to approach further investments with a relevant strategy.
On the remortgage side of the business, a lot of clients were interested in switching rates last month, and asked for our advice to take advantage of the competitively priced fixed rates available, with five-year products still proving the most popular, although the ultra-low two-year deals are still, understandably, favoured by some.”