MARKET UPDATE - SUMMER 2021
The early momentum of sales activity in 2021 which started to see more people placing their homes for sale continued throughout March and April with Robert Ellis seeing two of the best two months ever in its 31 year history in terms of properties being sold. The year has been helped by the extension in early March of the stamp duty holiday – with the original deadline of 31st March there was a feeling of troubled waters ahead if people didn’t hit the deadline which would have happened in a number of cases. Fortunately the Chancellor announced an extension to the holiday with no stamp duty to be paid on properties up to £500,000 until the end of June and up to £250,000 until the end of September – with this tapering helping to smooth the process of agreed transactions completing.
The upturn in activity has seen an increase in property values as people want to purchase their first home or purchase a new home, or with working from home being something that will stay a way of life for many working people means that they can move to a preferred location to provide a better quality of life, or be closer to family – all this has generated additional sales activity which has pushed values to new levels.
As we approach the summer months and people can now do more than they could do at the start of the year, it will be interesting to see what happens next.