Will stock levels continue to affect property prices this year?

Have stock levels had an effect on house prices? What role has part-exchange and assisted move played in the number of reservations and does this look set to continue? Land and New Homes expert Jason Willets gives his view on the property market for the year ahead. 

At a glance:

• The average house price was up by 3% at £428,613.

• Our stock levels continued to rise across the company (6%) with notable increases in Kent and Sussex.

• Part-exchange and Assisted Move continue to increase.

• Help to Buy, along with Part Exchange and Assisted Move, will help to ensure the continued success of the New Homes sales rates in 2020.

Jason Willetts – Director of Land & New Homes, Arun Estates

“Trading conditions for land and new homes in Quarters 3 & 4 continued to be challenging with the constant distraction of Brexit and the general election in December. That said, our Kent region showed resilience with reservations up 18% on the same period in 2018, albeit they were down 22% on the first 6 months of 2019.

Across the company, our reservations remain stable in the same period for 2018. However, the number of cancellations reduced substantially by 42%. Our stock levels continued to rise across the company (6%) with notable increases in Kent and Sussex.

77% of our stock is now housing and it’s no surprise then that the best performing site we have is Keepers Green in Chichester, a predominantly two-storey housing scheme set around a cricket green, which we are selling on behalf of Hill Residential.

Part-exchange and Assisted Move

Part-exchange and Assisted Move were proving to be a key factor in the previous report, which continues to be the case. In particular, Assisted Move has instruction levels up 112% on the same period of 2018 and exchanges up by 100%.

Instruction levels on Part Exchange dipped slightly by 5% in the second half of the year. However, sales were up 37% due to the first half of the year’s instruction numbers. This is a process that is expertly choreographed by our Corporate Business Department, which incorporates our very own ‘Make Your Move’ Assisted Move facility. This will continue to be an important factor throughout 2020 along with Help to Buy, which is due to change at the beginning of 2021.

One of our Help to Buy schemes in Kent is showing 40% of the last 6 months’ reservation. This shows that the importance of Help to Buy can still not be underestimated. This, along with Assisted Move and Part Exchange, will help to ensure the continued success of the New Homes sales rates in 2020.”

Contact us

As you can see there’s lots of change over the last period and it’s likely to continue throughout the year.

Get in touch and see how we can help you move forward.

Want to learn more about the current state of the housing market? You can download the full report below:

Download the full biannual report here