Nick Hill from Aitchisons takes a look at the local market

A warm start to the new year? Outside – certainly not, but as far as property is concerned interest has snowballed since the turn of the year.

From Aitchisons’ point of view, last year ended on an up beat. There were plenty of buyers watching the websites and this, coupled with realistic pricing, led to the market being busy through November and December - a higher than average number of sales being agreed. Family homes are especially in demand.

It has been encouraging to observe that the usual seasonal surge in the number of New Year enquiries is happening at all of our offices; that has led to increasing viewing activity and, already, some good offers and sales in the range of £750,000 - £2m and viewings in ranges up to £10m.

In town there is always strong demand for properties in prized central and conservation area locations, as well as those areas that are well placed for access to the stations and good schools; it has been interesting over the last two or three weeks to also see a good number of new buyers registering for village and rural properties right across south and west Herts and the Chilterns. It is not uncommon to see an applicant registering for “anywhere in Herts” and viewing properties across the whole area – in these instances ‘what’ the property provides can be more important than specifically ‘where’ it is.

This is encouraging news with regard to the supply side, as many of these enquirers will become sellers as well, once they have gained a ‘feel’ for the choice available and coming up – “more choice in the shop encourages more people to come into the shop”. This pattern is already showing in the rapidly increasing number of valuations and market appraisals being booked in.

Please call Nick Hill, head of Town & Country, or any of the team at Aitchisons on 01727 855556 for advice and information