Sales pick up with secondary market for flats seeing more activity

 
Development near Kew Bridge

After seeing one of its quietest periods ever earlier this year the Brentford property market has shown some signs of life more recently.

The third quarter of the year saw a pick up in sales with the secondary market for flats seeing much more activity having been virtually moribund.

There is still very little demand for new flats with only one in the TW8 post code area having been reported as sold in the last six months. This remains a concern with a large number of flats in the pipeline for developments that have recently been given planning approval and others which are under consideration.

One local property expert told us, "If the secondary market had remained as quiet as it had been then units in new developments would have needed to be significantly discounted to shift them. While, the recovery seen recently is encouraging it needs to be sustained and intensified to avoid a major glut.

"However, there are other reasons to be more confident. The massive funding being provided through the Mayor by central government is a recognition of the potential danger of paralysis in London's housing market. It should allow local authorities such as Hounslow to work co-operatively with developers to ensure a sustainable mix of social and market housing rather than stalling projects by trying to increase meaningless 'affordable' housing targets."

The average price of a property sold in Brentford during the third quarter of the year was £453,894 which is 12.2% down on the same period last year. However, with just 48 homes sold during this period volumes are too low to reach firm conclusions about the direction of the market.

The top-priced sale during the period was for an apartment in a riverside Kew Bridge Road development which went for £855,000.

The latest figures from the Nationwide’s House Price Index show that prices nationally have continued to rise slowly with the average sale price now £214,534 up by 1.6% over the year.

Commenting on the figures, Robert Gardner, Nationwide's Chief Economist, said, “Looking further ahead, much will depend on how broader economic conditions evolve. If the uncertainty lifts in the months ahead, there is scope for activity to pick-up
throughout next year. The squeeze on household incomes is already moderating and policymakers have signalled that interest rates are only expected to raise at a modest pace and to a limited extent in the years ahead.”

The October 2018 RICS UK Residential Market Survey results show the recent softening in new buyer demand beginning to feed into a slightly negative trend for national house prices in the view of the surveyors’ industry body.

The report says, “A sustained softening in demand over recent months has likely driven the weaker price trends in parts of the country. The net balance for new buyer enquiries ticked down to -14% in October (compared with -12% last month), marking three successive reports in which headline demand has deteriorated. Affordability pressures, political uncertainty and a lack of fresh stock coming onto the market all continue to hinder activity to varying degrees.”

The report adds that new instructions to surveyors continue to fall meaning stock levels remain close to all-time lows and rendering any chance of a meaningful turnaround in the near future unlikely. A net balance of 30% of respondents reported the level of appraisals being undertaken to be down on an annual comparison.

Looking ahead, respondents in London and the South East were the most negative with price falls expected over the next twelve months.

Regular updates on the local property market are published in the weekly BrentfordTW8.com newsletter.

Where do I live? Brentford TW8 postcodes are divided into three sectors, TW8 0xx, TW8 8xx and TW8 9xx. Broadly speaking, TW8 0xx covers areas east of Boston Manor Road, TW8 8xx goes west of Boston Manor Road, whilst TW8 9xx covers the areas to the north of the A4.

Source: Land Registry

November 16, 2018