How many houses sold in South Somerset in July?

In July 2018, 177 properties sold ( SSTC ) in South Somerset.  Can you believe, this is just 18 less than July 2017! However, it is a bit of a drop from June 2018, when 189 properties were sold. The South Somerset property market appears to be declining slightly at the moment. The biggest difference compared to 12 months ago is the decrease of sales between £125,001 - £250,000. It has dropped from 118 sales to 105 sales this year - almost an 9% decrease. Despite the new tax laws on buy to let, there has been an increase from 12 properties sold last year up to £125,000 to 20 this year.

July’s breakdown is as follows

Up to £125,000                  17 properties sold

£125,001 - £250,000        97 properties sold

£250,001 - £500,000        51 properties sold

Above £500,000                12 sold

Investment buyers coming back to the market?

With the London Market in the doldrums, is this now starting to filter out into the regions and locally? There has been an increase in the lower quartile of price rages over the last month, some of this has been from professional landlords and investors continuing to hold a firm belief in property as an investment vehicle, the stamp duty cut for First Time buyers is also helping to contribute towards this. First time buyers are also being helped significantly in the new build sector with the Help to Buy scheme. Although there are concerns that this could cause problems further down the line for many first time buyers.

What type of property sold?

I always like to see what has actually sold. Detached homes are now the most popular selling home in South Somerset; there were 9 more sales in the detached market this month compared to June. Apartments sales were down by 4 however the biggest surprise was the decrease in sales for terraced homes which decreased by 7%.

Detached homes continue to be in high demand and this is not surprising as sellers tend to move up the property ladder over time. With a continued strong demand from buyers out of the area, in fact Somerset is one of the most popular destinations for London Buyers, this is helping the detached homes market. There is however pressure on prices in this sector as the buyers from London are reducing prices and expecting the same to be happening here. This is clearly indicated by the higher volume of price reductions being seen in this sector.

On a positive note at Orchards Estates we saw a number of homes achieve the full asking price in July. New Road in Norton sub Hamdon, Lower Ream in Yeovil, Lyde Road in Yeovil are just some of these. In fact the team’s average price achieved for the month was 98.99% of asking prices. It shows if you get your price and your presentation right - your home will sell. Why not find out more about this?

Sales by houses type

Detached                            58

Semi – detached              34

Terraced                              51

Flats / Apartments          13

Bungalows                          13

Sales by area

Crewkerne and Ilminster went head to head this month with 29 house sales in each town.

Market towns are faring very well in today’s market offering a desired lifestyle with reasonable pricing when compared to larger towns in the district?

Yeovil                                    100         Properties           (31 were terraced)

Martock                             9             Properties           (4 were detached)

South Petherton               14          Properties           (8 were detached homes)

Crewkerne                         21          Properties           (7 were terraced homes)

Ilminster                             23          Properties           (8 were detached homes)

Villages                               10          Properties           (4 were terraced homes)

If you would like to keep up to date with the local property market, check out our website www.orchardsestates.co.uk. If you’d like any moving advice and how we are getting houses sold despite the drop in property searches online - please get in touch.  At Orchards Estates, we are here to help. Call us on 01935 277977 or 01460 477977.

P.S.  Here is a little video about an issue that keeps cropping up for people when they try to use our Switching, Simply service.  It really does show the importance of picking the right estate agent to sell your home.