The
Land Registry published its latest set of figures last week. On the face of it,
Heath property values decreased slightly by 0.44% compared to the month before.
The first thing that dropped into my head was – ‘Did Brexit cause this?’
Well
these most up to date numbers in terms of property prices, don’t actually
relate to August’s figures, but in fact May’s (2016). Homeowners have up to two months after moving
in to register the sale (and purchase price) of the property, hence the slight
delay. Also, these people who bought their property in May (for which the
numbers relate to), agreed the sale price in January and February - so in fact, this has nothing to do with
Brexit at all.
There
was an overall increase in housing market activity in Cardiff, as data from the
Land Registry shows that completed property sales in Cardiff actually rose in
the Spring. Throughout 2015, the average number of house sales in the City was
a constant 460 to 480 a month. In March, that rose to 708. Looking specifically
at Heath, March was a busy month for move ins and in April 2016, an impressive 11
properties sold and completed in the suburb. April is not normally a busy month
for completions (ie people moving in), but the figures tell another story, amid
an
As
I write this article, over the last 40 days of the 71 new properties that have
come onto the market in Heath, 24 of
those properties have found a buyer and sold subject to contract (or exactly
33.8%). Interestingly, I did the same exercise six months ago, and only 25% of
Heath properties had a buyer.
Most of the sales in Heath over the past 12 months were semi detached
properties which, on average, sold for £279,470. Heath terraced properties had
an average sold price of £210,980 whilst flats averaged at £131,670. Therefore
the current average value of a property in Heath stands at £234,400, which is
similar in terms of sold prices to nearby Birchgrove at £245,500, but is more
expensive than Cardiff (as a whole) at £210,300.
In
the past year house prices in Heath were 5% up on the year before and 9% up on
2007 when they averaged at £214,900. I still
maintain the view that house prices are likely to rise by around 3 to 4% in Heath
in the next 12 months. The reason being is that the rise reflects both strong
economic conditions in the City and steady market conditions with (and this is
the most important factor) very low numbers of properties on the market.
Finally, if you want to know what your property is
worth in Heath, as we both sell and let property in Heath, if are ever passing
by the office on Whitchurch Road, pop in for coffee and let’s have chat about
the Heath Property Market it will be good to see you.
