“Carrying on the momentum we saw in May, June was one of our busiest months ever, which we would suggest is a reflection on the overall health of the local market. The majority of clients we assisted were home movers, and we saw a mix of First Time Buyers, family movers and those purchasing higher end properties, demonstrating that demand for properties currently is strong at all price points.
As with last month, we also observed an increase in investor activity, both in terms of purchases and also arranging remortgages, particularly given that Buy To Let lending is very competitively priced at the moment. After the lull in this particular sector that we’ve seen over the last few months, landlords now seem to be coming back to the market and adding to their portfolios, albeit perhaps having taken professional taxation advice and adjusting their investment strategy accordingly.
On the residential remortgage side, we assisted significant numbers of existing clients with securing a remortgage on their homes in June, with many citing the potential of an interest rate increase at some point this year as the stimulus to lock into a low fixed rate product now. As ever five-year deals were popular, although some clients are now preferring to opt for a three-year fixed rate as there are some excellent mid-term products out there which are particularly handy for those who may be moving in the next few years, and therefore are looking for the security of fixed rate in the meantime but with a bit more flexibility.
Overall, the fact that prices have risen again locally in the last month is a further indication of consumer confidence in bricks and mortar. Realistically priced properties are selling quickly, particularly as there still aren’t enough homes available, so even though we’re entering the summer period which is normally a little less busy, as yet we’ve not seen a seasonal slow-down.”