Antony Roberts’ experts are often asked for their opinions on various aspects of the housing and rental markets. Below, is a selection of our comments which appeared in the press in December.
Richmond is the second happiest place to live in Britain after Skipton, according to a new survey by Rightmove, the property portal. Amy Reynolds, head of sales at Antony Roberts, explained why she thought this was the case in The Telegraph: “You’re never far from green space, whether it’s Richmond Park, the towpath, or quiet pockets of nature tucked between neighbourhoods, yet you still have the cafes, independents, and community hubs that give the area its character.” She expanded further in The Daily Mail: “There’s a strong sense of connection here too; people don’t just live in Richmond, they participate.”
Richmond buyers are also too polite to make a lowball offer to sellers says Amy Reynolds in The Times: “Buyers won’t even view a house if it’s just outside their price range: one house at £875,000 didn’t get any viewings, for example. But when the homeowners lowered the price to £850,000, suddenly they had several people through the door and four offers.” She added that buyers would rather wait for the price to drop before viewing, almost as if they were afraid of making an insulting offer.
Halifax reported that the average price of a UK property hit a record high of £299,892 in November, after a marginal month-on-month rise. Amy Reynolds told The Guardian: “The post-budget bounce is real, even when a budget is in late November. Our Saturday diaries are full for all our offices and our most expensive properties have had a new lease of life with viewings booked for most of them.”
Meanwhile, the authoritative, albeit more dated, house price index from the Office for National Statistics reported that annual house price growth decelerated in October, reaching 1.7 per cent, down from September’s 2 per cent. Amy Reynolds told The Independent: “In London, where affordability and sentiment are highly rate-sensitive, even small shifts in expectations can have an outsized impact on activity.”
Property prices in London are set to rise only marginally next year, according to Rightmove, after falling in 2025 as the capital faces continued housing pressure. Amy Reynolds told City AM: “For London buyers, lower interest rates are already feeding through to more competitive mortgage pricing and renewed confidence, which should underpin transaction volumes and support modest price growth, rather than sharp rebound or further correction.”
The Bank of England cut interest rates by a quarter point to 3.75 per cent in December. Amy Reynolds told Mortgage Introducer: “A 25 basis point cut from the Bank of England was almost nailed on, with markets also pricing in the possibility of a further cut early next year. That brings us closer to the widely anticipated neutral state of around 3 to 3.5 per cent.”
ends
