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Good news for Hertfordshire homes, says Belstone Home's MD
Trevor Britton, managing director at Belstone Homes explains why there is light at the end of the tunnel for the Hertfordshire housing market.
“It may come as a surprise to many to learn that in March, when the Halifax reported that house prices had fallen 2.5% in a month, the average property price in Hertfordshire was at an all time high of £256,172, an annual increase of 7.1% and a monthly increase of 0.5%.
“I am not about to suggest that the market has not changed since last year, because it has, but the major change has been in sales volume rather than actual property prices – in March, whilst the average price was at an all-time high, property sales in Hertfordshire reached 1,090, roughly half of the number sold six months before in September.
“There are two things affecting sales volume: credit and confidence.
"The days of reckless lending by mortgage providers have passed, thus making it more expensive for people to get a mortgage and, with such economic and political uncertainty, both buyers and sellers are being deterred from entering into property transactions.
“But there is light at the end of the tunnel: large mortgage lenders such as Halifax are beginning to cut fixed rates to below 6%, whilst estate agents have reported that the current market is leveling out.
“Due to its proximity to the capital and its transport links to the rest of the country, there will always be demand for new homes in south Hertfordshire.
“Despite the constant predictions by analysts, there is no way of determining exactly when people will regain confidence in the market and start buying and selling in the same numbers that we witnessed in 2006 and 2007, but the fact remains that the property market is cyclical and it will recover – it’s just a matter of when. “
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