Andrew Overman, Estate Agency Manager at Chilterns in Thetford, Norfolk, says the volume of ‘out of area’ buyers is up 33% year on year and the interest is mainly from the south. Here, he gives his view on what is happening in south Norfolk and north Suffolk.
According to the Office for National Statistics, the east of England’s house prices rose more sharply than any other area in the country and we have certainly seen the evidence of this from our three branch network covering Thetford (south Norfolk), Brandon & Mildenhall (north Suffolk). According to the report, released in April, there had been an annual increase in prices of 10.7%.
A national newspaper had also confirmed in its property section in February of this year that Thetford had seen the third (joint) highest increase in average house prices in the six months between July 2014 and January 2015 – an increase of 6.22% from £184,459 to £195,935, equalled by Lichfield and South Croydon (6.22%) and only bettered by Barnoldswick, Lancashire (6.23%) and Kenilworth, Warwickshire (6.37%).
According to the Office for National Statistics, private sector rents across the country had risen by 2.1%, with the east slightly under-performing with increases reported as 1.9% in the year leading up to March 2015. I am of the view that private sector rents in Thetford and the immediate surrounds have actually increased above the national average but appreciate this is a very localised view.
Whichever awards ceremony, conference, online webinar or industry conversation I have, one thing remains constant. Agents up and down the country are almost all reporting a “bottle-necking” of the market: a lack of supply and increasing pressures on demand are forcing prices higher.
To add to this, a small section (some 9 miles) of the A11 Norwich to London road became dual carriageway in December last year, literally on the doorstep of my Thetford office. This means a drive to Stansted Airport is now less than an hour and Cambridge is around 35 minutes away by car. You can now drive from Norwich to the continent without ever leaving a dual carriageway.
I believe it is primarily for this reason that the east and particularly Thetford is outperforming the national market trend. The volume of ‘out of area’ buyers registering is 33% up year-on-year, very often those enquiries coming from ‘southern’ buyers attracted to the area because of the lower house prices.
That said, in April we listed more homes to the market than in previous months and we have noticed a steady increase in the volume of sellers willing to commit to the market. Over the course of time, this may lead to a natural ‘levelling’ of property prices in line with the ‘slowdown’ in house price acceleration that was being reported elsewhere in the UK prior to the election.
Follow Andrew Overman on Twitter @chilternsltd or visit www.chilternsestateagents.co.uk
See www.onthemarket.com/newandexclusive. Agents specify exclusivity and are committed to accuracy under terms of use.
