Rugby Property Market Update – July 2020

So its been around six weeks since estate agents were granted the opportunity to conduct viewings and market appraisals once again and take part in the ‘new normal’ world that exists since the COVID 19 outbreak, so what has been happening on the rockface of the local premium property market?

Frankly I can’t recall being as busy as I have in recent years! We have certainly seen, as I predicted in my earlier reports, the result of the ‘pent up’ interest that I expected after lockdown was eased. In just 6 weeks we have agreed sales on over £12,670,000 of property, with a remarkable surge in activity. All of these homes were sold based on pre-Covid valuation and with government guidelines in place we have been quite selective in allowing serious buyers the opportunity to view, encouraging them of course to view a property video prior to viewing, which given that all our listings have a professionally produce video, has actively encouraged buyers to ensure the the first viewing is effectively like a second viewing, which has proved very fruitful and less time consuming for our sellers.

More reassuring is the upsurge in new stock that has quickly replaced the sales agreed, we have some absolutely stunning homes coming to the market and with a huge sea change in buyers requirements that include work from home offices and outside space, I’m pleased to say that many of Fine & Country Rugby’s new listings will supply this new demand.

So what about the wider market? It seems that it is not only the Midlands that is reporting a positive change in activity, the premium market has been thriving across the country with most sales holding up during lockdown. According to the Dataloft Home Mover Survey, 95% of vendors and 92% of buyers both intend to continue their sales and search for a new home post lockdown. All regions apart from London are reporting increases in sales agreed compared to 2019.

The Daily Mail reports that sales of higher-value homes priced at £1million-plus have rebounded strongly in recent weeks as buyers look to change their lifestyles, this is typical of the type of buyer that we have experienced in recent weeks. Our buyers rationale has changed significantly and whilst our commuter links locally always remain an attraction it is now the ‘work from home’ buyer that has started to search for premium homes in Warwickshire, Northamptonshire and Leicestershire, with outside space and peace and quiet high on the buyers agenda.