Estate agency claims record offers from national Open House day

Strutt & Parker says it has achieved record annual sales figures from its latest National Open House day on October 8.

It says over 700 properties were displayed in the event with over 1,200 viewings conducted - some £80m in offers were achieved, a figure which the firm says is around £20m above that recorded at its similar event earlier this year, in February.

Properties from Cornwall to Northumberland were involved in the event, which the firm says shows some resilience from the market in the light of the EU referendum result.

“The country house market post-Brexit vote is healthy and there are lots of committed buyers out there. We received approximately £20 million more in offers than in February when we were in the grip of uncertainty surrounding the Brexit vote in June. The success also demonstrates that people have adjusted to the stamp duty changes” claims Sam Trounson from Strutt & Parker’s Cirencester office.

"The housing market after the EU referendum has been under scrutiny, facing predictable uncertainty with London taking most of the impact. It is fair to say that the country market has performed resiliently by comparison, with the waterside and downsizer market looking especially buoyant” says Simon Backhouse, partner at Strutt & Parker Canterbury. 

“On the day of the results, we lost one deal from a client who was spooked and wanted to sit tight but since then he has actually come back to us with the original offer. We are agreeing sales and are still putting houses under offer; motivated buyers are still out there. Using a platform like Open House Day attracts buyers from all over the country” he says.

The initiative started in 2009 with just one Strutt & Parker office, in Kent.

Last month Countrywide held what it claimed was the UK's biggest Open House event, involving 900 branches.