Property Natter - Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right...

This week I reached the point of maximum political saturation. We’re now four weeks into the campaign with less than a fortnight to go and I’m starting to flag.

My daily diet of party politics has reached a dangerously high level and I’m finding myself losing focus and showing signs of irritability. I’ve got sweaty palms, tension headache, feelings of impending doom…and if just one more highly polished face says “Let me be clear” before delivering the most bamboozling casserole of non-sensical drivel, I solemnly swear that I’ll forget my photo ID on polling day.

There! I’ve said it.

We’re not going on a summer holiday

With those symptoms, a GP would probably recommend taking a break – a get-away-from-it-all trip to a sunshine coast somewhere but, apparently, that’s not on the cards either.

According to GetAgent.co.uk, more than one in three estate agents won’t be taking a holiday this summer because expectations are running high that we’ll get a surge in market activity as soon as the election fever breaks and the country can get back to normal.

CEO, Colby Short, says: “The summer period is traditionally the busiest time of year for the UK property market and many agents will be anticipating an uplift in market activity with momentum now building, not to mention the prospect of a rate cut on the horizon.

“As a result, the very best agents will be putting any plans of a well-earned break on hold to ensure they maximise the earning opportunities available to them, whilst also ensuring they have the manpower to do so properly.”

So, no holiday, then.

Colby Short, Co-founder and CEO of GetAgent.co.uk

Climb every mountain, ford every stream

Congratulations to us.  The property sector has been hailed as one of the UK’s most resilient industries.

The huge cost pressures across all businesses left many companies struggling and insolvencies across England and Wales hit a 30-year high, according to money.co.uk.

But while not exactly bucking the trend, the property sector at least remained relatively stable with just a 3.6% increase last year – up to ten times less than that of other industries.

Well done us. (I think.)

If I were a rich man

When the economy takes a hit, everybody suffers – rich and poor alike. This was well demonstrated this week when our friends at Benham and Reeves revealed that from their latest research, the combined value of Royal palaces and residences has fallen by £1bn in the past year.

Apparently, the combined value of the 10 royal residences currently stands at £6.3bn – a decline of 14.3% compared to the same time last year.

Benham and Reeves say one big reason for the decline is that many of the properties are situated in London where the property market has struggled more than most – city-wide average house prices falling by -3.4%.

But the City of Westminster – home to three Royal residences including Buckingham Palace – has seen prices drop by -20.9%. This meant the value of the House of Windsor HQ fell from 3.9bn in 2023 to £3.1bn today.

Buckingham palace

Money for nothing

Worcestershire estate agents, Nichol and Co. hosted their second giant garage sale for householders.

The Big Worcestershire Garage Sale saw thousands of bargain hunters flocking to more than 500 garage sales on more than 125 streets in Droitwich, Worcester, Malvern and surrounding areas in a mass community event.

Sellers made on average £60 through flogging unwanted items but Droitwich Methodist Church raised £300 and the Spectrum Day Centre in Droitwich earned £260 to go towards their Rainbow Festival next month.

Nichol and Co’s MD, Matt Nichol said he and his team were ‘overwhelmed’ by the community response.

“It was humbling to see people socialising, chatting to one another and just having some real fun on what has become a mass family and community day for Worcester,” he said.

They’re planning on making it an annual event. Sounds like a winner to me.

Until next time,

N

If you’ve got a story you’d like me to Natter about, drop me a line at press@estateagenttoday.co.uk