Blog Post
Liverpool Property Market - Summer 2018 Update
I was recently reading a report
by Rightmove that a North South Divide has started to appear in the UK property
market – so I wanted to see if Liverpool was falling in line with those
thoughts. In the North, there are 7.12%
less properties on the market than 12 months ago, whilst in contrast, in the
South, there are 14.7% more properties on the market than 12 months ago.
With the decline in the number of properties for sale in the North
compared to 12 months ago, that means the North is more of a sellers’
market. However, on the other side of
the coin, there is a significant rise in buyer choice in all of the Southern
regions, showing there are signs of a buyers’ market, which in some markets is
a driving force for a buyers’ market and some downwards price pressure.
So, looking closer to home at asking prices and the number of homes on the market. In the North West region, according to Rightmove, the average asking prices of new to the market properties are 4.9% higher than 12 months ago and 1.1% higher over the last month. Now I must stress, this is asking prices – not what is happening to actual property values. Also, regionally, there are 4.1% less properties on the market than 12 months ago.
Type | Properties for Sale 12 months ago | Properties for Sale Today | Change |
Detached Property in Liverpool | 945 | 905 | -4% |
Semi Detached Property in Liverpool | 2,051 | 1,933 | -6% |
Terraced/Town House in Liverpool | 2,051 | 1,626 | -21% |
Apartments in Liverpool | 2,815 | 3,398 | 21% |
(NB There are a handful more Building plots and other types of property that can’t be placed into the four category’s ... and it’s those that make up the total numbers in the paragraph above the table)
Although these figures don’t tell the whole story because in certain areas of Liverpool, certain types of properties (particular locations and Primary school catchment areas) are in short supply. This has caused some frustration with buyers of those types of properties with this lack of supply, which in turn has sparked some very localised asking price growth within those hot spot areas, although sometimes to levels where sellers optimism turns into silly over the top asking prices.
If you are planning to sell your home or buy to let investment, the key for determined sellers is to set your asking price correctly from the start. It’s so vital to be competitive to attract buyers. Everyone has access to three main property portals (Rightmove, On the Market and Zoopla) so can easily compare your property against similar ones. When you do search these portals, make sure you ask the website to show properties that are sold subject to contract as well to check what properties are selling for in your neighbourhood. Unless you have something highly unusual or unique, this perhaps isn’t the best market to set an optimistic asking price in hoping to find someone who would pay that silly price.