The stats are in ... What happened in the Gravesham Property Market in March 2023?
What's happening in DA11 and DA12 postcodes ? How many properties have come to market and sold and how does this compare to previous years?
Encouragingly the numbers for March are positive when compared to the beginning of the year. Whilst we saw a 22% reduction in the total number of properties available, there was only a 3% reduction in new properties and under a 9% reduction in sold properties.
We compare our figures to 2019 numbers as the last three years have been turbulent, with Covid, a ‘frenzied’ stamp duty free period and political uncertainty.
THE STATS
Given the above, we consider the last ‘normal’ year to be 2019 so when looking at the stats a comparison to 2019 is a good place to start.
Total numbers for DA11 & DA12 for MARCH
Whilst for another consecutive month there has been a reduction across the board in available stock, new properties and sold properties in the DA11 and DA12, the percentage fall has not been as significant.
The first 2 months of the year (Jan and Feb) saw a 10% reduction in new stock coming to the market, and yet March only saw a 3% reduction, indicating that despite the initial ‘fear’ at the start of the year which saw a cautious, ‘wait and see’ attitude, it appears now there is an acceptance, and a carry-on approach. If you want to move you are going to and whilst interest rates have increased this is now being considered the new ‘norm’ after them having been kept unsustainably low for so long.
Its also very positive to see the number of sold properties has fallen by less then 9%, whilst January and February of this year saw over a 20% reduction. This is indication that STOCK IS SELLING which is brilliant news.
Total numbers for DA11 & DA12 for the 1st Qtr. 2023
Looking at the first quarters numbers the percentage reduction of sold properties is over twice the reduction of new properties coming to market which does indicate a ‘slower’ market with more properties coming to market than are being sold. That being said, as mentioned above, Marchs figures are more positive and buck this trend…it will be very interesting to see what April brings!
What does the above tell us?
The quarterly figures would suggest we are moving towards a buyers market, where we will start to see more available properties for buyers to choose from. Any offer put forward by a buyer will need to be acted on quickly if sellers are looking to secure the deal … otherwise with more stock available these buyers will find elsewhere.
With more property than buyers, vendors will need to be realistic with pricing and be prepared to accept offers.