Exeter housing market trends 2018

News Desk
Authored by News Desk
Posted Saturday, January 20, 2018 - 1:38pm

Despite the overall economic gloom surrounding Brexit, it seems that people in the south-west can look forward to a housing market that is enjoying relative stability.

Recently published reports suggest that there were price gains of 4.9% in the south-west of the UK during 2017. Whilst house prices in London crawled to a modest rise of just 1%, it seems that cities like Exeter are behind the newfound optimism in the south-west’s housing market.

Across 2017 we saw Exeter’s property types of all kinds enjoying a boost in sales prices. Compared to prices in 1995, we have seen detached homes gain a value of 280%, whereas the city’s apartments’ values have skyrocketed by an astonishing 422%

Although the average price for a house in Exeter is now over £250,000, the city has become increasingly attractive to first-time buyers who are taking advantage of recently introduced government legislation such as the Help to Buy scheme.

In addition to this, the recent removal of the stamp duty has also helped open up the market to young buyers so that even many Londoners are considering a move to the south-west.

This has helped to introduce a degree of fluidity into the Exeter housing market, but it’s clear that many new homes need to be built to cater to this newfound demand. Despite the good intentions of regional housebuilders like Barratts, there is still some way to go before the government’s target of 300,000 new homes each year will be met.

Whilst Exeter is surrounded by considerable amounts of sites of natural beauty, property firms like Red Row have succeeded in building new developments like The Harringtons. These four-bedroom properties are able to enjoy fantastic transport links, and are also conveniently located for exploring the attractions of the nearby city centre.

There is still the question of whether the market is flexible enough to cater to the demands of those living in the Exeter area. Despite brands like GoodMove offering individuals a chance to sell their house with increased speed and convenience it has been felt that there remains plenty of stumbling blocks that hinder fluidity within the housing market.  Selling a house at auction is always worth considering for anyone struggling to sell using traditional methods.

But as 2018 could be the year where the government makes good its plans to implement a ban on letting agency fees, it’s hoped that this could encourage Exeter’s large student population to consider staying within the city rather than returning home.

However, it must be stated that Exeter will not be completely immune from the predicted economic slowdown that will affect the whole of the UK in 2018.

An interest rate hike of 0.25% is predicted in spring and this could dissuade anybody from thinking about taking out a tracker mortgage. And with inflation continuing to outpace salary rises, it seems that the housing market will struggle to adapt to these tough conditions.

But as long as Exeter continues to be one of the UK’s most attractive places to live, it’s hoped that our city’s housing market can sustain these formidable challenges.

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