Should you sell or should you buy in this most interesting Southampton property market?
I have calculated that at least 407 Southampton house sellers have rented a home to break their house chain in the last 12 months, although at a cost as they face paying many thousands of pounds in rent.
There are a number of reasons behind this. One is because they cannot find another Southampton property to buy amidst a continuing shortage of new Southampton properties coming to the market. Although, there are others who have achieved such a high price for their home they have decided to cash in and are (hopefully for them) waiting for the Southampton property market to drop?
Or will it drop? (More on that later).
Those selling their home have seen the …
average Southampton home rise in value by £6,600 in the
last 12 months.
Yet, if they have had to go into private renting, they have paid for that privilege in the rent they have had to pay.
The average cost of a six-month rental agreement in Southampton is £6,634 meaning accidental Southampton tenants have pumped £2,699,989 into the Southampton rental market in the last 12 months.
The unevenness between the number of properties for sale and demand for them is at its widest since the early 2000’s. Whilst we have seen a slight improvement in the number of properties for sale in Southampton, there are still …
41% fewer homes up for sale today in Southampton,
compared to August last year.
This serious shortage of Southampton property for sale is discouraging some hesitant Southampton homeowners from putting their property on to the housing market, anxious they will not be able to find their next home and will be left renting.
Yet some savvy Southampton homeowners are moving into a rented property as a way to navigate the shortage of properties to buy. If you have someone offering you top dollar for your Southampton home, whilst you will have the hassle of two moves, the increase in value of your Southampton home will more than offset the rent.
Also, when you come to buy your next Southampton home, you will be chain free and in pole position to buy your ‘forever home’, rather than being overlooked for the home because you are sold stc and burdened with a chain.
Yet this trend has made life tougher for long-term Southampton tenants.
On average there were normally 1,420 to 1,700 properties available to rent in Southampton on Rightmove at any one time (pre-pandemic), today there are only 711 available.
To give you an idea of how this has affected the Southampton rental market, with heightened demand and lower supply, demand for rental properties has grown to such an extent …
the average rent in Southampton has grown from £1,106 per month a year ago to £1,214 per month today.
Tenants are suffering from less choice and higher rents in the Southampton property rental market, with few indications it’s going to significantly ease on the run up to Christmas.
So, what is going to happen to the Southampton property market?
Well, those of you that follow me regularly know I write about the Southampton property market in my property blog. If you would like some recent articles I have written about the future of the local property, either drop me a line and I will send you some links to those posts, send me a DM or contact me by telephone.
In the meantime, please do share your thoughts on the matter in the comments.
