The leading estate agents in the area have seen strong sales in August continuing through September which is certainly good news for the local property market. The summer is traditionally a quieter period with activity not usually increasing until people return from sunnier climes. However August was a very busy month this year with Hicks Hadley having sold more properties than in any other month in the company’s almost 25 year history.

The media is now widely reporting on how the London property market is slowing and this will affect national statistics making it seem like activity is reducing across the board but it’s important to remember that the market in London and the South East is an anomaly to say the least. With house prices increasing at a rate of around 20% per year over the last few years the rest of the country has been left scratching their heads at how such a phenomenon could be sustained. However we are now beginning to see an adjustment which should mean that the gulf between London and the rest of the country is narrowing, if only slightly.

So what does this mean for the local market? Well at this stage probably not much. We have seen a steady increase in activity over the last year or so with more people looking to buy and more properties coming to the market. This has resulted in many properties being on the market for a shorter period of time.

Despite tougher mortgage criteria rules which came into effect last April for the most part buyers are still obtaining the mortgages they need. This was demonstrated by statistics from the council of mortgage lenders which stated that banks and building societies lent more money to homebuyers recently than at any other time in the past six years. Lending institutions are still doing their best to attract new borrowers with fixed term low interest rate mortgages available from a number of the major lenders.

The fact that interest rates have been low for some time perhaps explains why there have been so many more people taking out mortgages recently and with the ongoing housing supply shortage across the country it would appear that now is as good a time as any to buy. As such I don’t see the momentum which we have witnessed locally decreasing any time soon.