Chelsea top buyer market amid stock lows
Chelsea is the top buyer market at the moment as the country continues to experience a historic low of property stock.
Around just one in every ten Chelsea properties for sale are marked as sold subject to contract, according to Rightmove.
Seven out of the top ten buyer markets are all in London, while the top market for sellers was in Grays, Essex.
Rightmove said it was common in high-end London for homes to stay up for sale for longer until a buyer gets an offer close to their desired price. The average asking price for a Chelsea property is £1.8m.
Stock levels are historically low with 15 properties per agent across the UK. However, property experts are optimistic that the supply will be replenished over the next few months.
Rightmove said the number of homeowners asking agents to come out and value their homes through its platform had risen 14% compared to October 2020.
High-end flats were the best type of properties for buyers looking to negotiate on price. Just 14 per cent of flats for sale at £1m or above are SSTC, and one in five flats in the £750,000 to £1m price bracket.
Rightmove’s director of property data Tim Bannister said: “Sellers have had a better chance this year than at any time over the past decade of finding a buyer for their home, and new properties coming up for sale haven’t been able to keep pace with buyers who have been snapping them up.”
Higher price brackets have performed strongly, aided by the temporary stamp duty exemption threshold increasing to £500,000.
“The race for space is still a critical need for many, but smaller homes are now coming back into the most competitive property types, which is helping to sustain demand in the lower priced brackets” Bannister added.