But over-optimistic pricing curbing growth in sales

Whilst the threat of a ‘Help to Buy’ fuelled ‘Housing Bubble’ appears to be a false alarm, the local property market continues to be boosted by the continued growing appeal of Exeter as one of the best places in the UK to live.

After the initial euphoria of the early introduction of phase two of the ‘Help to Buy’ scheme, many would-be first time buyers and first time sellers will have had their hopes dashed with news that 95% mortgages come with a much higher interest rate than they might have budgeted for.

Nonetheless, Exeter continues to attract more buyers from out of the area, competing with local people for what is a stifled supply of property for sale.

At a time of year when one might expect to see signs of a slow-down in the market, we are experiencing healthy volumes of sales and multiple offers on realistically- priced homes

No doubt demand will cool as the temperature falls and we approach the Christmas period but for the moment, anyone looking to sell has a very good chance of realising a good price – particularly with competition falling away, as sellers suffering from ‘vendor fatigue’ go into hibernation for the winter.

Recent Open Houses have seen as many as ten or twelve potential buyers looking at a single property in the space of an hour – with many of them relocating to the area or moving out of rented accommodation having moved-down here months ago – often resulting in multiple offers.

All very positive and hardly surprising that such news is tempting some would-be sellers to be over-optimistic about the value of their properties. As the gap between asking prices and actual sale prices widens, savvy buyers – with all the data they think they need to assess value – are drawn to the more realistically-priced properties and it is this effect that is benefitting a few and curbing what would otherwise be a healthy growth in sales transactions throughout the area. No doubt this will be corrected as more properties come to the market in the New Year but – for the moment it certainly is a good time to sell.