Should you sell or should you buy in this most interesting Hounslow property market?
I have calculated that at least 15 Hounslow 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 Hounslow property to buy amidst a continuing shortage of new Hounslow 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 Hounslow property market drop?
Or will it drop? (More on that later).
Those selling their home have seen the…
average Hounslow home rise in value in the last 12 months by £40,900.
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 Hounslow is £3,598, meaning accidental Hounslow tenants have pumped £114,770 into the Hounslow 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 Hounslow, there are still …
13% fewer homes up for sale today in Hounslow, compared to August last year.
This serious shortage of Hounslow property for sale is discouraging some hesitant Hounslow 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 Hounslow 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 Hounslow home, whilst you will have the hassle of two moves, the increase in value of your Hounslow home will more than offset the rent.
Also, when you come to buy your next Hounslow 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 Hounslow tenants.
On average there were normally 340 to 420 properties available to rent in Hounslow on Rightmove at any one time (pre-pandemic), today there are only 171 available.
To give you an idea of how this has affected the Hounslow rental market, with heightened demand and lower supply, demand for rental properties has grown to such an extent…
the average rent in Hounslow has grown from £1,275 per month a year ago to £1,302 per month today.
Tenants are suffering from less choice and higher rents in the Hounslow 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 Hounslow property market?
Well, those of you that follow me know I regularly write about the Hounslow 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.
