Jennie Hancock, founder and director of West Sussex and Hampshire buying agency Property Acquisitions
Three quarters of existing stock is still overpriced
High quality, well-priced homes are still hard to come by in the South Downs, especially the ever-popular golden triangle between Chichester, Midhurst and Petworth. Around three quarters of the houses currently available are ‘old chestnuts’ which have been on the market for some time yet remain stubbornly overpriced.
Sellers are holding out in the hope that more buyers will emerge in the spring who may be willing to pay what they’re asking, but it’s a buyer’s market and they are only committing when they see genuine value.
Buyer competition will increase over the next 3 – 4 months, but sellers of properties which have been on the market for some time should still expect a hard negotiation to get a sale over the line.
Strong pipeline of new spring stock emerging
The January blues are subsiding and I’ve noticed new sellers coming to market now, or preparing to in the next few weeks, are being far more realistic about the current market level and listening to the advice of their agents.
Buyers want new stock, and encouragingly, we’re now beginning to see some good quality houses coming through which are being quietly shown off market prior to going on market when the weather improves. Just this morning I’ve been given the nudge on two fantastic houses which absolutely nail the brief for one of my clients looking in the South Downs National Park – and they’re properly priced. I’m confident we’re going to start to see more deals being done.
More big country houses could be divided up
The properties that are really sticking at the moment are the big country houses, because they’re often a bottomless pit of money and today’s buyers are nervous about taking on the high ownership costs. Maintaining, heating and running a country pile today is for the super-rich, and even they often prefer a newer property which is energy-efficient and easy to maintain.
I expect we’ll see more planning applications being made to divide big country houses up and sell them as smaller homes. Buyers want the heritage, period features and wonderful gardens – and the cache of owning a slice of history – but on a more manageable scale.
Grade 2 listed Lock House in West Sussex is one example of a large 10-bedroom country home which has failed to sell as a single residence and an application has now been made to convert it into three separate houses and a cottage. If the planning application is approved, providing the conversion is done sympathetically, those smaller homes will be much more saleable in today’s market.
