Property market comment from Richard Stovold

The word unprecedented has been thrown around somewhat frequently of late – you may well be sick of it but there really is no other way to describe this time we are living through.

Never before has the entire world stood still as we try and prevent the spread of a deadly virus and attempt to navigate the new sense of normal that has been forced upon us.

After a 10-week period, when the property market was forced into lockdown, we have seen a huge rise in buyers coming out of London, looking to move into Surrey & Hampshire. Buyers are serious and they are moving quickly.

While we might not have ever been in these circumstances before, the property market has been through similar downturns – and recovered.

At Seymours, we have been proud to serve the community within which we work for over 25 years and during that time we have traversed many ups and downs including the financial crash of 2009 – a period commentators continue to use as a comparison to current conditions.

However, as the property market begins to cautiously open its doors for business again, there are considerable signs that there will be a rapid bounce back and the government’s decision to allow the market to re-open in mid-May, somewhat earlier than perhaps expected, has helped push things forwards with haste.

There are also marked differences to previous recessions which should be noted. For example, house prices at the start of 2020 and in the lead up to the pandemic were modest (verses being more erratic in the lead up to the 2009 crash) and interest rates remain low.

Throughout lockdown Seymours was one of the estate agents which managed to continue supporting its clients through online viewings and valuations, meaning we have been able to stay ahead of the game in the race to catch up with the backlog of sales.

So, while there are still elements of uncertainty and the terrain may well remain rocky for a little while longer, the evidence suggests that this rapid downturn will be followed by an equally swift recovery.