The last few years have been sometimes of a rollercoaster ride for property markets up and down the country and our area is no different. Here we show how prices of different house types have changed relative to one another over time.

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In some parts of the country, the split between houses and flat sales is very extreme while elsewhere there is more of a balance. It primarily comes down to the nature of the area and how densely populated it is. Rural, semi-rural and suburban areas are dominated by houses whereas urban districts are awash with flats. The chart shows the picture in our area.

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When it comes to selling your home, a significant amount of your home’s resale value will depend on what’s happened to the Halifax market as a whole. Here average sales values have risen by 6.3 per cent over the last ten years. However, there are several tactical decisions you can make to push up the final price.

Creating an extra bedroom, perhaps with a loft conversion, offers one of the best possible returns. Although initial costs are not inconsiderable, the relationship between the size of your home by 10 per cent, that could create an extra £14,000 of value to the average seller in Halifax.

Kerb appeal is often overlooked by sellers when they put their house on the marker, yet it is one of the most important ways to both add value to your home and to make it stand out to a first-time viewer. Kitchens also come under buyers’ microscopes, and sometimes a little investment in them goes a long way indeed.

Weighing up the potential cost of any home refurbishments is essential because it has to be a profitable exercise so it’s a good time to seek advice. If you want to find out more about how much value you can add to your home, and what Halifax buyers are looking for, please pop into Protheroe Property who will be happy to help.

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The profile of car ownership is a great signal of the practical needs of residents in the local market. Most households have a car, but the number owned varies enormously based on the type of area. For example if you live in a one bedroom flat in a city you’re much less likely to own a car than if you live in a commuter suburb.

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We wanted to take a look at how overall average prices of flats and houses have changed in the last eight months. This is quite a short timeframe so there’s a fair bit of volatility from month to month but the story it tells is interesting nontheless.

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This chart has indexed the levels of transations for flats and houses over the last eight quarters. That means it takes the actual level of sales at start of the period and converts them to 100, and then you can see the relative changes running up to the present. It should be noted that the smaller the numbers of properties, the more extreme volatility.

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The British press is being so hysterical about the UK property market at the moment, you’d be forgiven for thinking we were back in 2008 again, staring down the barrel of another credit crunch. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Week after week, more statistics come out revealing how bouyant the market is at the moment. Here are just three of the reasons why homeowners in Halifax should be grinning.

The first and main reason to be happy is illustrated very clearly in the chart above. Long term house price growth in the area has been strong, with the average annual rate of growth since 2000 sitting at an admirable 9.4 per cent. The broad base of the market and the solid fundamentals underpinning it mean we expect this to continue in the medium and long term.

The next reason to be happy is the abundance of liquidity in the market. In laymen’s terms, this means that lots of people are buying and selling and the market isn’t in danger of stagnation. As of the fourth quarter of 2017, the date shows that sales now sit at their long-run equilibrium level, that is to say below the 2007 peak above the trough of the credit crunch.

The third reason to be happy is the amount of sanity in the market which has come about due to more grown-up mortgage regulation. The meteoric rise in prices in the area pre-2008 led to price ‘froth’ building up in the market which ultimately caused the 2008 crash. While price growth since 2008 has been less rapid, it is far more sustainable and will save us from another crash.

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A ‘virtual office’ is a term that has become popular recently as more employees are given the option of working from home. By avoiding the ‘daily grind’, property searchers can relieve themselves from the burden of having to look for a home that offers them easy access to their work. Nor do they need to worry about longer commutes if it’s not every day.

In Halifax, all the signs show that local people are working harder than ever. In fact 59.2 per cent of local workers aged 16 to 74 work between 31 and 48 hours per week. More interestingly, 10.2 per cent of the workforce actually work 49 hours or more, which means they’re either working a six day week or working 8am-6pm five days per week.

As the number of people working remotely increases, there will be a greater emphasis on factors like broadband speeds rather than proximity to a transport station. This means that homes located further out of towns and cities could see a spike in popularity as demand rises. Flexible working hours will also afford sellers and buyers more time to focus on selling their home and buying a new one.

Buy-to-let landlords will often look at a property’s proximity to transport when searching for their next investment. Most renters like to rent property that combines both affordability and easy access to their work. As the number of people who blend working from home and travelling into an office increases, landlords can expand their horizons and invest in properties that aren’t in traditional locations.

In summary, there is a clear indication that our approach to the working day is evolving. This is having a roll-on effect on the property market and is helping to shape people’s decisions when it comes to buying and selling homes. If you have any property-related queries, mosey on down to our office, and we’d be happy to answer them, we are based in Dean Clough, Halifax 01422 380013

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