Northamptonshire Property Market
Overview for 2011
South Northamptonshire, particularly the triangle between Banbury, Towcester and Daventry has always been a popular spot for young families moving out of London who want excellent schools and villages to choose from without having to pay Cotswold prices. Homes traditionally offer excellent value for money compared to the more famous Cotswolds, we tend to find that once we have introduced clients to this area of Northants, very few disagree with our advice and choose to purchase here.
Last year’s announcement of HS2′s preferred route 3 slicing through the middle of this region has caused many to be concerned about buying in this area. Without a doubt one needs to remain cautious about purchasing near such a potential blight, however there are still many areas not adversly affected by HS2 that should be considered to achieve the ‘country life’ idyll so many crave. The rumour mill has been turning at a rate of knots and the potential blight has caused more upset than the blight itself will probably cause. We have spoken with numerous surveyors, developers and estate agents, the general concensus seems to be that if you own a property less than one mile from the ‘preferred route 3′ then it is likely that the value of your house has been adversely affected, but by how much? No one fully knows the answer to this as it is such a subjective topic, what it comes down to is whether a buyer is willing to take a view on HS2 and what price they are willing to pay and whether the owner is willing to sell at that price.
Without a doubt the last twelve months has proved to be a bit of a roller coaster ride in the Northamptonshire property market. Throughout 2010 stock levels were low causing heavy competitive bidding particularly on the ‘best in breed’ houses. We witnessed some houses achieving 2007 prices whilst other houses languished on the market for months. The start to 2011 has been suprisingly active and it appears that this year may well start off as last year, with continued lack of stock and buyers hungry to purchase.
What does 2011 hold for the property market in Northamptonshire? National newspapers continue to highlight that the national property market is in a downward spiral. We do not foresee a large drop in Northamptonshire property prices, we suspect circa 3-4% at most across the year, with prices starting to stabilise and move upward from 2012.
