Now, the Belsize Park Boxing Day Bounce sounds like a fantastic community gathering where locals can congregate and work off some of the turkey and trimmings from the day before! Someone should organise it!
In this case, however, the Boxing Day Bounce refers to the increase in property shown by prospective buyers between Boxing Day and the return to work in the New Year.
Rightmove states the number of people looking at homes on Boxing Day 2020 was more than 50% higher than the Boxing Day 2019 figure. Rightmove recorded 51 million visits between Boxing Day 2020 and the first working day of 2021.
This is something we have seen in previous years, and with Rightmove publicising it, it is a fairly well-known occurrence.
What is the leading property portal saying?
Tim Bannister, Rightmove’s Director of Property Data comments: “Despite the soaring property market and consequent shortage of choice of homes for sale for prospective buyers, new sellers have given buyers an early Christmas present by dropping their average asking prices by 0.6%. Sellers who come to market this close to the distractions of Christmas often have a pressing reason to sell, so naturally price more attractively to grab the attention of prospective buyers who may be otherwise occupied. We expect this downward price trend to be relatively short-lived, though sellers who are in a hurry will continue to need to attract buyers for most of December as well.”
Tim Bannister also said; “As soon as Christmas Day is out of the way, there’s a boom in people searching for property on Boxing Day, perhaps with time available during the holiday season and resolve to enjoy their next Christmas in new surroundings. That is likely to push prices higher again, and increase the competition from other buyers. Some of those additional buyers will also be new sellers who have held back from launching their property to market until this Boxing Day buyer boom, judging it to be a good time to sell and to move in 2022.”
Bannister adds: “Sellers often wait until January to get their home on the market, but this year agents say that more people are trying to get a head-start on making 2022 their year to move by doing a lot of the prep before the New Year, including having their home ready to market during the Christmas period. Some savvy sellers are planning to get their photos taken before they put up their decorations, so that their property advert doesn’t look dated in January. Sellers can also agree with their agent a date when viewings can start in January if they’re worried about having time to tidy up after Christmas, which would give the agent time to generate interest in their home. Plus, if they’re able to secure a buyer for their home early in the New Year and they are looking to buy again, it puts them in a powerful position to secure their next property.”
Bannister concluded by saying; “In the current market, it’s a real advantage to be a “power buyer”, and have already sold your current home subject to contract when looking for somewhere to buy, putting you ahead when trying to buy another property, where there are other offers already on the table.”
How are house prices in Belsize Park faring?
According to Rightmove, as of December 2021, house prices in Belsize Park are as follows;
“Properties in Belsize Park had an overall average price of £1,249,957 over the last year.
The majority of sales in Belsize Park during the last year were flats, selling for an average price of £913,274. Terraced properties sold for an average of £2,115,226, with semi-detached properties fetching £4,057,857.
Overall, sold prices in Belsize Park over the last year were 9% up on the previous year and 1% up on the 2017 peak of £1,232,989.”
If you would like to arrange an appointment to help you negotiate the local housing market, please contact Stones Residential today by calling us on 020 7483 0685 or emailing belsizepark@stonesresidential.co.uk.
