Wellingborough Property Market Update – March 2023

I’ve taken a look at the latest data available from ZooplaPro to see if we can spot any trends in the Wellingborough property market.

644 properties were for sale at some point in February 2023, which is 100 (18.4%) more than the same time in 2022. Not only were more properties on the market, asking prices now average £275,527, which is £18,576 (7.2%) higher than they were a year ago. However, the percentage of properties sold in February 2023 was 10.7%, lower than the previous month when 12.4% were sold and 14% in February last year (though this is the highest figure I have since collecting the from January 2021).

The average asking price of all properties for sale in Wellingborough has dropped for two consecutive months, though only by £2,230 (0.8%).

Asking prices of properties new to the market have increased to £276,393 after a dip last month, but still £21,365 (7.2%) lower than October 2022 and £21,791 (7.3%) lower than the peak of December 2021.

Average asking prices of properties in Wellingborough are beginning to dip as there are an increased number of vendors who have reduced their asking price.

For the whole of 2021, just 2.5% of properties had a price reduction.

In the first half of 2022, this was 3.3%

In the second half of 2022, this was 6.4%

For the first two months of 2023, it stands at 9.9%.

This is an indication that the market is correcting itself, and I believe this will continue for a while yet (possibly beyond the end of 2023).

However, there is some better news when we look at the average asking price of SOLD properties.

 

The asking price of sold properties increased by £20,085 (8.9%) from January to February. Likely due to more buyers coming to the market after the Christmas period and the reduction in interest rates for mortgages, leading to more affordable borrowing.

There is still quite a big disparity of £30,244 (12.3%) between the asking price of new properties for sale versus sold properties. I believe this gap still needs to reduce by either increasing buying power or asking prices falling for a stable market to emerge.

In all likelihood, I think that mortgage rates are going to be about as low as they will be for a while, which means asking prices will need to come down a little further – around 5-10% – so that there will be enough buyers (not just those lucky enough to be able to get a great rate) who are able to fulfil the supply of homes.

If asking prices were to drop by 10%, this would put them at £247,974, or around the same price they were in November 2021 (£251,019).

The Rental Market

The average asking price for a property to rent in Wellingborough now stands at £825. That is £83 (11.2%) higher than 12 months ago and £122 (17.4%) higher than January 2021.

Mortgage rates are increasing, regulation on rented properties is increasing and the recent changes in capital gains tax and the scrapping of tax relief on buy-to-let mortgages are all driving some landlords to sell up and leave the rental market entirely, which will ultimately affect supply negatively.

According to research carried out by Simply Business, 61% of landlords sold a property in 2022 or are planning on selling a rental property in the near future with only 23% of landlords saying that they intended to purchase an investment property to rent out.

This could lead to supply and demand issues, ultimately resulting in higher rents. Last month, Zoopla predicted rent rises to slow over 2023, but still rise by around 5%.