With the sun shining brightly across the green spaces of South London, the holiday season and the summer heat setting in, you could be fooled into thinking that people have better things to do than hunt for property?
Gary Howorth, Sales Manager at our Putney office, tells how this is not necessarily the case. Whilst it may be surprising, this can be a very busy time of year for the property market. The limited availability of properties to buy in London compared to the high demand (we currently have 76 buyers registered for every one available property in our Putney office), means that buyers are making themselves available to view properties as and when they come to the market irrespective of the time of year. It is also a common misconception that everyone heads out of the summer in one mass exodus. It is in fact rare that any more than 20% of London's workforce is away at any one time - and let's not forget that the majority of us can only get away for up to two weeks at a time - not two months.
Sellers' chances of success are often further enhanced by the conditions they are selling in. Most people would tend to agree that everything looks better with the benefit of summer sunshine and extended light hours. With window boxes and gardens in full bloom the temptation to upgrade to a balcony, roof terrace or garden for al fresco dining and barbeques is strong. Even properties lacking outdoor space look brighter and more inviting during the summer months, making this a fantastic time to showcase your property in its best possible light - literally.
We also find that we are even busier than usual during weekends and evenings during the summer months as the longer daylight hours tend to draw more people out on viewings, as opposed to the temptation to hibernate over the winter. That said, supply and demand does mean that we do see steady activity all through the year but rather than thinking that summer is not the best time to catch potential buyers' attention, as you can see there are several factors that make it in fact a great time to put your property on the market.
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