July, 2020
As the UK starts to ease out of lockdown it is a good time to look back on our business over the past few months. During the lockdown in March and April, the main focus of our business was to ensure all existing clients; including vendors, landlords and tenants were kept up-to-date and safe in their homes. Almost all sales paused until the Government announced the re-opening of the property market in mid-May.
As we cautiously came back to work we expected an upsurge in demand, however, we didn’t quite imagine the numbers we would see. During June 2020, there has been some astonishing results at Naylor Powell. Across the 4 branches, our buyer and tenant registrations were 49% higher than the same period in 2019. These registrations included tenants and prospective buyers all looking for property in the Gloucestershire region. Seeing this type of demand return has been hugely uplifting for our team and a great insight into the positivity of the Gloucestershire property market.
The upsurge in applicant registrations has resulted in an increase in property viewings and valuations. Our Lettings team who are used to being very busy in ‘normal’ times, have witnessed higher than usual demand for property to let. Even before the confirmed easing of lockdown we were receiving a huge surge of enquiries which have subsequently lead to over 40% more new tenancies being signed compared to the same period in 2019.
Our sales teams have secured sales with vendors achieving on average 97% of the asking price. Competitive mortgage deals are still available, and solicitors are finding new ways to work through the pandemic to ensure these sales successfully reach completion. We have completed 35% more valuations both in person and virtually than the same period last year and agreed 15% more sales than the same period last year.
During this time, we have also invested in new technology including 3D virtual tours for every home listed for sale with Naylor Powell. At a time when we must ensure only serious buyers physically view a property this is an important tool. We are delighted to have already seen some very positive results from this investment.
It would be a untrue to say the last few months has not been a huge challenge for our business when no one knew how long the pause in the property market would last for, however, the latest results has proved there is still an enormous demand for property in the Gloucestershire market which is very encouraging.
What we have learnt over the past few months is that we have a fantastic team who are always willing to go above and beyond to help all our clients. Communication is key by keeping in regular contact with vendors and reassuring landlords that their property portfolios are in safe hands. The feedback we have received from these clients has been wonderful and reassuring that we have managed this tricky time the best we could have done.
For all property enquiries please call your local Naylor Powell branch:
Cheltenham 01242 252699
Gloucester 01452 398010
Newent 01531 828970
Stonehouse 01453 827640
Lettings 01452 398010
Property Management 01452 504813
