Cotswold Property Market Update – by Tom Hayman-Joyce

In the March issue of Cotswold Life Magazine, I discussed a busy market, and predicted prices would increase by 10% in 2021 on top of the 6% increase of 2020. At time of writing, in early March, I was concerned my prediction was ambitious, however three months on, it appears it may be cautious.

We have seen the availability of properties to buy return to normal levels and demand from locals and London buyers remains high – we have twice as many buyers looking now as we normally do. Interestingly the numbers of London buyers starting their search has not tailed off with more and more continuing to seek a move to the Cotswolds.

We are observing an uplift in the number of first-time buyers in the market, taking advantage of the 95% Government mortgage guarantees. Investors are investing in the Cotswolds, for its stability and long term capital gains, be it holiday lets or buy to lets.

Some of the fever pitch heat is coming out of the market, with buyers biding their time and waiting for another suitable property, rather than jumping into competitive bidding and paying above market value.   

Moving forward I see a positive outlook, with steady and continued price growth in the Cotswold market for at least the next two to three years.  

Usually when the sales market is performing well, the letting market does the opposite and vice vera. Contrary to normal, which feels quite apt now, the letting market is performing very well too.

There is a severe shortage of properties available to rent, this is driving higher rents and improving yields for investors. Tenants who have benefitted from lower moving costs due to the Tenant Fee Act are now feeling the pinch again. Part of this can be attributed to the influx of those relocating from cities who rent as they search to buy. Part attributed to landlords selling their investments because of rapidly increased legislation on the private rented sector driving letting costs up. We predict this seesaw will balance, with landlords returning to the market as the increasing rents begin to balance and outweigh the additional costs.   

Please contact Tom Hayman-Joyce and the Hayman-Joyce team in Moreton-in-Marsh on 01608 491081 or moreton@haymanjoyce.co.uk