YOUhome Blog

Over the New Year period, many of us have spent some time digesting the diverse property predictions now published for 2012 - it's a good starting point if you are considering buying or selling a home.

Bournemouth & Poole property prices could follow many of the national trends identified across the industry. However, we believe that by far the most successful route to buying and selling homes this year will be an intimate knowledge of the local market. It's always good to hear how well the London property market is holding up, but what do we predict here on the South Coast? With several years of local property knowledge and data at YOUhome's fingertips, we feel well-prepared to maximise the best possible results, whatever the market conditions.

We believe there will be many bright spots in our sector locally: new build homes that are well priced and conveniently located, family and small family homes across local areas, town houses, special feature properties and entry-level flats. Previous results show desirable properties tend not to drop in price. If you are selling, does your property have sea views, golf course views, high tech installations, a unique character, development improvement/potential or land? All these features are interesting to buyers today.

Looking at the wider issues driving concern across the sector - namely the Eurozone, bank lending, unemployment and public sector exposure - we know that 2012 will be challenging, so let us capitalise on our local area strengths of lifestyle, education and climate.

We will be working hard this year to match seller expectations with cautious buyer behaviour. We cannot expect transactions to grow by much in 2012, but we do not expect to see extreme price drops either, like the 5%+ falls predicted in some areas of the UK. Our daily buyer registrations tell us that moving home is definitely on the 2012 agenda for many.   

Finally, I mention our Lettings business, as it continues to grow from strength to strength. We are encouraged by the growing number of landlords who choose to minimise risk, and opt for a full property management service through YOUhome. Monthly rental values continue to grow, as does the trend towards home and flat-sharing, which enables tenants to meet these payments.

We feel more than ready to face the challenges of 2012 to contribute to Bournemouth and Poole remaining two of the bright spots for property transactions within the UK.

Tags: property predictions, buying, selling, full property managment