As temperatures soar, the burning question is (no pun intended) is the property market in Northampton as hot as the weather or is it set to cool down?
The housing market is always a hot topic, its something that all property owners are interested in.... "is the market up, is it down, is Brexit (sorry to mention the B word) or Boris (there's the other B word) going to have an affect on the value of my property?" There's absolutely no doubt that the decision of the 52% to leave the UK has sown seeds of caution into the house buying British Public. Property prices grew at a rapid rate from 2012 to mid 2018, and as the confusion of Brexit set in, so did a flatline in house prices leading to a pretty stagnant Northampton housing market.
There has been a noticeable slow down in house sales since Mach of this year, compared to the same time in 2018. I think this is much to do with Vendors holding out for near asking prices or being mislead by over-valuing Agents that their property is worth a lot more than it actually is! This is the oldest trick in the book for Agents targeted for the number of properties they list each week by the way, be careful not to be fooled by them. I used to work for a Company who adopted that very approach to converting valuations... "Value high and get them signed up for 24 weeks, we will reduce after 6 weeks!" my Sales Manager roared in the morning meetings, I never got on particularly well working for that company... surprisingly !
The encouraging news is, over the last month or so we have started to see more activity, buyers are out in numbers viewing properties, and they are offering, but not necessarily offering what the vendor is expecting. The industry press have been shouting from the rooftops that its a buyers market, and boy have they listened. Slowly Vendors are realising that if they want to move, they've got to be willing to negotiate with buyers. thinking outside the box is key, if you have to accept a slightly lower offer on your property, who's to say you can't make a slightly lower offer on the one you want to buy?
Being the type of person who's always looking for a solution with a positive outcome, I would advise if your property hasn't sold and your agents feedback is that its a great property, but too expensive, or you're getting a few offers slightly under what you originally were willing to accept ( if you're not getting any feedback....change Agents pronto) then give consideration to agreeing the sale at a slightly lower price. Your Agent should be the expert, they should know how much your property will sell for, listen to them and listen to the feedback they're giving you.
Its rather like seeing an amazing handbag ( in my world) that's just that wee bit too pricey but you've been looking at it and longing to have to slung over your shoulder for weeks, and then, just as you were about to give up hope...it goes into the sale! 
As an Agent, there is noting worse than having a property on your books knowing that you have done everything possible to try and find a buyer for your lovely vendor, who's home is lovely and you've had offers on it, but they won't budge on their bottom line. If the property doesn't sell and proceed to exchange of contracts, the Agent doesn't get paid one single penny, if you've paid an Agent upfront fees, you should question their motivation for actually finding you a buyer.
Property prices have been artificially inflated in recent years and in my opinion as a local property expert, I think this period of price correction is just what the Doctor ordered.
As for the Boris effect on the housing market, ask me in a few months...
If you need me, I'll be in the freezer
All the best ….. Sally
