The buoyant property market in Co Down felt the impact as we took some major steps back to normality in the last quarter of 2021.
hilst these lifestyle changes saw a dip in the numbers of houses coming onto the market, there was no denting the healthy property values or demand.
The average cost of a house in Co Down in the last quarter of 2021 was up by 11.7% on the same period in 2020.
John Minnis of John Minnis Estate Agents has offices covering the whole of the county.
He says the supply and demand issues which have dogged the market since it reopened after the first lockdown in the summer of 2020, proved a particular problem during the final three months of last year.
He explains: “September saw the kids going back to school for the first time in two years which was a real upheaval and houses stopped coming onto the market for most of that month.
“Then we had people who had been working from home for two years going back to the office two or three days a week which was another upheaval in terms of properties coming onto the market.
“Seasonally September and October are good months for the property market and then it slows around the middle of November and coming up to Christmas.
“Christmas came and went and then property started to get registered really quickly.
“Usually, January is flat, and things start to pick up in February but as soon as we were back after Christmas, properties started to get registered really quickly. I can see it being a busy spring.”
Despite this unusual activity and a continued increase in demand for properties in the region, John insists the price rise of 11.7% is not unusual.
He says: “I think it’s ‘steady Eddie’ for Northern Ireland. These increases don’t frighten me. I don’t want to see a bust, but I don’t like the dramatising either.
“At 11.7% of an increase, the figures are a bit better than normal but not frighteningly so. Usually, we would be expecting rises of between 6 and 8% in Northern Ireland.”
That said, demand is still out stripping supply right across Co Down where every property handled by John Minnis in the past year has attracted buyers from overseas.
No one part of the county is proving more popular than another, with houses at a premium from Bangor on the north coast, through the Ards peninsula, Strangford and along the south down coast to Newcastle and the Mournes.
Detached properties are the most sought after and have risen in value by an average 7.34%, up from £278,875 in December 2020 to £299,346 in 2021.
An influx of overseas buyers is making an already competitive market even more difficult for locals on the move.
John says: “There is a huge demand for family houses and it’s not just local people who are interested.
“No matter what type of property we put on the market we always have someone from outside Northern Ireland interested.
“They are from all round the world and in the last two years we have had a lot of English families.
“They are coming here for the quality of life and education and because they can now work remotely and still get their English wage.
“It’s not unusual to see houses going for more than 10% of the asking price if a bidding situation commences and bidding is now quite common.”
John hasn’t seen any impact yet from the rising cost of living but feels that it will inevitably have a bearing on the market.
He adds: “There has been no let-up in demand but anyone with half a brain can see that rising fuel and food prices are bound to have an effect at some stage.”
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