It happens every year but it still surprises me!

February 9, 2015 by Rob Kahl

It happens every year but it still surprises me! Obviously December is a particularly quiet time in the housing market and you hope and pray that it will pick up in the new year.

The first week in January was slow and as ever I never learn and I panicked, thinking it was all going to be doom and gloom for the rest of the year but once everybody had settled in to 2015 it got going with a bang!

It has been crazy here over the last few weeks with hundreds of new applicants, sales valuations, landlords enquiries and pushing current running sales to exchange and completions.

There seems to be a new enthusiasm and confidence with everybody and everything involved in the property market and it looks like it should be here to stay.

Interest rates are still extremely low and look like they are going to stay that way for some time, mortgage lending rates are the cheapest they have been for years, new stamp duty thresholds have freed up certain price banded properties, pension reforms mean that pensioners could be interested in purchasing investment properties and with a general election looming this year nothing major is going to change for some time.

Along with the renewed popularity in Leigh on Sea it looks like 2015 will be a bumper year. During the latter part of 2014 we were again featured in a survey in The Times rating us in the top 10 of places to live in the country.

They cited things like how good the commute was to London, excellent schools, low crime rate, relative affordability of property compared to other commuter areas like Surrey and Hertfordshire together with the overall well being feeling of living by the sea it makes our area a highly desirable area to live.

Now I am biased, working and living in Leigh, but I have to agree fully. The popularity of the town seems as strong as ever and with developments like Bellsands and Grand Corner completing this year it will surely only be good for the town.

Even developments like Nirvana on Westcliff seafront look like they might finally get finished. After years of abandonment and indecision the shock news the David Lloyd has bought the properties was a welcome announcement for everyone, knowing that it will eventually be completed and the apartments sold.

So I think there is reason to be optimistic for 2015, the property market is strong and that gives everyone confidence to go out and enjoy everything that Leigh has to offer.

Ths article is by Rob at Scott & Stapleton Estate Agents
Tel: 01702 47 11 55