W4 – Chiswick Property Market Update March 2023

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Chiswick Estate Agent, Horton and Garton consider the latest local market data and the outlook for the month ahead (Ad)

Now two months into the year, how is the Chiswick and wider West London property market shaping up and what is the outlook for the Spring? Horton and Garton explore the latest local market trends.

Chiswick Focus

Bucking the trend of the wider London property market, the W4 area has seen sustained demand for high-quality homes and an acute shortage of properties available to buy. Where prices are adjusting, certain homes in Chiswick might be marginally affected but overall, the continued imbalance and lack of homes for sale is ensuring prices are maintained.

Off market property transactions are accounting for a large proportion of all sales agreed by the Horton and Garton Chiswick office with sellers often preferring to sell quietly away from the pressures of openly marketing.

West London Market activity

At a headline level, the most recent reports from Zoopla and Rightmove are indicating that the UK property market is building up momentum in 2023 following the sudden slow down in 2022.

Rightmove has reported that the number of buyers contacting agents on average across the country had increased by 55% in January. And this was reflected at a local level with our branches reporting around a 40% increase in new buyers registering their interest in February.

Zoopla has been a little more conservative in their commentary, predicting that the remainder of the year will see steady levels of activity, with the numbers for 2023 currently tracking the activity seen in 2018.

Property prices

The latest key housing market indices, which provide insight from data recorded in January 2023 and December 2022, have shown that there was a slight negative impact on price growth. Nationwide reported UK property prices falling by 0.6% in January and the ONS recorded a monthly average price fall of 0.4% in December 2022. This is not the drastic shift some forecasters would have had us believe in at the end of 2022 and sets the tone for a calmer marketplace.

There’s no doubt that house prices have endured some adjustment in recent months after a period of extended, and in parts over-inflated growth due to shortage of homes for sale.

In the coming months we expect to see these figures stabilise, giving buyers and sellers greater clarity when ageing appropriate purchase prices.

With sellers now setting their asking prices at realistic levels, and buyers returning to the market, in recent weeks we have seen viewing numbers begin to increase and the number of offers put forward doubled in February.

Is now the right time to move?

With an increase in the number of homes for sale and the greater availability and lower costs of mortgage products many buyers are wondering if now is the right time to move.

Whilst it is impossible to time the market, there is currently good opportunity for those moving locally. As forementioned there is greater choice for those buying, this increase in the number of homes for sale has resulted in the property market moving at a slightly slower pace than seen throughout 2022.

As demonstrated in this chart from Rightmove, from listing, it is taking an average of 74 days to find a buyer for a home for sale.

Those seeking property to rent will welcome news of a less frantic London rental market. Though there continues to be a shortage of properties available to rent, it is less severe, and prices are now stabilising, albeit that national asking rents have increased by 9.7% annually. The latest data shows that the rate of growth has reduced from 3.2% in Q3 2022 to 0.9% in Q4 2022.

Moving home in 2023

If you’re planning on moving home in 2023 our team of local property experts would be delighted to assist.

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March 2, 2023