'This is a good time to buy in Chiswick'

Andrew Nunn from Andrew Nunn & Associates, an owner-run estate agency specialising in residential sales, lettings and management within Bedford Park, Chiswick and surrounds, urges property buyers and sellers to take advantage of local market conditions.  

This is a very good time to be looking to buy a property in Chiswick. Demand for property in Chiswick, as with other areas of London, has not surged since the General Election on 7 May in the way that many commentators had predicted and this has created a favourable and benign environment for buyers. This means you can find your next home and agree terms without the fear of being outbid by a plethora of cash buyers.

We believe that the flourishing cycle of the past three to four years has now come to an end. The appetite for London property has diminished because of the low capital growth and very low rental yields available now. These conditions are not attractive to cash or overseas buyers and quick sales of flats and houses are being replaced by buyers with mortgages who are dependent on selling their existing property and who are part of a chain. Now every transaction is taking around five months to complete from start to finish. In contrast, until the summer of 2014, the start-to-finish process took around 10 weeks.

This means we are now seeing local asking prices holding firm and re-aligning – good property is getting good money and excellent property is getting excellent money. Of course, the poorer quality housing stock is attracting lower offers! When times were more buoyant, this hierarchy had gone out of the window.

What has caused this change in the housing market? Commentators have pointed to the changes in stamp duty rates that were announced at the end of last year and the reduced supply of new and good quality housing stock. We believe that the greatest cause, however, has simply been that the previous market cycle has come to a natural end and the market is “simply running out of steam”.

Does this mean it is a bad time to be selling a property in Chiswick? Not at all, September and October could be a good time to sell because of the lack of supply that we have referred to. You will have to keep an eye on the market, however, as conditions could change quite quickly.

If you are ready to buy, Andrew offers the following tips:

1.      Don’t just rely on the property online portals – speak to the agents as there is plenty of property sold “off market” i.e. no publicity

2.      Have your financing/mortgage in place

3.      Have you solicitor in place and ready to get on with the conveyancing

4.      If you have a property to sell in order to buy then engage with the agent who is selling the property you are interested in – this of course keeps us keen!

5.      If buying a flat, check the lease details before agreeing terms – it may just save you wasted time and money  

6.      Check the sellers timing on moving out before offering – again “chains” are becoming prevalent and if you have to move quickly you may just find the sellers can’t/won’t move in accord with your time frame

Andrew and his team based on South Parade in Chiswick, are using this ‘quiet time’ wisely with running additional property services such as managing local properties for busy landlords who don’t have the time to organise practical and administrational tasks themselves. 

This summer has seen Andrew Nunn & Associates sponsor many of Chiswick’s socially responsible charity and community events, including the Bedford Park Festival, St Paul’s World Premier musical ‘Rock in a Hard Place’, the Grove Park Summer Street Party, and The Hogarth’s 60K Charity River Relay Run. Andrew and his team have also recently launched a new high-tech website designed by locals for locals.

Andrew says: “My vision for our new website was to keep things engaging and to use clear images to sell the property, rather than words. Most importantly, it’s designed to work on mobiles, and tablets etc. We wanted it to be really easy to use, stylish too and to offer a great deal of new locally focussed content.”

New website features include Chiswick area guides and information about local events, plus a property valuation tool. There's even an international brokerage network offering advice and contacts for those interesting in investing abroad.

The property valuation tool helps to calculate an estimate of the value of your home, with a member of the team contacting you back within 24 hours.

Newcomers to Chiswick, property-hawks, landlords, investors, local buyers and sellers can visit Andrew Nunn and his team for everything – all bar organising their own laundry!

So if you are thinking of moving and need a quick valuation and advice visit:  www.andrewnunnassociates.co.uk/ or call Andrew's team on 02089951500

Andrew Nunn

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July 23, 2015