Those of us who live and work in Harrogate know that besides our wonderful Georgian and Victorian architecture , the breath taking Stray and world famous Betty tea rooms we have a very robust and resilient property marketplace. Our marketplace never took a beating during the major 2008 financial crisis and even now during these awful / heart breaking times of the Covid 19 crisis we are still listing and selling homes whilst our tenants are moving within the governments strict safety first directives) into new rental accommodation.
Not for nothing is Harrogate known as the ‘Teflon Town’ of Yorkshire
Our opinion on how things will play forward, from a property prospective , is being sought on a daily basis by our many past/present clients along with our professional associates in the building/developing/new build sectors. In brief we think Harrogate will recover and rebound well and in boxing terms – after taking a enforced ‘standing count’ – will come out fighting as early as July.
It’s reasonable to ask us why we are cautiously optimistic?
Firstly we need to look at our local marketplace running strongly up to the General Election and which surged powerfully after most of the Brexit uncertainties were swept away. This year we sold and rented a record number of houses during January and February. Secondly , although the Covid 19 crisis is doing considerable damage to the national economy , the treasury is pumping a huge amount of money into the same economy to stabilize things. Simple logic dictates that Whitehall must recognise that unless the housing market is reignited then a strong UK wide economic recovery is just not possible. Will the Government soon introduce some sort of SDLT (Stamp Duty) holiday and rejig the ‘Help to Buy’ scheme as a necessary stimulus? We think they will.
The Bank of England has already cut the base rate to 0.1% and the Lenders (as usual being ultra-cautious – most have already most pulled out of 95% mortgages and raised the loan to value (LTV) thresholds) still need to lend.
Some things never change in Harrogate ‘property bubble’.
As always Sellers need to continue to set a realistic asking price so that Buyers can buy at the right price . Folk buying and selling inside Harrogate and the surrounding villages can achieve a natural and mutually beneficial financial balance. The same understanding is still apparent in our strong Rental marketplace and our Landlords, almost without exception, are receiving their rents in full and on time.
So what is the bottom line?
The reality is that people will still need to move, to take up new jobs ,to upsize or downsize and to buy (or rent) in the catchment area of a preferred school. Harrogate folk regard property as a solid investment and do not expect house prices in the town to dip or demand to fall for long … and neither do we.
If you wish to discuss the above or are interested in the Property market in Harrogate then please contact us for a free no obligation chat about the property services we provide.
Charles
