Three in five home sellers have achieved above asking price in the last two years as buyers compete in a ‘dynamic, fast-paced’ market
- More than three out of five sellers sold their home above the asking price
- A quarter of vendors sold between £30k and £40k above asking price
- Almost half of those selling their home were seeking a more peaceful way of life
More than three in five people who sold their home in the past two years achieved above asking price, research from an online estate agency claims.
A quarter of this group sold at between £30,000 and £40,000 above the asking price, according to Purplebricks.
The estate agent surveyed 1,004 people who sold their home and bought another one in the last two years.
This seven-bedroom detached house in Burlescombe, Devon, is on the market for £895,000 via Purplebricks estate agents
It said speed is of the essence among buyers, with a quarter of sellers receiving an offer within just one week of putting their home on the market and 40 per cent accepting an offer within two weeks.
Confidence is high among those selling their homes, with 87 per cent saying they were either ‘very’ or ‘somewhat confident’ that they would sell their home for a price they wanted within a reasonable time of putting their home on the market.
Purplebricks found that almost half – at 48 per cent – of those selling their home in the past two years did so because they were looking for a more peaceful way of life, as homeowners have re-evaluated what they want from a property during lockdown.
The research looked at the motivations of Britons who have sold their home in the last two years, and found that more than a third sold their home in order to change their lifestyle while 37 per cent said they wanted a completely different type of home.
This eight-bedroom detached house in Sunbury-On-Thames, in Surrey, is for sale via Purplebricks for £2.65million
Moving from the city to a village
Pictured: Kevin Harper and his wife Rose moved from a city to a rural area
Kevin Harper and his wife Rose moved from a city to a rural area for a different lifestyle.
Kevin, 57, is a business development manager for a law firm and his partner Rose, 49, is a solicitor for the same firm.
They completed the move during lockdown in December last year, going from a new build four-bedroom detached house in Manchester to a spacious barn conversion located in a small village called Scarcliffe in the Bolsover district of Derbyshire.
The move has allowed them to be nearer to family, including their one-year-old grandson.
Kevin said: ‘Rose and I were both brought up in the countryside and during the pandemic we realised we wanted to get back to a more rural way of life.
‘It’s fantastic to be on the edge of the Peak District surrounded by combine harvesters in summer and snow in winter.
‘We both work for the same law firm from home, so it doesn’t matter where we are located. It is great not seeing traffic jams and trams anymore – it’s really wonderful to be living and working in such a beautiful rural area.’
The couple have move into a spacious barn conversion located in a small village called Scarcliffe in the Bolsover district of Derbyshire
The red hot property market is seeing people snap up properties, particularly in seaside locations amid the pandemic’s so-called ‘race for space’.
Almost one third – at 30 per cent – of sellers moved to the countryside or seaside, although almost a quarter still wanted to move to suburbia at 24 per cent, according to Purplebricks.
Despite sellers’ desire to change their lifestyles, however, most did not move far, with 43 per cent only moving 50 miles or less from their previous home, and only 1 per cent opting to move 150 miles or more.
The race for space: Purplebricks is selling this three bedroom detached house in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, for £650,000
The research also found that 35 per cent were searching for a home office, driven by the changes in working habits due to the pandemic.
Home offices were more popular in Wales at 51 per cent and Northern Ireland at 41 per cent than in the rest of the country.
Not only were half of sellers – at 45 per cent – looking for a bigger garden in their new home, but more than a quarter – at 26 per cent – were looking for an allotment or somewhere they could grow vegetables.
A total of 43 per cent of Welsh sellers were particularly keen to find this in their new home, while only 17 per cent of sellers in the North West were interested in this when they moved.
Detached homes were the most sought after property type, with 23 per cent of sellers choosing to move into detached houses, closely followed by semi-detached at 18 per cent.
Only 17 per cent chose to move into a flat, with almost a quarter selling a flat in order to move.
Tom Greenacre, of Purplebricks, said: ‘The events of the past 18 months have made many of us consider a change of lifestyle.
‘This is one of the factors that has contributed to the highly dynamic, fast-paced property market we have seen in recent months.
‘Our research shows that the confidence we’ve seen among those selling their properties has been entirely justified, with highly motivated buyers keen to move quickly and many people looking to achieve a more peaceful lifestyle.’
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