In our Summer market report in August 2019 we reported a substantial increase in residential sales, along with a shortage of stock in the lower price ranges of up to around £400,000. As we head through 2020 this situation has continued to gather pace.

Due to this supply and demand situation local property values up to around £350,000 are now rising steadily. Newly listed homes in this price range can attract huge interest, sometimes within minutes of being launched and these properties rapidly achieve asking prices or in many cases now above asking prices due to competition between buyers.  Estate Agents mainly value property using other recent comparable sales in the area and the agents at Manxmove are now continuously increasing their valuations in line with these market trends.  Put quite simply, if a property achieves asking price or in excess of the asking price within a few days of being listed then the next similar property we value is obviously going to be valued higher. 

A good yardstick to substantiate these market increases is the modern two bedroom mews style homes that numerous developers have built throughout the Island. These properties all tend to be very similar and they are a really good seller so there are plenty of historic comparables to choose from. Hugely popular with investors and first time buyers these homes can now quickly achieve around £205,000. If we take just a few similar property transactions from IOM Government registry of sales during 2019 we find the following comparables..

Hillberry Lakes Governors Hill achieved             £176,000

Cronk y Berry View achieved                                £180,000

Reginald Mews Governors Hill achieved            £182,500

Stanley Mews Governors Hill achieved               £183,500

Farmhill Mews achieved                                        £187,000

Berrywoods Avenue Governors Hill achieved    £187,000

Hailwood Avenue Governors Hill achieved        £188,000

Ballellis Ballawattleworth Peel achieved            £188,000

These 8 transactions equate to an average price of £184,000 and when we compare this to the above £205,000 that is easily achievable today it is a genuine substantial increase of around 12%. Quite an increase when you consider some of these transactions were only completed towards the back end of last year. It’s fair to say then that this section of the market is stacked heavily in the sellers favour, for the foreseeable future at least. Even at £205,000 these properties still represent a sound investment in my view, if you can find one that is for sale for longer than a few days that is.

Properties in some sections of the market remain difficult to sell and are therefore stacked in the buyers favour. Apartments can still be difficult to sell unfortunately with converted apartments even more difficult still. Also, most of the fierce activity in the market is on new listings so some of the older stock can go stale, although a price reduction to reposition these homes in the market along with some fresh photographs can usually rekindle interest on these properties.

Whilst the higher end of the market at above £1million remains difficult due to a shortage of new residents relocating to our shores, it does seem to be improving. Manxmove completed 4 sales in excess of £1million last year and we still have several clients actively looking for new listings in this price category, so if you are considering selling in this price bracket please let us know.               

According to IOM registry sales the vast majority of Isle of Man property sales during 2019 were up to around £300,000. There were around 1500 registered transactions last year and when you take out the registrations below £100,000, which includes numerous very small registrations at sometimes as little as £1 there were still around 1250 transactions at above £100,000. Around 410 of these transactions were between £100,000 and £200,000 with around 435 transactions at between £200,000 and £300,000. This means that around 67.5% of 2019 registered transactions were up to £300,000, hence the current shortage of stock and substantial increase in activity and values at this level.

Most of the current activity in the local market is from local buyers, with very few new residents relocating to our shores. Having done this job for more years than I care to remember I can recall regular trips back and forward to the airport numerous times a week to collect clients, show them homes then return them to Ronaldsway. In this market and for numerous years now this very rarely happens due to the lack of relocations. I can also honestly say that so far Brexit has had no impact whatsoever on the local market as far as Manxmove is concerned.

For all the above reasons, if you are considering selling now would be a great time to launch as we head towards the historically even more buoyant Spring months. March, April and May have always been the best three months of the year for buying and selling so please let us know if the Manxmove team can assist and help you move. Manxmove also now have a unique property alert mailing list for sellers as well as buyers, so you can input basic property details of the home you are selling to see exactly how many clients we have interested in your home prior to any marketing.

Graham Wilson