The Beast from the East, Russia, Facebook, Brexit, Trump, House prices up, House prices down… the press is full of column inches on Brit’s favourite subjects of politics, scandal, weather and not forgetting (and I appreciate the irony of this!) the property market. As an agent belonging to a national group of letting and estate agents, talking to my fellow property professionals from around the UK, the one thing that is immediately apparent is the UK does not have one property market. It is a hodgepodge patchwork of lots of small property markets all performing in different ways.
This made me think… is there just one Runcorn property market or many?
I like to keep an eye on the property market in Runcorn on a daily basis because it enables me to give the best advice and opinion on what (or not) to buy in Runcorn, be that a buy-to-let property for a Runcorn landlord or an owner-occupier house for a homeowner. So, I thought, how could I scientifically split the Runcorn housing market into segments, so I could see which part of the market was performing the best and the worst.
I decided the best way was to split the Runcorn property market into four equal size price bands (in terms of households for sale). Each price band would have around 25% of the property in Runcorn, from the lowest in value (the lowest quartile or 25%) all the way through to the highest 25% in terms of value, the upper quartile. Looking at the market, I have calculated that these are the price bands in Runcorn are as follows:
Lowest Quartile (lowest 25% in terms of value) – Up to £80,000
Lower/Middle Quartile (25% to 50% Quartile in terms of value) – £80,000 to £120,000
Middle/Upper Quartile (50% to 75% Quartile in terms of value) – £120,000 to £170,000
Upper Quartile (highest 25% in terms of value) – £170,000 Upwards
Having split the Runcorn property market approximately into four equal sizes, the results regarding what price band has sold (subject to contract) the most is quite enlightening.
| Runcorn | Available | Sold STC | % Sold |
|---|---|---|---|
| Up to £80,000 | 64 | 74 | 53.6% |
| £80,000 to £120,000 | 56 | 76 | 57.6% |
| £120,000 to £170,000 | 55 | 81 | 59.6% |
| £170,000 Upwards | 91 | 54 | 37.2% |
Although there’s not a great deal in it, the best performing price range in Runcorn is the middle market. Not too much of a surprise, the upper quartile of the middle market is finding things toughest. Interestingly for Runcorn landlords, the lower market isn’t selling as well as expected, so maybe there could be some bargains out there for buy to let investment? Even though the number of first-time buyers did increase in 2017, it was from a low base, and the vast majority of 20 somethings cannot buy, so need a roof over their head (hence the need to rent somewhere).
It is a fact that British (and Runcorn’s) housing markets have ridden the storms of the oil crisis in the 1970’s, the 1980’s depression, Black Monday in the 1990’s, and latterly the Credit Crunch together with the various house price crashes of 1973, 1987 and 2008. No matter what happens to us, Brexit or anything else, unless the Government starts to build hundreds of thousands of new houses each year, demand will always outstrip supply; so maybe a time for Runcorn landlord investors to bag a bargain?
Want to know where those Runcorn buy to let bargains are? Feel free to follow my blog or drop me an email.
