The stamp duty deadline seems like a long way away right? Wrong! Although March seems like the distant future, when you factor in the average 12-week time it takes to complete and any extra hurdles with the current pandemic, the deadline will be here in no time. If you haven’t got your property on the market yet, we would seriously urge you to get a free property valuation urgently to get the process moving. If not, you could be missing out on stamp duty savings of up to £15,000.
With residential property searches increasing by as much as 1400%, this backlog has meant councils are being overwhelmed to get all the requests through. Additionally, there is a huge increase in transaction volumes for solicitors and conveyancers to handle.
A combination of these factors in the current market has meant that the average time to complete has been extended by several weeks. Therefore, if you haven’t got your property on the market yet, then you need to act now to get it sold before the March stamp duty deadline. Get an instant property valuation here using our FREE instant valuation tool to find out how much you could benefit from the stamp duty holiday.
Don’t miss the stamp duty deadline: Get your property on the market now!
Experts from The Guild of Property Professionals are warning that due to the current climate, property transactions are taking longer to complete. This is due to a recent surge in activity within the property market. There are much higher volumes of transactions since the property market reopened after lockdown in May. This, combined with the pent-up demand from Brexit, along with the Stamp Duty holiday, has now created a mini-boom in the housing market.
Activity levels hit record high
Rightmove data has shown three new records for last month:
- The average time to sell is now 50 days, which is quicker than ever before.
- Last month saw the highest number of sales ever agreed in one month, which is up 70% on last year.
- Traffic to Rightmove is up 50% on last year. This is the biggest annual jump since 2006.
“Previous records are tumbling in this extraordinary market, and there are still some legs left in the upwards march of property prices. We predict that the annual rate of growth will peak by December at around 7% higher than a year ago. Many buyers seem willing to pay record prices for properties that fit their changed post-lockdown needs.”
– Tim Bannister, Rightmove’s Director of Property Data.
A big surge in asking prices
Source: Rightmove House Price Index October 2020
Get a FREE Property Valuation now!
Access our instant property valuation tool to find out how much your property could be worth. Get your property on the market with Berkley, a local, trusted and independent estate agent now so you don’t miss the stamp duty deadline. Do you want to know more about selling your house with us and the sales process? Then please visit our selling page here.