Your 2020 Property Round Up for the Lancaster Housing Market

January began well. February was a bumper month and March was going really well until the UK got locked down that is.

Normally I would report on what sold where, but in this roundup, I wanted to look at the year overall.

How many homes sold in 2020?

For the purpose of this report - we have looked at Lancaster (LA1). In Lancaster, there were 808 property sales agreed. What is really interesting is that despite getting locked for several weeks, property sales in Lancaster were 7% higher than in 2019. The housing market really did recover.

The busiest month in the Lancaster Housing Market was September with 121 property sales. September is often a busy month with people wanting to get moved before into their new home before Christmas. This year it was fuelled by the Stamp Duty Holiday. October wasn’t far behind with 114 sales and even November finished on a respectable 96 property sales.

Where were the most expensive property sales?

The 3 most expensive homes to go under offer in Lancaster were Stanmore Drive, Haverbreaks ( the only home to sell which was marketed over £1 million ), followed by Park Meadow, Aldcliffe at £825,000 and then Aldcliffe Court at Aldcliffe at £650,000. Interestingly all 3 properties were in LA1 5.

In total there were just 13 property sales above £500,000.

Where the cheapest property sales?

The cheapest properties to sell were 2 apartments at Keswick Court on the Ridge, both were on the market at under £60,000. The cheapest house was a property which needed renovation in Beaumont. It also had structural issues and was on the market at £50,000. It sold at auction.

What happened to houses prices in the area?

Buyer demand certainly pushed up property prices in Lancaster. According to the latest Zoopla Report, the average price paid was £167,628, this is an increase of 6.08% on the previous year average price paid.  However, land registry when they look at sales in LA1 state that the reality is the Lancaster Housing Market is actually down 1.6% year and on year.  
 

What was the most popular property type?  

In Lancaster, the most popular property type to sell was the terrace home with 380 sales, followed by the semi-detached with 200 sales.   3-bed homes are still the most popular.  In 2020, 332 homes with 3 bedrooms sold.

267 homes with 2 bedrooms sold and 164 homes had 4 bedrooms (or more!)

Only 39 properties with 1 bed sold as buyer’s need shift to having a more flexible layout fuelled by the need of a home office for many.

In 2020 there were 1213 new instructions across Lancaster (LA1).   In total  808 homes went under offer. This equates to 66%.   In the year 447 properties reduced their asking price.    At JDG we agreed 222 of these properties sales which equates to 27.1% of all the property sales.
 
The outlook for 2021 is looking positive. Rightmove have predicted a 4% increase in property prices, Zoopla and Knight Frank 1% increase. The Brexit deal is done and the government have reported a record number of trade deals. Vaccinating has started with Covid. We already have 34 viewings booked in and it’s only January 2nd!  To give you an example - a period home in the city has already got 9 viewings booked in.

We have to be aware though of the Tier restrictions and also that it is possible there could be more lockdown restrictions. What we have learned though is that home is very important to people. The way we now live has changed considerably since the pandemic started with a bigger focus on extra space both in terms of a garden and a work from home room!

If you want to see what is selling throughout 2021, check out our Facebook page. We believe in transparency and we post the sales as they happen. The buyers are out still there. If you want to track the market, check out the Market Reports on our website which are updated on the 1st of each month.

If you are thinking of moving in 2021, please get in touch. My name is Michelle Gallagher. At JDG we are here to help you get the price for your home! Call us on 01524 843322 or email me at michelle@jdg.co.uk

Ps. May we thank everyone who trusted us with their property sale and all the buyers who chose to buy through us. Your home is your biggest asset and we know that.

PPS.  This graph from Rightmove shows the property sales across the city.