Prestatyn Property Market Update – August 2021
Latest market update
Welcome to this month’s property market review of homes for sale in Prestatyn. With the summer holidays behind us, I think we all heard the collective sigh of relief as the kids return to school and there are no more lockdowns at present. With people enjoying festivals, outdoor events, and the things that make us feel a bit more normal, has the property market followed suit?
Let’s look at the Prestatyn market, to begin with and then we can examine in a bit more detail some of the issues impacting the market locally.
Prestatyn Property News
Properties in Prestatyn had an overall average price of £173,383 over the last year.
The majority of sales in Prestatyn during the last year were detached properties, selling for an average price of £199,983. Semi-detached properties sold for an average of £153,315, with terraced properties fetching £113,397.
Overall, sold prices in Prestatyn over the last year were 10% up on the previous year and 21% up on the 2018 peak of £143,697.
August in Prestatyn Property
There were a total of 37 new instructions in August however there were also 42 sales agreed. This clearly shows the continuing stock level issue that is making the market so hot at the moment and has also been a contributing factor to house price rises, however, this only really tells half the story of what is happening in the market.
Time on the Market for Property in Prestatyn
The average time on the market for available properties overall in Prestatyn is 140 days, however, over 53% of the stock on the market has been on for over 12 weeks, otherwise known as “slow movers”. Out of a total of 261 properties, 139 were still for sale after 12 weeks.
Let’s have a quick look at how this has changed over the last year for specific types of property.
Aug 2020 Aug 2021 Change
Detached 234 days 150 days -36%
Semi 213 days 111 days -48%
Terraced 342 days 157 days -54%
Flat 664 days 158 days -76%
All 274 days 143 days -48%
Recent Headlines
One recent issue in the headlines in the last few weeks is that of down valuing and fall-throughs. A report from RICS recently stated that 390,000 properties were down valued over the last year.
What is down valuing?
What this means is that a surveyor, acting on behalf of a mortgage lender, decides the value of a property but it is less than the price agreed between the seller and buyer.
How does a down valuation happen?
Surveyors use a calculation that takes into account similar properties that have sold over the previous six months. If the property is part of a housing estate, for example, this is a good indicator as there are many other recent comparables.
However, when considering more individual properties, or areas that don’t have high turnover, often village or country properties, the calculation is far less accurate. The surveyor may have no similar properties to compare to in the short timeframe and the pre-defined area.
Lenders are also putting pressure on surveyors to keep their exposure to risk to a minimum. This means surveyors may only be able to look at something that sold six months ago and doesn’t consider the current market value. There are more intricacies that are considered but that’s a brief explanation.
What happens if my property is downvalued?
If your property is downvalued, is it a disaster? It can feel like it when the news breaks. However, we have had sales fall through because of this very issue, only for the property to be resold for a higher price to someone who didn’t need a mortgage. The irony of this is that, of course, that sale becomes comparable evidence for a surveyor to use on the next property sale.
It can seem a bit confusing so if you would like any more information, don’t hesitate to get in touch and we can have a good chat about it all.