Estate agents report the housing market is “rocking and rolling” in North Wales but one warned of a “doughnut” risk as activity moves from town centres.
Agents say while supply remains an issue that homes that come on the market are being sold within days – and sometimes hours.
They also report huge demand for new property developments and asking prices being met and sometimes surpassed in bidding wars.
The Land Transaction Tax holiday on properties up to £250,000 until the end of June is helping drive demand.
But one agent warned of the risk of “doughnut” areas as the pandemic drives businesses and people from the centre of towns.
David Jones, from Jones and Redfearn in Denbighshire, said: “Demand is currently above supply so prices have hardened and sales are being agreed quickly – the market is rocking and rolling at the moment.
“People are looking for gardens, they are looking to move out of larger settlements and are working from home so are looking at bigger properties.
“North Wales can benefit from this if communication infrastructure is improved but there is also a risk of ‘doughnut’ towns – where everyone moves to the outskirts and the middle is hollowed out as spending power goes with it. There are big changes coming and we need to change our town centres.
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"They need to go from a traditional retail-led high street to a ‘hi street’ where people go to meet socially. Covid has accelerated changes already happening and we need to look after our town centres.
“Other risks are the impact once furlough ends – there is the potential of a quick economic bounce back but some people and businesses will struggle once government support goes.”
Tim Goodwin, of Williams and Goodwin, which covers Anglesey and Gwynedd, said: “Reflecting back over the last 12 months the market has followed a somewhat rollercoaster ride with hardly any sales taking place for a number of weeks as we entered the first lockdown 12 months ago.
“We then quickly adapted our business operations to comply with the various restrictions that were placed on the country with virtual viewings, and online valuations together with client contact via Facetime and Zoom calls becoming the new way to carry out business.
“As we moved into summer the quiet period of sales from the previous three months were more than made up as the public started to adapt to the pandemic and features like outdoor space and the need for more spacious accommodation with working from home the new normality, became a necessity.
“This created a ‘domino effect’, as for every first-time buyer entering the market a further four or five sales were created with first-time sellers moving up the housing ladder. Matters such as historically low interest rates and the temporary relief to some of the land duty tax thresholds added to this housing pressure as well as many people having more savings for a deposit with restrictions meaning the public was not spending as much.
“The start of 2021 has seen buying activity remaining buoyant with a shortage of properties coming to the market and the high levels of demand meaning properties are selling within days of coming to the market and we are seeing examples of properties exceeding asking prices.
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“We have been acting on a number of new-build projects in recent months and are starting to see reservations once again being made for properties from plan and a new-build development site for 130 houses we are marketing on Anglesey has seen sales agreed on all of phase 1 with local buyers taking advantage of the opportunity to have a brand new home to move into.
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“Whilst demand to purchase a home is strong, buying is not always the first choice for many people and we are also achieving high activity levels in our property management department. The standard of accommodation available to let has improved dramatically and property investors are seeing higher levels of return than from traditional savings products with void periods being reduced to a number of days between a tenant vacating a property and a new one being found.
“Obviously with so many people being placed on furlough or losing jobs, concerns were raised as we moved into the pandemic that rent arrears would build up but this has not been anything like as large as many had feared and with rent protection policies which we can offer our landlords investors continue to look at property as a safe long-term investment.”
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