COULD SWITCH TO HOME WORKING RESULT IN MORE PEOPLE SEEKING A NEW LIFE IN RURAL WALES?
WHILE lockdown might have put home sales on hold temporarily, the last two weeks have seen a flurry of activity after the Welsh Government announced a partial reopening of the housing market.
Many Welsh towns are experiencing a boost in interest and some agents are on course to break sales records for June.
So far, that interest seems to be driven by people reassessing their lives during the coronavirus pandemic and the realisation that working from home is now a possibility.
Early signs suggest that there is a mini exodus from the bigger cities and parts of Wales are already benefiting, including places like Narberth, Crickhowell, Brecon and Aberdyfi.
City folk are heading to west Wales, attracted by the open space, slower pace, and a better quality of life. They come armed with two things on their wish list: excellent broadband and a large garden.
Some people have even snapped up new homes without even physically viewing them, instead relying on the virtual tours offered by some estate agents.
Jamie Barnett from FBM Estate Agents in Narberth, Pembrokeshire, said they have had to bring furloughed staff back because May and June had been busy. Interest in properties has never been greater, he said.
“I think it’s a combination of pent up frustration and a lot of interest from people coming from outside the area,” Mr Barnett said. “We’ve had to set up video and virtual tours to meet that need and what I’ve found is a lot of people have realised they can work from home now, so they can live down here in the countryside. We sold a house in the area recently to two actors from London because they do all their auditions on Skype now and thought they might as well live in the countryside instead of the city.”
Mr Barnett added: “In June this year we’re on track to sell more properties that we did in June last year, which you wouldn’t expect with the offices closed.
“It’s been like a bubble here in Pembrokeshire. We’ve had so many people ask for viewings, it’s like nothing is going on.”
That interest has extended beyond Narberth and towards the outskirts of nearby villages and most properties are at the higher end of the market£300,000 or more. Top of the want list is outside space and good broadband, Mr Barnett added.
According to the latest figures from TwentyCi, the home buying marketing and behaviour agency, the number of instructions and sales in England were up 15% in June compared to last year. However, in
Wales, TwentyCi data showed the Welsh housing market is running at far below its 2019 norm - with sales down by about half.
Buyers are being selective about where they look to buy in Wales and are generally attracted to areas that can still provide some of the amenities they’re used to. Places like Narberth, which was voted the best place to live in Wales earlier this year. Or places which have been shortlisted for the UK’s best high street, including Holywell, Carmarthen, Welshpool and Crickhowell.
There has been a trend for people fleeing the bigger cities for a quieter life for the past few years. According to figures from the Office for National Statistics released in summer last year, 340,500 people moved out of London in the 12 months before June 2018, the largest number since the ONS began collecting data in 2012.
This pandemic, pollution, and climate change will only accelerate that, estate agents say. Once the travel restrictions in Wales are lifted, Callum Lewis from Fine and Country in west Wales is braced for interest to soar.
Mr Lewis said: “A lot of people are coming down from outside of area, obviously the viewing restrictions are a bit tough at the moment, but we’ve had one or two people purchase just from seeing tours online.
“One of our viewers who viewed online are from London and are selling their property there. All the other viewers we have waiting in the wings are from the London, Bristol and Gloucester areas.
“When they are allowed to come over the border, there will be a lot of viewings taking place.”
The interest, which is primarily for properties priced at £450,000 upwards, is entirely driven by the realisation people can now work from home, Mr Lewis said.
He continued: “They have realised they can split their time, maybe commuting into London two or three times a month, and don’t need to be in the office. They can do the majority of their work from home, and it’ll be just commuting for the odd meeting.”
Buyers are looking for a strong internet connection and some additional land, said Mr Lewis, who has sold properties in Clarbeston Road in Pembrokeshire and Nant-y-Caws in Carmarthenshire during lockdown.
He added: “It’s not really the location, it’s what land it has. People are looking for bigger gardens, a couple of acres and maybe some outbuildings. It’s a bit of a lifestyle change as well. If they’ve got a letting unit, that’s a massive plus.”
Research by Zoopla has shown that more than one in five buyers now consider an office as a “must
have”, which increases to a third for those buyers aged 35-49.
Younger buyers are also more willing to compromise where they buy in order to get a property with a garden.
The shift is being driven by a move towards more working from home. Zoopla research shows some 34% of buyers and renters anticipate working from home more often, with 85% expecting to spend the same or fewer hours working.
Richard Donnell, the director of research and insight at Zoopla, said: “One day after the market opened in Wales on June 22, we saw buyer demand there bounce up by 41%.
“So the market is busy, with buyers progressing with purchases that they put on hold during lockdown.
“We may also be seeing a new cohort of buyers who weren’t planning to move before lockdown, but who are now reviewing where and how they are living, and deciding to make a move. This is now feeding into higher sales levels, with the number of home sales agreed up 4% compared to 1 March.”
Julie Moeran, owner of Welsh Property Services in Tywyn, Gwynedd, had 62 viewings to arrange from June 22. Buyer interest is mainly from Shropshire, Shrewsbury and Birmingham, she said, with people looking to move to places like Aberdyfi on the Welsh coast.
Mrs Moeran said: “Aberdyfi is the jewel in Cardigan Bay. All the houses on the front have been built in Victorian times, so it’s always been a holiday destination for the English. Everyone there is from Birmingham to be honest.
“People are either saying they’re not going to be able to go abroad on holiday this year so they’ll buy a property in Aberdyfi and spend all their time there, or they’re saying they can take money out of their pension pot now to put it into a property in Aberdyfi.
“On top of that, we have people retiring down here into Tywyn. It has a four-mile sandy beach and for people who have had a caravan down here, their dream is to sell their house in Wolverhampton and retire in a bungalow in Tywyn.
“Finally, we’ve got two or three people saying: ‘We’re going to move to Aberdyfi. We were thinking of retiring anyway in five years’ time, but we can work from home so we may as well be in Aberdyfi now’.
“So far, the Covid situation seems to be pushing people from thinking about it and into actually doing it.”
One seller on her books wants to offload two apartments and buy something bigger in Aberdyfi. Mrs Moeran added: “He was sitting on the fence and thinking about moving to London. He’s just emailed and said: ‘You know what, a hot day in the city, I’m out of here.’ It’s made people question why they are living in the city.”
Mrs Moeran is feeling positive about the market, but her main concern is that there aren’t that many properties coming onto the market. She expects many people will end up selling their holiday properties later in the year as the economy takes a turn for the worse and people look to tighten their belt. Holiday cottages will become a “luxury that they can’t afford” she said.
Mr Donnell has similar misgivings about the property market in Wales and he expects the annual rate of house price growth to remain around 2-3% until approximately the end of September 2020.
However, he warned: “The cloudier outlook for the economy may start to pull house prices down towards the end of the year and into 2021.”