Our regular look at what happened in the Gloucester property market last month with updated figures, useful information for buyers and sellers and thoughts about what the future holds.
With Easter (traditionally a quieter period) falling in the middle of the month the figures for April make encouraging reading for the property market as activity levels continue to show the demand from people to move home or get on the property ladder.
Market Demand
Buyer demand was running 10% above last year in the early months of 2025, ahead of the end of stamp duty relief in England.
Demand has cooled in recent weeks and is broadly in line with the levels recorded a year ago around 5% even though Easter fell nearly 3 weeks earlier in 2024.
Across the Southwest the average time taken to find a buyer is currently 70 days however the Gloucester market remains strong with the average time taken to agree a sale from first coming on the market reducing to 44 days. Only properties in Carlisle, Newcastle and Sunderland are finding buyers quicker amongst England’s largest 50 cities.
New sellers coming to the market is up 4% on this time last year and at the end of April there were around 1000 properties available for sale across the Gloucester area. Of those 383 properties had been advertised for over 12 weeks and more than half had been on the market for 8 weeks (the point in which sellers often start considering changing estate agent).
For homebuyers there remains plenty of choice and over filtering your search requirements or being too precise may mean you are missing out on your ideal home.
House Prices
The average price of property coming to market for sale has risen by 1.4% (+£5,312) this month to a new record of £377,182. This is a larger-than-usual April price increase and comes despite a decade-high number of homes for sale for the time of year. In Gloucester the average house asking price is £287,782 with Gloucestershire at £396,983.
Through April 220 properties had price reductions however bearing in mind the volume of available property, many more appear to be advertised for too much money. If you are looking to buy, then it is certainly worth considering properties that appear above budget and making an offer. If you are a seller then don’t necessarily dismiss an offer that is lower than what you hoped to receive. If you can secure your onward purchase at a similarly discounted price, then the differential between what you hoped to sell for and expected to buy for remain the same and in real terms you will be better off buying and selling at lower prices due to the associated costs.
What is clear is that sensible pricing remains paramount so always have 3 valuations and make sure there is reasoning behind the estate agents’ recommendations.
Mortgages
We expect lower base rates over 2025 to support market activity but while the average 5-year fixed rate mortgage is around 4.5% today, many lenders are currently ‘stress testing’ affordability at 8-9%. This makes it harder to secure a mortgage without a large deposit. If average mortgage stress rates were to return to pre-2022 levels of 6.5% to 7%, this would deliver a 15-20% boost to buying power.
As we have previously highlighted some lenders are starting to adjust how they stress test the affordability of new mortgages. An average first-time buyer with mortgage repayments of £1,020pcm at a 4.5% mortgage rate would typically have to prove they could afford monthly repayments of £1,550pcm at an 8.5% stress rate. If the stress testing is relaxed to 6.5%, repayments would fall to £1,275pcm. It’s a similar pattern for the average homeowner.
This change would consequently support demand and sales volumes, helping to clear the stock of homes for sale, rather than boosting house prices.
The next Bank of England meeting is on Thursday 8th May, and it is expected that a further base rate cut is on the horizon.
As always, we love to hear your thoughts and comments so if you have any questions or require any guidance then please get in touch.
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