West Sussex 'one of the hottest counties to sell a property' despite the cost of living crisis

Looking at the percentage of properties for sale that are under offer or subject to contract in September 2022, PropCast has measured buyer demand by county and city, using the temperature metaphor to express a percentage as is often used when describing property markets. Anything over 34° indicates a hot sellers’ market where it’s easier to sell, whilst anything below suggests a cold buyers’ market where it’s harder to sell.

PropCast has found that all counties are still in a hot sellers' market despite the cost of living crisis, with West Sussex found to be the seventh hottest. With a market heat temperature of 63°, this means 63% of homes for sale are under offer or subject to contract, indicating a very hot sellers’ market.

Others in the top ten include Bristol, Hampshire and Gloucestershire.

West Sussex buying agent, Jennie Hancock at Property Acquisitions, said: “Since the pandemic, the golden villages surrounding Midhurst, Petworth and Chichester have been incredibly popular, with intense competition amongst buyers causing high prices being paid. The draw is the rural and coastal lifestyle on offer, yet being in close proximity to London when needed.

"However, the tide is starting to turn away from being price led, and instead manoeuvring towards the ability to purchase. Cash buyers are in a very strong position now, as vendors start to priories the best buyer rather than who is offering the highest price.

"More estate agents are calling us frequently to ask if any of our clients would be interested in a property they are selling because they are cash buyers or have relatively small mortgages, making them proceedable. This is because vendors are becoming nervous about agreeing to sales involving large mortgages as these could fall through due to higher interest rates restricting borrowing for a buyer. I think we shall find that this should then bring back the exclusivity such buyers used to have pre pandemic, where they weren’t having to compete with as many purchasers. Whereas over the last couple of years, bidding wars have been rife due to an unhealthy imbalance between demand and supply.

"Many of our clients have said they feel in a far stronger buying position now than at the beginning of the Covid pandemic where vendors often chose the highest bidder over those who could proceed with cash.”

But with West Sussex appearing in the Top 10 hottest counties, Chichester was named in the Top 10 coldest cities with a market heat temperature of 49°, meaning the city is still in a sellers’ market where it’s easier to sell/

Jennie Hancock continued: “Chichester is a pretty hard city to beat due to its culture, heritage, transport links and amenities. However, just like elsewhere in the UK, buyers have prioritised greenery and space in the countryside over urban, and Chichester’s surrounding rural and coastal villages have become very popular since the pandemic began. However, the appeal is still there for many, and a drop in buyer demand can only be a good thing when it comes to buying a property here. Lower demand means less competition from other bidders, so purchasers should find that they won’t have to pay as much for an area which last summer was found to be one of the least affordable cities to buy a property. There’s a lot of investment happening in Chichester too with various businesses moving in that appeal to all generations such as The Ivy, whilst many of the empty commercial properties are being turned into residential dwellings. This all means now could well be a very good time to be buying a home as no doubt this will all help increase house prices in the future.”

To view the data for any postcode in England & Wales, visit: www.theadvisory.co.uk/propcast