How hard is Stamford and Rutland being hit by record high house prices?
A local estate agents says houses are selling for more than average
A Stamford and Rutland estate agents says homes across the area are selling at higher prices than what's being reported nationally.
It's after a report from property website Rightmove said the average price of a house hit a new record high for the third month in a row, and now sits at over £360,000.
James Dawson, from Rosedale Lettings in Stamford, said: 'Looking at our statistics of properties that've sold this year. We've achieved, across the ball, an average asking price of 102%. So the prices are actually potentially across the country, higher than what Rightmove are stating.'
Rosedale Lettings cover parts of Rutland, Stamford, Bourne, Market Deeping and Peterborough.
Valuation manager, James Dawson, thinks the high prices are due to an imbalance in supply and demand:
'There's a massive shortage in supply of properties on the market because there's a lot of people sat there waiting. Property stock levels, so the speak, are sat at approximately 45-50% of what they were this time last year.'
A bad time to buy, a good time to sell?
Across the UK, the average price for a house on Rightmove is now at £360,101, which is up from 354,564 in March - that's a rise of over £5,500 in one month.
The property website also detailed that more than half (53%) or properties are selling at or over their final advertised asking price.
That's due to a high demand for a limited number of listed properties, Rightmove says, with the percentage being the highest it's ever measured.
James Dawson has the advice for anyone taking the plunge in buying a house: 'If you're wanting to move and you have to fund your next property purchase with the sale of your current one, you have to get that done first because there's so many buyers that ultimately, if you're not in the right position to b able to purchase the property then you're going to miss out.'