The Waitrose effect on housing market wanes

By David Lemon.
Updated Oct 26, 2021

MILTON KEYNES, U.K. (PRWEB) October 26, 2021 - Property prices are rising at a greater rate away from a Waitrose store for the first time reveals the Q3 2021 Property & Homemovers Report from property and data insight specialist, TwentyCi.

The so-called Waitrose Effect is a housing phenomenon which sees properties located within close proximity to a Waitrose store command a premium over comparative properties further away from the store.

The average price of a property transaction in Q1 2021 was 599,000 for properties located within walking distance (0.5 miles) to a Waitrose, whilst the average transaction price for properties that are 10-20 miles away from their nearest Waitrose store was 243,000. However, the properties further away from Waitrose have experienced a growth in house price of 23 per cent since Q1 2019. Houses close to Waitrose have experienced a growth rate of 16 per cent by comparison.

Comments Colin Bradshaw, Chief Customer Officer, TwentyCi: The higher growth rate for houses situated further away from a Waitrose reflects the picture we have been seeing throughout the pandemic that suggests that whilst proximity to a Waitrose store is attractive, the bigger move is away from busy town centres and cities, towards quieter green spaces.

Other key findings from the report reveal that the momentum within the residential property market has continued to deliver a significant volume of activity since the re-opening of the residential property market in May 2020 and the introduction of the Stamp Duty Holiday. There continues to be a high level of sales agreed (+16 per cent) and exchanged (+13 per cent) as the surge first experienced post lockdown #1 continues. The figures have been compared to Q3 2019 to provide a base that reflects a near-normal market pre-Covid. It is likely that this activity will have been driven by the conclusion of the Stamp Duty Holiday at the end of the quarter and it remains to be seen whether Q4 will see a re-calibration to levels experienced before the pandemic.

Price Changes and Withdrawn from the Market are down significantly -45 per cent and -29 per cent respectively. This is due to the lack of new properties being put up for sale with new Instructions down nine per cent compared to 2019, providing for a strong sellers market. With demand exceeding supply there is less requirement for discounting whilst less stock encourages buyers to remain in transaction rather than looking for an alternative.

Aside from London the whole of England and Wales has between 1.7 and 2.5 months of property stock left to sell and overall the available months of stock are down by about half on historical norms.

The average asking price across the UK in Q3 2021 is now 388,000 compared to 345,000 in Q3 2019, an increase of 13 per cent. All regions of the UK have experienced a rise in house prices. Northern Ireland has seen the biggest rise at 18 per cent, whilst Inner London has experienced the least at two per cent.

Despite the stamp duty holiday coming to an end the number of people wanting to move remains high with 361,061 householders saying they are considering moving. The numbers of households Moving Soon and Moving Now are also high with 335,721 and 333,586 respectively. Compared to Q3 2019 the number of households in the moving journey is up by over 14 per cent, with nearly 1 million households entering, progressing or completing the process of moving. This significant shift in the behaviour of the home owners can bring huge gains and strong ROI across multiple sectors and categories particularly as homemovers are proven to contribute an additional three per cent GDP per annum over and above the purchase price of the home.

Notes for editors TwentyCi is an information and marketing services company that provides UK residential property data, analytics & insight for marketing and other key strategic purposes. Our experience and client portfolio encompasses multiple sectors and categories, including property and estate agency groups, retailers, financial services, automotive and utilities.

Holding the UKs largest and richest resource of factual homemover data compiled from more than 29 billion qualified data points, TwentyCi works with advertisers and their agencies to create contextually targeted marketing programmes that cut through by reaching consumers at the exact moment that they need a companys product or service, through the best media channel for that individual.

Please note that our publication normally provides year-on-year comparison of the residential market, however, given the extraordinary impact on the market arising from the Covid-19 pandemic and the unique events affecting the property market during 2020, for this report the comparison looks back at 2019 to provide a near normal comparison. For further information please contact Louisa Osmond on 07977 401 235