Marketing Conditions with Connells

We sat down with Connells in Lichfield to discuss the current market conditions. We spoke to Matthew Taylor, New Homes Manager at Connells, our chosen Estate Agent partner at our upcoming Pegasus Lichfield Bonds community.

Q: How have you seen property prices perform in Lichfield over the past 12 months?

A: The Lichfield housing market has been on a solid rise for the past 10 years due to its ever increasing popularity, good schools and fantastic transport network. The rise has continued in the last 12 months and the average house price has risen by around 10% year to date.

Q: During the pandemic there was a property frenzy, What are the current stock/supply levels like within the city?

A: A frenzy it certainly was! I’ll never forget re-opening the Lichfield office back in May of 2020 – I was Branch Manager at the time. For the first couple of days, whilst getting the systems back up and running and figuring out how to work in a COVID safe manner, there was a real unknown about what was going to happen next. But then as soon as we began to book viewings, it became clear that there was a real pent up demand from buyers who had spent a lot of time in their current home through lockdown and for many reasons – a very popular one being the demand for home working space – decided they wished to move. This was only helped further by the relaxation on stamp duty. There can never be enough stock in Lichfield as buyer demand increases year upon year – there really hasn’t been enough stock to keep up with the amount of buyers. Naturally, this has been a key reason of house price  increases throughout the area, not just post Covid, but in the last 10 years. Similarly, from 2012 – 2019 there was lack of medium-large new build development in the city itself. This meant that sales of second hand homes within the city surged and those wanting to buy new build looked to purchase in the popular suburb villages like Streehay and Fradley thus increasing their popularity too.

Q: Are there a selection of property options within Lichfield (Terraced, Detached, Apartments etc) or does one property type make up the majority?

A: Lichfield has a huge mix of housing types – although to this day, it always surprises me that for a city with so much history as Lichfield has, there are a lack of character properties in comparison to some of the surrounding towns. 

Q: What % of enquiries on property do you see from customers looking to downsize?

A: As per a lot of towns with a big tourist element, Lichfield has a very good downsizer market and around 40% of our buyers fit into this category. We see a number of those people who look to downsize to the area from surrounding towns like Walsall, Sutton Coldfield and Stafford, as well as those who are coming to Lichfield from surrounding villages to take advantage of more amenities on their doorstep.

Q: Have you noticed an increased interest in the rental market and if so what options do customers have?

A: Quite simply, yes! In line with the sales market, the rental market is booming and rents continue to rise. Again, this is in a big part due to the lack of supply. With average house prices in Lichfield being high compared to some surrounding areas, there is a distinct lack of investment purchasers in the area. This means that you will literally have tens of potential tenants wanting to make an application for a single home. The options on the open rental market are very limited unfortunately.