ACCORDING to a recent Zoopla House Price Index, one in three homes was bought for cash in 2023 as rising mortgage rates squeezed buying power. As a result, the share of cash buyers rose from one-fifth over the previous five years to one-third in 2023, as low demand and weak buying power saw national houseprice growth fall from 9.2% in late 2022 to -1.1% at the end of 2023. Driven by ever-increasing rents, first-time buyers were the largest group of home buyers in 2023, followed by downsizers paying in cash, with upsizers the most at risk from higher mortgages, as they typically buy bigger homes with larger mortgages.
Despite the prospect of lower mortgage rates in the coming months, last year’s trend seems destined to continue in 2024, says Rob Fanshawe of buying agents Property Vision, who wonders whether ‘more of the same may not be exciting, but would that really be such a bad thing?’ With village houses in good locations setting the pace and plenty of competition for houses judged the best in class, ‘it may seem unfair,’ he says, ‘but, for now at least, most vendors would prefer to deal with a downsizer, rather than a family with a mortgage’.
Good houses in sought-after Cotswold villages are always in vogue and early bird Ben Bentley of Oxford-based The Country House Department (01865 338300) was keen to seize the day with last week’s launch onto the market—at a guide price of £1.85 million —of pristine, Grade II-listed Cleeve House at Ampney St Peter, Gloucestershire. This pretty, small village of Cotswold-stone cottages and houses is 3½ miles from Ciren- cester, 19 miles from Cheltenham and just under nine miles from Kemble station.
Bu hikaye Country Life UK dergisinin February 07, 2024 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Giriş Yap
Bu hikaye Country Life UK dergisinin February 07, 2024 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
Kitchen garden cook - Apples
'Sweet and crisp, apples are the epitome of autumn flavour'
The original Mr Rochester
Three classic houses in North Yorkshire have come to the market; the owner of one inspired Charlotte Brontë to write Jane Eyre
Get it write
Desks, once akin to instruments of torture for scribes, have become cherished repositories of memories and secrets. Matthew Dennison charts their evolution
'Sloes hath ben my food'
A possible paint for the Picts and a definite culprit in tea fraud, the cheek-suckingly sour sloe's spiritual home is indisputably in gin, says John Wright
Souvenirs of greatness
FOR many years, some large boxes have been stored and forgotten in the dark recesses of the garage. Unpacked last week, the contents turned out to be pots: some, perhaps, nearing a century old—dense terracotta, of interesting provenance.
Plants for plants' sake
The garden at Hergest Croft, Herefordshire The home of Edward Banks The Banks family is synonymous with an extraordinary collection of trees and shrubs, many of which are presents from distinguished friends, garnered over two centuries. Be prepared to be amazed, says Charles Quest-Ritson
Capturing the castle
Seventy years after Christian Dior’s last fashion show in Scotland, the brand returned under creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri for a celebratory event honouring local craftsmanship, the beauty of the land and the Auld Alliance, explains Kim Parker
Nature's own cathedral
Our tallest native tree 'most lovely of all', the stately beech creates a shaded environment that few plants can survive. John Lewis-Stempel ventures into the enchanted woods
All that money could buy
A new book explores the lost riches of London's grand houses. Its author, Steven Brindle, looks at the residences of plutocrats built by the nouveaux riches of the late-Victorian and Edwardian ages
In with the old
Diamonds are meant to sparkle in candlelight, but many now gather dust in jewellery boxes. To wear them today, we may need to reimagine them, as Hetty Lintell discovers with her grandmother's jewellery
