Why Thurrock house price growth is good news for Essex sellers

London boroughs witness considerable house price growth

Every single London borough has seen a huge spike in house price growth since 2010, rising by nearly 100% in some cases, as values in the capital have recovered strongly from the fallout of the global financial crisis.

Average prices in Waltham Forest, for example, have risen by 97.7%, while in Barking and Dagenham prices have increased by 83.7%, reaching an average of nearly £300,000 at present.

In Havering, meanwhile, prices have grown by 74.3% since 2010, from just above £212,000 then to just over £371,000 today.

Here at Balgores Property Group, we operate in Dagenham and Hornchurch (part of the London Borough of Havering) and have seen first-hand the dramatic rise in property values in the last 10 years, which of course has been to the benefit of sellers seeking to get the best price for their home.

This growth has been fuelled by high demand and supply not keeping up, with many people filtering out from more central locations to places on the outskirts of London where affordability is less of an issue and the pace of life is generally slower. This ripple effect has spread even further out, to Home Counties locations such as Essex, which has led to considerable price rises in places such as Thurrock, Southend-on-Sea, Basildon, Brentwood and Chelmsford.

Essex house prices soar upwards in last decade

Separate research, based on figures from the Office for National Statistics, recently looked at a decade of property performance across the UK and found that house prices across Essex increased by 62% throughout the 2010s - equivalent to £34.89 per day.

While the average cost of a home in 2009 was £200,102, in 2019 it rose to £323,279, with the biggest increase in the county taking place in Basildon - where homes are now on average 72% more expensive than in 2009.

In second place was Southend, with a 69% rise, followed by Thurrock in third place with a 68% increase. The average price of a home in Colchester, meanwhile, went from £170,053 in 2009 to £271,822 in 2019 - a 60% growth.

Brentwood prices rose by 66%, up by nearly £49 a day, while Chelmsford went from an average price of £210,000 in 2009 to an average value of just over £341,000 in 2019 – a rise of 62%, or £37 a day.

Predictions have been made to suggest that house price growth could be just as strong in the East of England in the 2020s, with some anticipating a 10.9% growth in values by 2025.

Why should you be listing?

We recently outlined everything sellers need to know about getting their home sold in Gravesend, and looked at why the future for Dagenham’s property market looks bright thanks to regeneration and affordable housing initiatives.

We also explored how Chelmsford is the perfect area for Essex families, which could mean demand is particularly high in this area for sellers with family homes.

But, this aside, January is the best month in which to list for a whole host of reasons – in particular to take advantage of the post-Christmas boom in buyer demand, with this group eager to put their homebuying plans devised over the festive break into action. This could be even greater than usual thanks to recent seismic political events.

Given the recent election result and the greater clarity over Brexit and the future direction of the country, a lot of pent-up demand has been released and many people who have been sitting on their hands for a while now feel far freer to act.

This has already been seen in a boost to the market and a much-documented Boris bounce, with the market having a new confidence. While there are still major challenges ahead, including getting a free trade deal over the line before 2020 is out, there is more positivity in the market than there has been for some time thanks to a serious reduction in uncertainty.

As a seller, you can take advantage of this renewed confidence and the uptick in buyer activity. If your home is warm, welcoming, well-maintained and marketed in the right way, you will drastically improve your chances of selling.

To find out more about selling your home in Essex, London and Kent, get in touch with us at one of our many branches.

If you would like to discover how much your home could be worth in the current marketplace, you can request a free and instant online valuation.