Should you sell or should you buy in this most interesting Hitchin property market?

I have calculated that at least 81 Hitchin house sellers have rented a home to break their house chain in the last 12 months, although at a cost as they face paying many thousands of pounds in rent.

There are a number of reasons behind this. One is because they cannot find another Hitchin property to buy amidst a continuing shortage of new Hitchin properties coming to the market. Although, there are others who have achieved such a high price for their home they have decided to cash in and are (hopefully for them) waiting for the Hitchin property market drop?

Or will it drop?(More on that later).

Those selling their home have seen the…

average Hitchin home rise in value in the last 12 months by £21,300.

Yet, if they have had to go into private renting, they have paid for that privilege in the rent they have had to pay.

The average cost of a six-month rental agreement in Hitchin is £6,410, meaning accidental Hitchin tenants have pumped £519,197 into the Hitchin rental market in the last 12 months.

The unevenness between the number of properties for sale and demand for them is at its widest since the early 2000’s. Whilst we have seen a slight improvement in the number of properties for sale in Hitchin, there are still…

37% fewer homes up for sale today in Hitchin, compared to August last year.

This serious shortage of Hitchin property for sale is discouraging some hesitant Hitchin homeowners from putting their property on to the housing market, anxious they will not be able to find their next home and will be left renting.

Yet some savvy Hitchin homeowners are moving into a rented property as a way to navigate the shortage of properties to buy. If you have someone offering you top dollar for your Hitchin home, whilst you will have the hassle of two moves, the increase in value of your Hitchin home will more than offset the rent.

Also, when you come to buy your next Hitchin home, you will be chain free and in pole position to buy your ‘forever home’, rather than being overlooked for the home because you are sold stc and burdened with a chain.

Yet this trend has made life tougher for long-term Hitchin tenants.

On average there were normally 50 to 70 properties available to rent in Hitchin on Rightmove at any one time (pre-pandemic), today there are only 24 available.

To give you an idea of how this has affected the Hitchin rental market, with heightened demand and lower supply, demand for rental properties has grown to such an extent…

the average rent in Hitchin has grown from £1,068 per month a year ago to £1,173 per month today.

Tenants are suffering from less choice and higher rents in the Hitchin property rental market, with few indications it’s going to significantly ease on the run up to Christmas.

So, what is going to happen to the Hitchin property market?

Well, those of you that follow me know I regularly write about the Hitchin property market in my property blog. If you would like some recent articles I have written about the future of the local property, either drop me a line and I will send you some links to those posts, send me a DM or contact me by telephone.

In the meantime, please do share your thoughts on the matter in the comments.