By Nik Maryam Binti Nik Mohd Ariff

As another year passes, questions arise on how the UK property market would fare in 2019. The events affecting the past year’s performance serve as a good indicator on how the market would progress moving forward. In short, 2018 marks a slow period for the housing market, with various reports signalling an overall continuing decrease in growth in housing prices nationwide, partly due to more sellers holding back from marketing their homes in the midst of the current political situation, even more so during the holiday season. Results from one of the latest surveys conducted by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) show that it took an average of 102 days for properties in major towns and metropolitan areas to sell or be put under offer last year, which was 6 days longer than in 2017.

According to The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics), the drop in numbers can be owed to the precariousness of current Brexit negotiations as well as the strain on housing affordability, particularly in the south. With those factors still at play, market forecasts for 2019 look to be just as bleak. According to experts from the property industry, house prices are predicted to flatline across the country with numbers varying throughout the regions and London taking a bigger hit in the first quarter of the year. However, house vendors are hoping for a more optimistic outlook once the Brexit mayhem lets up after March.

While waiting for the storm to pass in a time of uncertainty, that doesn’t mean that homeowners should wallow in their worries! One of the ways to give homes a competitive edge in a stiff market is Home Staging, which involves furnishing and decorating a property in order to not only make it more appealing to potential buyers but also serve to demonstrate how the space could potentially look like and would feel like to live in.

Based on first impressions, be it through online marketing or physical brochures, furnished properties pull in more viewings and increase viewing time. Buyers would be more inclined to develop an emotional connection with the house the more they view it and the more they can envision themselves living in it. On top of that, in the current climate where house prices are falling and properties are taking longer to sell, a professionally staged home aids in cutting down the duration it would spend being on the market and gives the seller a leg up in attaining higher prices. According to Rightmove, furnished homes help raise the asking price and also sell for 8% higher than non-staged homes.

So, even with all the doom and gloom projected to pervade the market, it’s not the be-all and end-all. A little dressing up could do wonders for your homes and your returns too!

Looking for an Estate Agent? Robert Holmes & Company can assist you with your property: https://robertholmes.co.uk