A Monmouthshire company has won five awards for its work in sales and letting.
Abergavenny-based Taylor & Co, a member of The Guild of Property Professionals, received the awards at The Guild Annual Conference and Awards ceremony on March 22.
The awards won by Taylor & Co were Gold Awards for Sales and Lettings in Wales, Bronze Awards for overall Sales and Lettings in the UK, and Gold Award for Social Media Champion in the UK.
Kris McLean, managing director of The Guild of Property Professionals, said the conference is vital for their members to network and learn from industry leaders.
In 2023, the property market experienced many challenges, but according to Mr. McLean, the success of members such as Taylor & Co proves the high quality of agents within their network.
“Despite market headwinds, many Members have delivered remarkable results,” he said.
Kate Taylor, director of Taylor & Co, expressed pride in receiving five awards, grateful for the recognition of their team’s hard work and dedication.
She said: “To be an exclusive member of the Guild of Property Professionals in my region is a great honour for me personally and for Taylor & Co, and so to be judged as being the best of the best is an outstanding achievement for my team of whom I’m very proud”.
Taylor & Co serve the community of Monmouthshire and bordering counties, providing residential sales, lettings, land valuations and rural sales.
The Guild of Property Professionals is the UK’s largest independent estate agency network, known for its exceptional customer service and professionalism.
Mr McLean acknowledged these achievements, stating that the annual awards aim to celebrate agents who define professionalism and service excellence.
Preparing for the year ahead, he wished the recipients success while reasserting The Guild’s commitment to its members.
There are more sellers putting their homes on the market but the outlook remains cautious because of ongoing uncertainty around interest rate cuts, surveyors have warned.
Over a fifth, 21%, of property professionals reported new selling instructions are rising rather than falling, marking the strongest reading since October 2020, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) said.
On average, estate agents’ branches had 42 properties, the highest number recorded by RICS since February 2021, with those surveyed noting an increase in market appraisals during the month, compared with the same period last year.
Sarah Coles, Yahoo Finance UK columnist and head of personal finance at Hargreaves Lansdown, warned that despite the encouraging figures, the property market might still be struggling.
“The housing market inspired more confidence in February, as buyers slowly resurfaced, and optimism rose among estate agents. However, given the broader picture, there’s still a risk that February may not have been flying after all. It could just have been falling with style,” she said.
The proportion of UK mortgages in arrears has risen to its highest level since 2016 as households continue to struggle with high interest rates.
The value of outstanding mortgage balances with arrears increased by 9.2% between October and December from the previous quarter, to £20.3bn, and was 50.3% higher than a year earlier, according to Bank of England data.
“There’s also less positive news from the mortgage market in recent weeks. Many of those agreeing sales at the moment will have agreed their mortgages back when rates were slightly lower. Since then, the market has reassessed the chances of an imminent rate cut, and put mortgage rates up.
“The average 2-year rate dropped from 5.93% on the 2 January to 5.56% at the end of the month, according to Moneyfacts. However, by the end of February, the average 2-year mortgage rate was back up to 5.75%. It could stifle demand as the impact feeds into the market,” Coles added.
Across the UK, new buyer inquiries grew for the second month in a row, with a net balance of 6% of professionals reporting a rise rather than a fall.
Most areas of the UK have shown a recovery in buyer interest over the past two months, the report said.
However, home sales were broadly flat in February, with a balance of 3% of professionals reporting a decline rather than an increase.
Simon Rubinsohn, RICS chief economist, said: “The February RICS survey provides some grounds for encouragement around the sales market with not just buyer interest staying positive for the second successive month, but also the uplift in new instructions to agents.”
Looking ahead, the sales expectations for the near term are positive and sales activity is expected to gain further momentum over the year ahead, the report said.
Markets are now pricing in three 0.25% cuts from the Bank of England by the end of the year, having forecast just short of three full cuts before the data came out.
In the lettings market, tenant demand continues to rise but at a more modest pace than previously, according to RICS.
At the same time, however, landlord instructions are still dwindling. Professionals were expecting rents to move higher over the months ahead, albeit at a slower rate.
Tom Bill, head of UK residential research at estate agent Knight Frank, said: “The economic data has fluctuated since Christmas but the direction of travel for the housing market is up.”
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The housing market has had some respite in recent weeks after a challenging year, according to surveyors.
Inquiries from new buyers are approaching a flatter trend, after falling in recent months, according to the December 2023 report from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics).
The volume of newly agreed sales, while still falling, was at its least negative since March 2022, Rics’ survey of property professionals found.
Professionals predicted a solid recovery in home sales volumes emerging in 2024.
It also now takes 18 weeks on average to complete a sale, compared with 20 weeks back in September 2023, the report said.
House prices continued to follow a downward trend in December, but the negative pressure on prices is diminishing, Rics said.
Looking to the three months ahead, prices are expected to continue edging downwards, before stabilising by the end of the year.
The latest feedback on house price expectations remains varied across the UK, with professionals in Northern Ireland, the north west of England and Scotland anticipating higher prices in 12 months, the report said.
Looking at the rental sector, tenant demand rose over the month.
A lack of properties available on the lettings market continues to underpin rising rental prices, Rics said.
Longer-term projections point to a nearly 4% increase in rents over the year ahead and for rental growth to average 5% per year over the next five years, the report said.
Rics senior economist Tarrant Parsons said: “With 2023 proving to be a particularly challenging year for the UK housing market, it appears recent weeks have seen a little bit of respite emerge.
“Supported by an easing in mortgage interest rates of late, buyer demand has now stabilised, and this is expected to translate into a slight recovery in residential sales volumes over the coming months.
“Nevertheless, the lending climate is set to remain restrictive compared to much of the post-global financial crisis era next year, meaning any uplift in activity is likely to be limited for the time being.”
Tom Bill, head of UK residential research at Knight Frank said: “The predictable result of mortgage lenders dropping their rates is that demand has increased and price declines in the UK housing market appear to have bottomed out. We expect UK prices to rise by 3% this year and sales volumes to increase from a low base in 2023 as the economic convulsions of recent years fade.”