With lockdown restrictions easing, estate agents have been able to offer viewings, with lets in particular in high demand
Estate agents in West Oxfordshire are reporting a boom in business in the property market following their return to work.
With lockdown restrictions easing, estate agents have been able to offer viewings, with lets in particular in high demand.
Dealing with the huge pent-up demand has led to some long hours for agents returning to the office.
There has been particular interest from outside the county, with residents from London and Reading eyeing up a move to the district.
Brendan Kay, owner of Parkers Properties in Witney, said he has been so busy, he has found himself working until 10pm some nights.
He added: People are absolutely going for it, we’ve been flat-out since we reopened. I think the pent-up demand and a reassessment of people’s priorities and requirements is feeding the market. We’ve had a very high number of valuations and new instructions, and we’ve carried out risk assessments and things can now be done safely.
The property prices at the moment are very close to what they were prior to the lockdown, it’s been an interesting time, he said.
Kay noted that there had been a heightened interest in people from London looking at properties in West Oxfordshire. We’ve seen enquires coming from London renters looking to relocate to somewhere more rural and with a garden as they realise they can work remotely, he said.
I think people have realised in lockdown that they want a garden or maybe that they didn’t like the people they lived with and wanted something to themselves, he said.
Lynda Woodcock has owned Pheasant Retreats in Corn Street, Witney, for three years and explained what it was like for her business during the most intense lockdown period.
She said: It was quiet whilst we were closed, I just came in to do the bare essentials. We had no footfall and just had a couple of enquiries for empty properties but it was extremely quiet and nobody was ringing.
Thankfully for Woodcock and her staff, she said that her business had a good couple of months’ trade, especially at Christmas, prior to the lockdown. However, I’ve been really busy this week since reopening and done a lot of lets and had a lot of interest in my properties.
In the office, there’s only one member of staff at a time so it can be on my own doing viewings and sorting out offers and everything else, which is an awful lot of work for one person, she said.
Also in Corn Street is David Moore Lettings, and its director of 14 years, Moore, said: From our perspective, when it was announced we could reopen there was a huge flood of enquiries that came in.
There’s been nothing big so nothing from families but certainly one-beds up to three-beds have been flying. I feel that families have other things on their mind right now. It’s phenomenally expensive to live in Reading at the moment so we’ve got a lot of interest from there, Moore said.
The hope is that this will be sustained at a reasonable rate – I’m expecting it to, as I’ve got a lot of enquiries still, he said.
