Top of the flops in Chichester

Whilst properties in Chichester have increased in value by 26.5% in the past decade, it doesn’t mean that every property you buy will automatically make you a fortune. 

As I trawl through the property sales data for Chichester it is relatively rare to find a property that is sold at a loss nowadays i.e. for less than the previous owner paid.

This did occur recently though; as a three-bedroom house on Grove Road sold in April for ￡229,950. This was 2% lower than the ￡235,000 the seller had paid in February 2010 (which should have been close to the bottom of the ‘credit crunch’ dip) and only 2% more than the house was sold for a decade ago!

When you factor in buying and selling costs the loss would be even worse. The eventual selling price was also some 23% below the asking price of ￡299,950, so there might be a story behind the sale (or a rare error on the Land Registry data).

It’s interesting to note the disparity in the figures, whereby some properties underperform the local market whilst others do incredibly well. One such recent success saw a three-bedroom house in Mosse Gardens (Fishbourne) sell for ￡232,500 - 37% more than they paid just seven years ago!

With general uncertainty around the property market and wider economy, I believe it is now imperative for careful consideration of what property to buy for investment to ensure you don’t buy a future ‘flop’.

For some free advice in this regard, please contact me on 01243 624599 or perhaps you’d be interested in the free talk I am doing about the local property market and investing in buy-to-let (details at www.crjlettings.co.uk/chichester-property-talk).

(This article was featured in the Chichester Observer's property section on 25th August 2016)

Clive Janes, Chichester Property News. 

www.chipropertynews.co.uk