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

I have calculated that at least 47 Margate 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 Margate property to buy amidst a continuing shortage of new Margate 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 Margate property market drop?

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

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 Margate is £7,262, meaning accidental Margate tenants have pumped £341,328 into the Margate 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 Margate, there are still …

41% fewer homes up for sale today in Margate, compared to August last year.

This serious shortage of Margate property for sale is discouraging some hesitant Margate 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 Margate 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 Margate home, whilst you will have the hassle of two moves, the increase in value of your Margate home will more than offset the rent.

Also, when you come to buy your next Margate 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 Margate tenants.

On average there were normally 35 to 45 properties available to rent in Margate on Rightmove at any one time (pre-pandemic), today there are only 17 available.

To give you an idea of how this has affected the Margate rental market, with heightened demand and lower supply, demand for rental properties has grown to such an extent …the average rent in Margate has grown from £1,210 per month a year ago to £1,329 per month today.

Tenants are suffering from less choice and higher rents in the Margate 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 Margate property market?

Well, those of you that follow me know I regularly write about the Margate 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.