A Message from Howard
Happy 2021!
In this coming year the property market will be a far cry from 2020. 2021 will be a time of renewal and fresh opportunities, despite the current lockdown which looks set to be with us, possibly until the end of March.
At Howard we are not discouraged, and we are still working hard. As proven by previous lockdowns, people still need to move and we are here to help during this time with the most stringent of safety measures being implemented. Many of our team are now working from home, but our premises are still open Monday to Saturday by appointment only to protect staff and clients. 2021 we are ready!
Although we are looking forward, I find the start of a New Year is a good time to look back on the previous year. 2020 started with a bang and for the first few months a mini boom in the property market. But by the end of March, nothing. We were in lockdown 1.0. The sales and lettings markets initially ground to a socially distanced trickle with uncertainty being felt by all within the property industry.
But by July we had no time to worry about all that because we had the surprise of our lives. Thousands of people were fleeing the major metropolitan areas. They sought a quieter, healthier life in peaceful places with room to breathe, where the countryside or coast was beautiful, the suburbs quiet and towns and villages were welcoming. They sought new beginnings and they looked to buy and rent in locations like Bristol.
Suddenly the Howard team had never been busier, and there didn’t seem to be enough hours in the day. It has been an astonishing summer and autumn for us. Now things have settled down. But there is still a tremendous job to do getting pipeline sales over the line before the stamp duty holiday comes to its announced end on 31st March.
I can honestly say our proactive team faced all the challenges of 2020 head on and will continue to pull out all the stops to provide an excellent service to clients in 2021. And the proof is in the pudding with fantastic google reviews, like this one from a vendor which sums it up perfectly!
"Rachel Smith at Howard Homes helped us with the rapid sale of our Bristol apartment, in record time in the middle of a pandemic. To pull this off, in record time, everything had to be in order, signed and shared in a timely fashion and a single glitch would have jeopardized the process. But there wasn't a single glitch and the sale went from viewing to exchange and completion in 3 weeks..."
We believe that the property market in our region will stay active through next year with values continuing to remain firm. Buyers and renters will carry on being attracted by our fantastic way of life in Bristol, and opportunities will be many. And with our outstanding National Health Service personnel and medical scientists putting us well on the road to Covid recovery, we can look forward to a bright and optimistic New Year.
So as we turn our back on what was quite a topsy turvy year in the property market, we now look ahead with optimism to an exciting 2021.
We wish everyone, especially all our clients – old, new and future - a very happy, safe, prosperous and extremely healthy New Year.
