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Tuesday 24 October 2017

Kidlington – Reasons to be cheerful whether you are buying or selling


With its easy access to London and the Midlands via Oxford Parkway train station, and public transport links to Central Oxford, Kidlington is now one of the top 5 areas in the UK where houses are bought by City leavers.  According to a recent study, 50% of all property transactions completed are now to people moving out of a City, with London being a popular source location.



Over the last 12 months close to 95,000 people have decided to move out of London, up 16% on 2016, with 30% of leavers being between 20 and 29 years of age.



Many of these movers are cashing-in on the value of their City properties, and moving to more rural and cheaper locations.  With many using the move to change their work life balance, while others being motivated by ease of commuting links to where they have moved from.



Key attractions are a sense of community, period properties and access to good schools.  Many movers are shunning the traditional commuter towns where everyone is there for commuter convenience for authentic towns where people choose to live for a variety of reasons.



The slowing market in London presents a challenge for Kidlington and other popular places with City leavers.  There are currently 20% more homes for sale in London that at this time last year.  This is an example of how the Oxford market is affected by the Capital, and has contributed to the fall in transaction volumes across Oxford.

Many City leavers choose to rent initially in their chosen location, to enable them to make the move more quickly, confirm their preference and look for suitable properties to buy. 



So, how is the local Kidlington market performing?  Well, transactions over the last 12 months are down by 5% on the previous year at 372 transactions in total.  Of those 13% were for flats at an average price of £210,274, and just 4% of the market was new build.  Terraced houses averaged £306,720; semi-detached £349,353; and, detached homes £481,612.  The most expensive flat sold over the last 12 months changed hands for £382,950 and the most expensive house for £1,405,000.  Overall across the last 12 months prices have held firm making Kidlington look like better value when compared against the rest of Oxford where prices are up 6% on the prior 12-month period.  On average a home in OX5 is 16% cheaper than the average for Oxford as a whole, and accounts for around 12.5% of Oxford total transactions.



Many City leavers rent initially in their chosen location, enabling them to make the move more quickly, confirm their preferences and look for suitable properties to buy. 



Recognising this source of demand is important when marketing your Kidlington property, which also remains popular with families struggling to trade-up to larger properties in Oxford itself.

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