Be prepared for Boxing Day, the busiest day of the year...

This year has really been a mixture of two halves in Ashford. Since January, the year shaped up nicely with there being a good level of confidence returning to the market with more homeowners deciding that now was the right time to move hence there's been more homes coming on the market in comparison to 2024 and the volume of sales has also increased. As a small business, we have certainly seen an uplift in activity overall and this continued to be the case right up until September this year.

Once September arrived, speculation increased about what may come out of November's budget with rumours of there being a huge shake up to the housing market. With talks of stamp duty and council tax reform with potential property tax coming into play this could have affected millions of home owners. Then the budget was announced and whilst for some private landlords, it meant that income tax would increase by 2%, unless you fell into the mansion tax bracket, the taxation around the housing market was left relatively intact.

Since the end of November, whilst buyers have felt more reassured that the taxation around property remains largely the same as it has been and mortgage rates continue to reduce further, we of course have Christmas around the corner and typically, it's always a quiet time for the housing market in the approach to the festive holidays; only the very motivated of buyers continue to look for a new home.

In the run up to Christmas, we have been busy taking properties on the market, preparing for the usual January surge of interest and we are confident that 2026 will start off well with plenty of choice out there for buyers with more homes on the market and with the softening on prices, potentially better deals to be had by purchasers.

In the twenty plus years that Tim and I have have worked in the industry, year on year, it has always been proven by property portals that  their busiest day for online activity is in fact on Boxing Day, typically over 200% busier than the average day, quickly followed by New Years Day which is also a great time to be seen online if you are wanting to sell your home. What's more, with this week's news about the bank of England base rate now being reduced to 3.75%, the lowest level since 2023, it's an encouraging sign that will only help the housing market build further momentum.

With this in mind, it's a great idea to market your home over the Christmas period to capitalise on the online interest and that way, you could be rolling into January, already with viewing enquiries on your own property putting you in poll position to find your next dream home to move into without having to compete with so many other homes that will hit the market in the new year.

If you are already on the market, it's a good time to look at freshening up your marketing before Christmas by making changes to how it's being advertised and if required, adjust the price if you feel that your home is not as competitively priced as it should be. Speak to your agent about what they can do by way of elevating your marketing to get the best result out of the Christmas spike in activity.

Zoopla, one of the biggest property portals told us that they will be significantly upping their spend on TV advertising and paid for ads online encouraging more people to look at homes over the festive period. Last year, in the same festive period, they saw a 25% uplift in activity so once again, it stands to reason that if you are being marketing over Christmas, it's actually a great time to be seen and motivate buyers to view your home.

If you want any advice or just a second opinion on how to best market your home, then do feel free to contact Mockford and Hunt. We'd be glad to help. Call us on 01233 367606

#boxingdayactivity #AshfordChristmaspropertymarket #bestmarketing

Please also look at our promotions page for details on our current festive offer providing our new sellers to the market a slap up 2 course meal for two at the Flying Horse in Boughton Aluph when you market your home before Christmas.

If you are already on the market with another agent, please consider their terms and conditions before contacting us.