More than three and a half years later and the Brexit countdown has reached a milestone conclusion on the 31st January.
After a lengthy time of uncertainty and market reservation, which resulted in a significant amount of potential movers ‘waiting to see how things panned out’, all routes would seem to lead to a positive note.
The reality of the ‘Boris Bounce’ and the polarisation of differing marketing approaches within UK estate agency
Boris Johnson’s landslide election victory was accompanied by what has infamously become referred to as the ‘Boris Bounce’, which was reflected in an apparent surge in house prices.
Rightmove reported a 2.3% surge in the price of properties coming to market; the largest monthly rise they have ever recorded at this time of year.
Whilst Zoopla (powered by Hometrack) recorded 26% higher demand over the first four weeks of the year than they saw in the same period in both 2018 and 2019.
However, whilst the surge in prices is certainly a very marketable factor to discuss with potential clients, the rise is fundamentally based upon data that measures asking prices, not sales.
We need agents to set our expectations…
Why is measuring ROI such a prevalent issue with agents?
Although business owners are now recognising the importance of digital marketing, the honest answer is that many don’t know what they should be doing or what’s even meant by good Return on Investment.
There is little doubt that the apparent surge in house prices, accompanied by a lift of uncertainty, is helping to increase buyer and seller activity in some areas.
However, potential sellers will now benefit from experienced agents who are willing to realistically set people’s expectations on what to expect from bringing their property to market by keeping our feet firmly on the ground at this time.
“BriefYourMarket.com is a whole marketing department wrapped up in one extremely effective software.”
At this stage, campaigning on the theme can be split into two camps, with no right or wrong answer on what the correct approach should be. Both use data that is readily available, yet one takes the data and looks deeper into the sentiment; establishing some clear ground rules from the outset.
What is your post-Brexit marketing stance?
Approach one
Some agents are using the Rightmove House Price Index and Zoopla (powered by Hometrack) statistics to their advantage by simply raising awareness of how the market is performing and actively telling clients that it’s a great time to market.
Approach two
Other agents (and it seems to be working) are applying their local market knowledge to express the age-old sentiment that a property is only worth what a buyer is willing to pay based on current market activity.
Could the ‘Boris Bounce’ lead to frustration for both agents and sellers?
Ironically, potential sellers relying on the ‘Boris Bounce’ could actually have a detrimental effect on their sale.
As sellers use the wealth of information readily available to them from Rightmove and Zoopla, they may start to increase their expectations about what they should achieve in terms of sales price.
In turn, this could only lead to increasing frustration for agents as sellers turn down what would have been a perfectly good offer in comparison to just four or five weeks previously.