It’s been another challenging year for the new-build housing market. There have certainly been ups and downs throughout 2023, but we’re continuing to weather the storm and focus on what makes a Stonebridge home special and different: high quality specification and materials.
Interest rates, energy prices, shortage of materials and an array of other issues have all caused some uncertainty in the market, however, we have had a solid year of sales, despite the economic challenges. We have also launched a number of new developments, including our first site in North Lincolnshire, and have secured quality land opportunities to deliver further future growth.
We successfully managed to avoid the summer slowdown trend that is usually seen across the industry and, more recently, we have seen improving sales rates across all of our developments, well ahead of seasonal trends in the run up to Christmas.
Chris Kelly, Head of Sales at Stonebridge, said: “There’s no doubt that the cost-of-living crisis is real, however we’ve started to see mortgage rates falling back to more affordable levels. This, alongside the increased competition amongst lenders, is definitely improving affordability for buyers. We are continuing to assist buyers with targeted support and in the New Year, we’ll launch a new incentive to help buyers with mortgage payments. Added to this, rapidly falling inflation rates further boost consumer confidence.
“Although we are closely monitoring housing market conditions, we expect to see a further improvement in 2024 and we are still committed to our ambitious medium term growth plans to expand the business further across three operating regions.”
This year, a lot has been discussed about the environmental and energy efficiency of new homes, and supporting statistics highlight that owners of a new build house are saving on average £2,200 per year in energy costs compared to owners of older houses (source: HBF). The average new build home emits a third of the carbon of older properties, reducing emissions by 2.5 tonnes each year.
Chris added: “In addition to energy efficiency, Stonebridge have a strong position in the market. Our high-quality product, specification, and desirable locations provide an extra layer of protection against any slowdown in the market.”
Nobody knows what the future holds, however we are optimistic about 2024 and we are looking forward to another year of helping to find people their perfect home.