Quick Sale Completions are very pleased to announce its partnership with the UK’s leading housing data specialist, Hometrack.  As a thank you for visiting us and enquiring about our various services we are more than happy to be able to off you a FREE Hometrack report which is specifically designed for your property (normally £19.99 each). For more information, please click on the following link:

What is Hometrack and how can I get my FREE report?

Please also see an interview with National Sales Manager, Ben Squire, below:

How long has Hometrack been established for? Hometrack was set up in 1999…

How do you conduct your research? The national monthly housing market survey is based on a monthly survey of estate agents and surveyors across all postcode districts across England and Wales (e.g. SE5 and CB1 etc).  The survey was first published in mid 2000 and the results are based on the answers to a standard questionnaire of 11 questions which has been in place since the index was first created.  This approach to monitoring prices and other key market indicators is different to that employed by other published measures of house prices in that it tracks trends in areas where there are both strong and weak levels of market activity.

The questions are designed to capture a range of variables on local market conditions as well as the average price e.g. average time to sell, achieved price as % asking price, change in property listings, change in registered applicants, viewings per sale.  Hometrack look to obtain a minimum of two returns for each postcode district. In some areas they obtain many more than 2 returns.  The average monthly sample size is around 5,000-6,000 returns.

Who is responsible for the research and analysis you undertake as an organisation? Richard Donnell is Hometrack’s Director of Research and we also have an analyst who works alongside him.

Your ART Reports have a section that refers to ‘estate agents sentiments’ can you explain this a bit further? Each month we ask estate agents to comment on various market indicators. One of the questions we ask them is their sense of  how prices for each type of property are changing month on month. We then display this on a barometer which demonstrates the general sentiment of how local estate agents feel prices are changing in their area. As estate agents are working at the very front of the housing market we find it a useful way of gauging changes in the market as they happen

What other housing market activity signs can you point out? There are many different factors that affect the housing marker and these are always changing. Every month Hometrack release a summary from our House Price Survey along with analysis.  This is the best way to keep up to date with the UK housing market. This information can be seen by visiting:

How important is it to look at sold house pricing data  - such as from the Land Registry – as opposed to what estate agents are stating as values? When a prospective vendor initially looks into selling their property they will often look in the local newspaper and on the internet for an idea on what their property might be worth. However asking prices are often not a true reflection of what those properties are actually achieving when sold. In the Hometrack’s national house price we ask estate agents for data on the % of the asking price being achieved on sales. This figure can vary greatly from area to area based on the local market conditions. The variance from area to area can be as much as 10% which when looked at in monetary terms can be huge. If selling a property it’s essential to look at what similar properties are achieving rather than what the asking prices are. Hometrack provide free access to sold prices via its website www.hometrack.co.uk.  This is updated every month and allows the public to keep track on both prices and market activity in their area.