We have recently updated the property prices section with the latest data from the Land Registry. That brings the total number of sales reported in Alderley Edge for last year to 114, with a total transaction value of £58,571,0679.*
Therefore property sales in the village in 2010 surpassed the 95 sales made in 2009 but fell significantly short of the levels seen in 2006 and 2007.
2010 saw the return of the big spenders which helped the average selling price creep back above the £500,000 level. There were 11 transactions completed last year for properties costing more than £1m, compared to only 4 in 2009. There were 10 sales over £1m in 2008 and 13 in 2007.
The most expensive house sale recorded by the Land Registry in Alderley Edge is now the modern Stephenson Bell designed house on Woodbrook Road which sold for £3,986,710 in September 2010. We understand a house on Macclesfield Road sold at the end of last year for about £4.5m and another on Whitebarn Road apparently sold at the beginning of 2009 for about £4.6 million but neither appear on the Land Registry, probably because they were commercial transactions.**
One very surprising statistic though is the fact that 20% of sales recorded by the Land Registry for Alderley Edge in 2010 were for less than the houses had previously been sold for. In 23 out of the 114 recorded sales the owners lost money! Losses ranged from £500 to £310,000 with the average loss being 12%, and a median loss of 7.5%, of the previous sold price.
I caught up with local estate agent Michael Chapman to ask his view of the local property market.
Michael said "December 2010 saw a surprise rise in property prices. We found at the end of last year that there seemed to be more activity with people deciding to buy rather than rent due to the fact interest rates are so low and could potentially increase this year.
"Predictions for 2011 are that house sellers will have to drop their asking price by up to 5% to secure a sale but the lack of supply in the market is likely to prevent significant house price declines in 2011. The narrowing gap between supply and demand will see the gentle downward trend in prices currently taking place at least partly reversed as the year wears on.
"The level of transactions in Alderley Edge last year compared with 2009 could be due to AstraZeneca relocating people from their closed Charnwood site to Alderley Park and also a rise in investors buying property as the returns are higher than having money in the bank."
To see the price paid for any property in Alderley Edge since 1995 visit our property section.
* In theory this should complete the sales picture for last year but due to a delay on the administrative side some further sales may well be added to the Land Registry at a later date.
** Some transaction are excluded from the Land Registry data. A list of those exclusions can be view on the Land Registry web site.
