An independent local estate agent says she expects the start of 2024 to "definitely be busy" following an up and down 12 months in the property market.

Owner of Julie Philpot Residential, Julie Philpot said 2023 has been a "tough 12 months" with the impacts of the Liz Truss mini-budget still rolling on from the autumn of the year before.

But Julie said the last year has not been as bad as some feared, with business picking up towards the end of the year.

"It has been a tough 12 months, it has to be said," she told Nub News. 

"The early part of the year was not that bad, and we were holding onto a lot of sales and keeping them together. 

"But as the year went on, every couple of months the interest rates went up, and the number of people wanting to view properties went down. 

"So the summer was tough, but then probably about October I started saying to clients that we have come through the worst of it and are coming to the end of the hard time."

Julie Philpot Residential has recently announced an expansion into Warwick (image supplied)

She added: "The housing market changed so much this year, at points I said it was very fragile. But I can remember clearly in September that everyone wanted the same thing. 

"Sellers didn't want to lose their buyer, and the buyer didn't want to lose out because rents were going up. 

"So we had that rare time of everyone wanting the same thing."

Despite the challenges of 2023, Julie Philpot Residential has scooped a major prize this year, receiving the Best in Postcode Area award at the prestigious ESTAS Customer Service Awards 2023 - the biggest awards in the UK property industry.

Julie has also recently announced an expansion of her business into Warwick, and says she will have lots of new properties ready for the "Boxing Day browsers".

"I think we will definitely be busy come the new year," Julie said. 

"There are people out there buying houses, and lots of offers still coming in. 

"And once those interest rates just started to come down a bit, because they have, they started looking again. People are coming back already.

"I am confident the early part of the year will definitely be good for us."

Julie also expects 2024 to be "interesting" with the elections, and said there may be some more "sweeteners" aimed at the property market before voters head to the polling stations.

And even though 2023 has been challenging across the property market, Julie says she is still loving running her own business and providing that customer-focused service she is committed to.

Julie Philpot Residential has gone from strength to strength over the past few years (image supplied)

"I have absolutely no regrets about launching my own business, and I still love what I do and getting to work with our fabulous clients.

"We have just done loads of figures comparing this year to last year, to see how things have changed. But actually they are not that far apart, which is great.

"You always think things are worse than they are, but actually they haven't been that bad. 

"So after an up and down year, we are looking forward to what 2024 brings!"

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