Seb Hipwood, associate director in the residential team at Savills Cirencester

AS WE approach the end of the year, it’s a good time to reflect on the market conditions throughout 2017.

While the spring was arguably one of the strongest prime country markets for a number of years, the autumn market seems to have been a little more subdued.

However it is important to note that the prime country market has been more resilient to the various political and economic factors that have subdued London.

At a local level, we continue to see a good number of new buyers coming into the market hoping to make the jump to a larger property, looking to downsize or move into the area for the convenience of the shops, restaurants and excellent facilities.

The market has however remained incredibly price sensitive and realistic vendor expectations are paramount to a successful sale.

This said, the best in class houses in desirable locations are still selling well and achieving good prices.

According to the latest forecasts by Savills Research, UK mainstream house price growth is expected to slow to 14 per cent over the next five years, with a range from 18 per cent in the North West to just seven per cent in London between 2018 and 2022.

The prime London markets, which have been subdued over the last year, are expected to recover more strongly over the same period, with 20.3 per cent growth forecasted for prime central London and 10.2 per cent for other prime London.

In the South West, the property market has proved to be robust with five year forecasted price rises of 14.2 per cent in the mainstream market.

The same is true for the prime markets in the wider south of England, where growth of 14.2 per cent is also forecast over the next five years.

The move to the country for many buyers remains very much a lifestyle purchase and so we are lucky in the Cotswolds that we do not rely purely on a short term purchase with a keen focus on financial gain.

Our market continues to be strongly linked to the capital, with about 40 per cent of our buyers coming from London.

Furthermore, 60 per cent of our buyers have London derived incomes.

We work closely with our London offices, who are instrumental in our drive to sell country property.

By being able to take advantage of agents that work together in a regional, national and international network, our sellers get the best of both worlds and are far more likely to find potential buyers from outside the area as well as those closer to home.