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And just like that, the first quarter of 2024 has come and gone. How did the property market fare during the first three?
City Relay MoM growth from January to March shows steady improvement – a promising start for 2024.
In this article, City Relay will share our rental property market report for Q1 of 2024 in hopes that property owners will gain relevant insights into the current performance of their properties. Use this data to improve strategies and realign priorities to maximise rental revenue for the rest of the year.
A Quick Look at Q1 Of 2024
If you’ve been looking at your property’s performance and seeing a drop in your rental revenue compared to the last quarter of 2023 – don’t let it cause any concern. Historical trends reveal that the property market goes through a slowdown every first quarter of every year. This is a natural cool-off that’s happening right after the holiday rush.
At City Relay, we saw growth in February and March 2024 despite being the low season. Compared to the 2023 Q1 performance, the ADR (average daily rate) grew by 11%. The average length of stay is also longer by 2% – giving it an average of 10 nights per booking.
As for the revenue growth, the 2024 month-on-month figures show promise of a steady 20% increase during Q1. The growth between January and February is interesting because, in 2023, the first two months were negatively affected by the “Holiday dip” by up to -15%. But in 2024, it seems only January experienced the dip and rental revenues recovered by February. Between January and February 2024, we see a 22% MoM growth while March enjoyed a growth of over 20%.
On a national scale, external reports reveal a stronger rental demand with 31.8% of listed rental homes taken by tenants. This is aligned with our data that show a positive MoM growth as early as February.
What does this tell us?
This shows that the rental property market may have gone through a “Holiday dip” but still shows promise of strength in the coming months. As the City Relay team anticipated the usual dip in rental revenue from January to March, we increased our marketing efforts and continued to implement dynamic pricing strategies to help property owners get more bookings.
This led to an increase in revenue last February which continued until March. We intend to exert the same effort to maximise the earning potential of the rental properties that we manage on behalf of our partners.
Expectations for the Rest of 2024
Now that you have a better idea of what happened in the first quarter of 2024, how can you use this information to get better rental revenue for the rest of the year?
With the slow season ending and the summer season on the horizon, it’s safe to say that you can start expecting higher occupancy rates in the coming months. The summer season brings various events that people from around the world will need a comfortable and safe space to stay in.
Of course, this shouldn’t be taken lightly and there’s still a lot of work to set up properties to enjoy maximum rental yields for the rest of the year.
As a property owner, it’s important to keep an eye on the property prices and monitor market trends so you can adjust your letting strategy accordingly. Making informed decisions in a timely manner is crucial if you want to maximise the rental income of your properties despite the volatile nature of the London rental property market.
Focus on emerging trends and the changing preferences of guests and residents will also give clues on how to improve your property to attract more bookings and shorten vacancy rates.
Set Up Your Portfolio to Grow this 2024
As the London rental property market continues to show resilience and growth, property owners should proactively create strategies to increase their rental yields this 2024. Use real-time data to make informed decisions that’ll position your property for significant and sustainable growth. Set yourself up to benefit regardless of the current movement of the rental property market.
At this point, it’s crucial to partner with property experts who can give relevant advice about market trends and dynamic pricing strategies. City Relay keeps a finger on the pulse of the London rental property market to help our partners steer their portfolios towards massive investment returns.
If you want to position your portfolio for massive growth, get in touch with us. Our property experts can sit with you to plan how to increase the income potential of your portfolio this year.
Let’s start by giving you a free rental valuation.
