The UK property market is once more making headlines, and this time for more positive reasons. Is this simply a result of pent-up demand, the Boris Bounce, or are there fundamental reasons behind this?
Just twelve months ago headlines were pronouncing the death of the UK property market. The country had little inkling there would be an election ahead, the UK parliament was seemingly operating in little more than a holding pattern, and arguments were taking place across garden fences about whether Britain should remain in or leave the EU.
Twelve months later, the outlook for the UK property market seems much brighter. Newly released data is producing light in all the gloom, with Rightmove, the UK’s leading property portal, announcing it had experienced its busiest month ever for visitors.
Even the beleaguered London property sector is once more feeling some love, with international buyers and investors returning.
The latest Halifax House Price Index has shown a price increase of 2.3% in the last quarter over the previous three months; in light of this, we ask the experts for their thoughts on why the UK property market is seeing a resurgence and what they feel the future holds.
Marc von Grundherr, director of lettings and sale agent Benham and Reeves, said, “It would seem that the Boris bounce in market activity that followed December’s election has blown market expectations out of the water where the rate of annual house price growth is concerned and has catapulted a once weary market back to its previous form.
Given the months of market decline and the seasonalities involved, this turnaround is really quite remarkable and demonstrates the absolute resilience of our brick-and-mortar market.
We can now expect more of the same, and we can look forward to a Brexit-inspired bump in house prices now that we have finally departed. These green shoots will almost certainly be cultivated by the Government with a further budget boost come Spring.”
Founder and CEO of Stone Real Estate, Michael Stone, commented, “We’ve seen levels of market activity return at an alarming rate since the back end of last year, and such a rapid return to form where prices are concerned bodes very well for the year ahead.
Heightened market activity will always bring about a lift in prices, and the new-build sector, in particular, is helping drive this rejuvenation of the UK property market, with the highest level of housing supply reaching the market in over a decade.
This supply is vital if we are to satisfy the latest surge in buyer demand; however, the Government has also announced yet a further boost to market sentiment via the new build sector with the launch of the First Home scheme.
Allowing first-time buyers to buy new with a notable discount in their local area will help to breathe life into the market from the ground up while keeping prices at a moderate level, at the same time helping those that have been most disadvantaged as a result of years of steep house price growth.”