UK housing market ‘remains alive and active’ three months after EU poll

Three months on from the EU referendum and economists are still trying to assess what impact the decision to leave the 28-member state will have on the UK economy, but as far as the housing market is concerned it “remains alive and active”, according to Jackson-Stops & Staff.

Fresh analysis of the UK housing market by the national estate agency, based on a daily sample of more than 500,000 actual properties for sale in the UK over the last three months, shows that the volume of homes on the market in the UK has increased since the vote, while the proportion sold subject to contract has only fallen by just 2.5%.

The marginal decline in residential property sales has contributed to a 2% fall in average asking prices across the UK, from £297,508 in mid-June to £291,547 today, led by a 3% drop in London.

Nick Leeming, chairman at Jackson-Stops & Staff, commented: “Three months after the UK’s historic vote to leave the EU, the property market remains alive and active.

“There are more properties on the market today than on the day of the Brexit vote, and there has only been a marginal decline in the number of properties under offer. House prices have also declined only moderately.

“The normal events – families growing, the desire to downsize, a new job, a change of lifestyle – the fundamental drivers for people buying and selling property, have remained unchanged.”

But while the overall housing market remains broadly stable, the data does show that high stamp duty rates are having an adverse impact on the top end of the housing market, particularly properties priced £2m-plus, with just 7% of homes in the capital priced above £2m currently under agreed offer.

Leeming continued: “London has always been an island when it comes to the housing market and is governed by a range of forces that are not as strongly at play across the rest of the UK, such as significant international investment and high net worth buyers.

“The fact that there is a freeze around the higher value properties in the capital is due to a number of factors, not just confidence levels following the Brexit vote, but also the impact of stamp duty at the very highest levels.”

“We anticipate that the market will correct itself as we head into the final quarter of this year,” he added.

https://www.propertyinvestortoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2016/9/uk-housing-market-remains-alive-and-active-three-months-after-eu-poll