Mini-boom in the housing market
The residential sales market experienced a strong bounce-back immediately after lockdown was eased for estate agents on 13th May. Since then, the market has continued to exceed our expectations and we now find ourselves in the middle of a mini-boom which has seen our teams achieving record sales in July.
The average asking price of properties coming to the market in the UK hit a record high in July, up 2.4% compared to pre-lockdown figures in March and year-on-year buyer enquiries were up 75%.
We have seen a dramatic rise in new visitors to fennwright.co.uk and arranged over 4000 viewings in July. We are dealing with a significant number of buyers who are looking to make the move from London to either Essex or Suffolk.
What next for the market?
Buyers can now put their Stamp Duty savings towards a larger deposit, reducing the cost of their monthly mortgage payments. In a further boost to market activity, especially for first time buyers, more low deposit mortgages are now available for up to 90% purchase price.
Alan Williams, Managing Partner at Fenn Wright comments “What we are seeing in the market is really phenomenal. Our residential teams are incredibly busy and reporting record figures for instructions and sales agreed. Whilst we work flat out to keep up with the pace of the mini-boom we naturally have to think about how long it will be sustained.
Of course a second spike or a return to lockdown would see the brakes applied but assuming that can be avoided, we look set for a very busy market, with the usual seasonal fluctuations, right through to 31st March 2021 when the Stamp Duty holiday window closes. The ending of furlough with potential for job losses is another risk factor of course but for anyone thinking of buying or selling this year, the advice is to start the process now to ensure you don’t miss out.
Those in the legal profession are working hard to keep up with the conveyancing process but sales are taking longer to get across the line to an exchange of contracts. We expect our sales progression teams to be flat out as the deadline looms large in the New Year. Beyond that I would expect that even after the window closes next spring could still be busy. The pre-Brexit lull in the market and post lockdown mini-boom show that many buyers and sellers who have held back are now committed to making the next move happen”.