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The Housing Market is Still Moving, Despite Brexit Woes
This article is an external press release originally published on the Landlord News website, which has now been migrated to the Just Landlords blog.
The UK housing market is still moving upwards, despite Brexit woes, according to the latest Housing Report from NAEA Propertymark (the National Association of Estate Agents).
The study, which covers the month of December 2018, uses data from NAEA Propertymark member estate agents.
Property supply
As vendors continued to market their homes in December, the supply of available properties increased by a fifth on a monthly basis, from an average of 35 per branch in November to 42.
This is the highest level seen for the month of December since 2014.
Housing demand
In December, the number of home hunters registered per branch rose by 8%, from an average of 282 in November to 304.
Year-on-year, demand increased by 13%, from 268 in December 2017.
First time buyer sales
The amount of homes sold to first time buyers in December rose marginally, from 23% of all transactions in the previous month to 24%.
Annually, however, the number of sales made to this type of buyer dropped from 32%.
Agreed sales
The amount of property sales agreed per branch fell from an average of nine in September, eight in October, seven in November, to just five in December.
This is in line with seasonal trends, however, as it is the lowest figure recorded since December 2017, when it was also five.
Mark Hayward, the Chief Executive of NAEA Propertymark, says: “This month’s findings prove that, despite the current political climate, people still want to move. There is movement in the market, with demand from house hunters up 13% year-on-year, and the supply of available properties also rising. Although the number of sales agreed hit a 12-month low, this is something we always see in December, with Christmas festivities typically taking priority over any plans to buy or sell.
“While many are adopting a wait-and-see strategy, until there’s further clarity over what Brexit might mean for the market, there is choice for those who want to buy now, and there are people on the market looking for new homes.”
