Weekly Property News Round Up – 11.03.23

Hello,

I hope you’ve had an enjoyable week. Much of the UK population has woken up to a blanket of snow throughout this week – but there’s certainly no chill in the property market! As data shows, spring is in the air despite the cold, and transaction levels are showing fresh buyer enthusiasm.

If you are wondering whether this is a good time to buy, reply to this article to arrange an informal chat with one of our expert advisors.

Now, let’s take a look at all the headlines that caught our attention this week. I always try to summarise the links to save you from having to click through.

Episode 59: Live From Hong Kong – An Inside Look At Our Company’s Growth And Future Plans – The latest episode of the Pure Property Podcast is out now. You can listen to it on Apple Podcasts and all other major platforms.

Remember, you can also listen to this week’s newsletter on the podcast as well.

We would really appreciate it if you could subscribe and leave feedback for our Podcast on Apple.

Property News This Week

• Spring Brings Fresh Activity to the UK Property Market – Market analysis on historic mortgage lending figures has recently been used to reveal the influence seasons have on transaction levels. The results have shown that spring and summer consistently bring in the largest number of mortgage applications, suggesting that we could soon be in for another flurry of activity, despite fears of a market slump. While this year has already got off to a strong start, experts are confident that we will see a significant lift from the mortgage market dip triggered by last year’s political and financial instability.

 

• Drop in Housing Supply Prompting Rethink on Property Tax – The chief executive of estate agents Winkworth has stated that the government needs to prioritise boosting the supply of homes for both buyers and renters in next week’s Budget, in order to rectify the massive damage to both markets done by the Conservative party. The focus needs to be fixed on introducing positive tax changes to encourage and enable new buyers to get on the ladder and also to actively support the buy-to-let sector for the first time in years, by supporting landlords rather than preventing them from maintaining a profit.

 

• Real Estate Revival On Cards, Says Bank of England Rate Setter – Following Halifax’s recent report on rising house prices and the steady trickle of mortgage rate decreases, a member of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee has confirmed that signs of a revival of the UK’s property market may be on the cards. The majority of forecasters have predicted a decline in house prices this year, but the BoE member does not follow suit, suggesting instead that any perceived slump is simply a re-balancing of the market from the record-breaking 28% house price increase at the start of the pandemic.

 

• Halifax Report Reveals Prices Are Up Despite Slowing Growth – It seems that banks just cannot agree on their predictions for the housing market this year, as Halifax’s House Price Index report last month revealed house price growth of 2.1%, staying level for the third month in a row. Since January, the report showed that house prices have risen 1.1% every month. These figures clash with those of Nationwide, whose own House Price Index for February showed a drop in annual house price growth by 1.1%. Indeed, while recent mortgage rate reductions are improving consumer confidence and helping to stabilise the market, the pressure of inflation and undersupply of housing is still causing concern for the market’s possible downward trend.