The results of this week’s market sentiment survey are in.
Thank you to everyone who has taken part. To take part in this week’s survey please CLICK HERE
Overall sentiment suggests that the market is no longer on its way down, with 83% of respondents indicating their transaction volumes are either staying the same or improving.
That said, just 20% of respondents indicated that their exchange volumes are 50% or more of the volumes conducted this time last year.
The worry is the conveyancing pipeline where new instruction numbers continue to be around 15%-25% of instruction numbers this time last year.
When accounting for the volumes of exchanges and completions compared to this time last year, the overall sentiment suggests that conveyancing volumes are around 35% of where we might have expected to be.
While respondents in Wales pointed to the challenges they face with the property market facing continued lockdown, English firms were buoyed by the response to the relaxation of lockdown and the re-opening of the market. For some respondents there is cause for cautious optimism with enquiry numbers up, tempered by the frustration that these have not yet converted to instruction; with one response suggesting
Significant number of enquiries in May. More than normal trend but not reflected in instructions. No clear evidence as to why but maybe people in lock down making plans/considering options/getting an idea of costs of future plans and doing research as time on their hands/boredom.
The announcements regarding furlough this week will no doubt influence the decision to bring conveyancers back into the business, with just under half of respondents indicating that 60% or more of their workforce remain on furlough.
The final question on the survey asks respondents to share their feelings on the overall state of the property market at the moment on a scale of 1-10 (1 very uncertain future, 10 booming with no problems). Unsurprisingly sentiment remains low with the response remaining broadly similar to last wee, at an overall ranking of 4 out of 10.
