Agreed sales prices recorded throughout spring suggest that house prices are set to rise out of the Brexit blip and return to the levels of 2018.
An analysis of the transactions agreed during April and May by Reallymoving places the company in a position of being able to forecast 12 weeks in advance of completions as this is typically the time it takes before the agreed price is completed.
Speculating towards the summer, the data by Reallymoving has closely followed HM Land Registry’s data, which lists properties sold. Last year HM Land Registry predicted rises of 4.4% with the data this year set to offset the fall in prices last winter and exceed the rises from 2018.
The data has found that UK prices are set to increase by 9% between May and August. The North East of England in particular may benefit from increasing wages/demand for homes and a limited housing stock. This perfect storm will place sellers in the driving seat and drive prices up by 20.2%.
Whilst these figures may only list potential increases, they could encourage sellers, nervous of placing their properties on the market, to take the plunge which will improve the housing stock and reinvigorate the property market.
Rob Houghton, CEO of Reallymoving, commented:
“Prices agreed this spring will show in Land Registry data in the summer, yet our customers registering for home move services as soon as their deal is agreed are giving us unique insight into what lies ahead for the housing market.
“Our forecasts suggest that sellers are growing tired of the ‘wait and see’ approach and once the Brexit deadline passed at the end of March, with no further clarification, sellers decided to press ahead with their move.
“This new buyer demand and a continued shortage of quality housing stock is on course to drive strong price growth between May and August, with particular surges in regions benefiting from strong demand such as the North East and the South West, where affordability remains attractive and wages are rising.
“Annually, average UK prices have been falling since the start of the year but in June we can expect prices to see a return to positive growth with a rise of +1% year on year, followed by 0% change in July. This suggests that a strong market performance over the spring will see prices make up the value lost in the first part of 2019 and are set to recover to 2018 levels this summer.”
Have you found the property market and the amount of property transactions to be improving as we move into spring and summer.
