The impact of Brexit on house-buying behaviour has been dramatic and immediate, both on expected property prices and transaction volumes, a website has claimed.
However, an independent conveyancer has insisted that the Leave vote has so far had almost zero effect, while a buying agent said there has been no significant change in sentiment.
The claim about falling prices and transactions likely to be seen this autumn comes from a site which provides free quotes for home moving services, including removals, surveys and conveyancing. The quotes are typically requested three months ahead of a move.
Based on 8,500 registrations on www.reallymoving.com in the weeks before and after Brexit (17-23 and from June 24 to yesterday), the average UK property value fell 6% from £256,000 to £239,000. There was also a 22% drop in the number of prospective home buyers registering for conveyancing quotes.
Scotland and Northern Ireland have been hardest hit – volumes fell by 37% and average prices by 15%.
London and the south-east have also been heavily impacted, with volumes down 29%, although prices are only down by 2%. Prices fell more rapidly in central London (10%) than other areas.
The north of England has seen less impact with volumes falling only 5% and prices down 2%.
Prices are based on property values entered by movers when requesting conveyancing and survey quotes.
Demand for removals appears to be unaffected so far, with movers almost certainly already committed to their transaction.
Rob Houghton, CEO of reallymoving, said: “We’re alarmed although not surprised by the sudden drop both in property value expectations and transaction volumes.
“We expect a medium-term recovery in both once the shock of Brexit has subsided and confidence in the strong fundamentals of the UK economy is re-established.”
However, yesterday Peter Ambrose of conveyancing firm The Partnership said there have been almost no fall-throughs in his firm’s caseload of almost 600 transactions.
As previously reported, there were two at the weekend. Since then, there have been none.
Edward Heaton, of property buying and search agent Heaton & Partners, said: “So far it has been business as usual, although of course, this might be the calm before the storm.
“Having spoken to most of the main selling agents in both London and the country, they are not reporting any significant change in sentiment and it has had virtually no effect on transactions.
“I have heard of a couple of sellers delaying putting their houses on the market just to see how the situation unfolds, but aside from that, the mood seems to be quite positive, albeit many people are in shock at the outcome.”
Comments (8)
Seems to me like a cold serving of complete, unadulterated MDT from this “home moving website”.
Best thing about market uncertainty and a challenging market is that people will need a good agent rather than an on-line property advert.
So good times could be around the corner for good agents and falling share prices for on-line agents.
The true barometer of activity is best measured through the estate agents on the ground and not faceless websites that can make a story out of thin air.
My experience mirrors that of Peter Ambrose with with broad analysis over a big pipeline of sales and whilst it is too early to be sure, I think it will be business as usual albeit with a diminished level of consumer confidence.
So, in a nutshell and for my money Typhoon has it right as otherwise the industry has the potential to create a bigger problem than already exists.
C’mon we just had the referendum and we are heading towards summer hols. Normally we see a slower market from early July to early August (at least where I am) it’s been slower earlier because of the vote doesn’t mean it’s a poor outlook. you will have to be waiting till mid august earliest before you start forecasting.
Come on PE this article could easily have had a “Positive Heading” Let’s not talk the market place down. Every time an agent sees headings like this, it’s another bit if weight that is added to already heavy shoulders.
How about this for an idea. Ban bad news and negative headlines for a week and see if you can help lift the weight a little from our shoulders.
Yep, lets live in cloud cookoo land for a bit so we dont have to plan.
Surprised you can read the headline Typhoon. I would have thought it would be hard to see when you have your head buried in the sand.
Since the story is mainly about a company whose head says ‘We’re alarmed although not surprised by the sudden drop both in property value expectations and transaction volumes.’ a positive heading would not be accurate.
Titis if all the people responsible for managing difficult times were totally negative, they would never have achieved anything. the point I was making was that bin the PE article there was more positive commentary than negative yet the headline was negative. For the long term,we all know property is a safe place to have our money. Or are you bailing out of ownership now for fear that it will drop in value and never recover. Take a look at the stock market a week on. Maybe that will give you a little hope.