May Newsletter

A Spring Market

Spring tends to be a good time of the year for the London property market and this year is no exception. Perhaps the key headline came from Savills, who were initially predicting the average price of UK homes to fall by 3%, however they have now changed that to rise by 2.5% as inflation and interest rates stabilize. There seems to be a theme of positive sentiment not only in the property market, but in the UK in general, as this update will explain. 

The UK property market is naturally linked to the state of the economy in general. As of last week, the UK officially exited the recession with the fastest growth in two years. According to the BBC, “The economy grew by 0.6% between January and March, the fastest rate for two years, official figures showed. The UK fell into recession at the end of last year after shrinking for two three-month periods in a row. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the economy had "turned a corner"”. This is very welcomed news for the property industry as there will be more confidence in the UK.

Coutts Bank also joined Savills with optimistic predictions - “there are some strong indicators here that 2024 will be a better year for prime London property than 2023, with prime central London long overdue a rebound”. They provided multiple reasons for this. Properties are selling quicker – the average is now 161 days. This has been the quickest it’s been for 12 quarters. The super prime (£10 million and above) market is performing particularly well, with transactions up 9.1% in comparison to last year. 

So is now a good time to buy? The market is still below up to 20% (depending on the area) below its peak in 2014, so one could argue there is room to grow especially as we are now seeing signs of improvement. However, it’s impossible to time the perfect time to buy – instead the focus should be on finding the right property to buy when the time is right for you. As long as you are planning to own your property for the long-term, buying the right home will put you at a competitive edge in both turbulent and strong markets. Working with a buying agent is key to securing the right home, so if you are interested in a free consultation, please email iyad@iyadgrahne.com.