Is the property market hotting up? May update

As summer slowly but surely approaches and lockdown restrictions ease, there is a sense that the property market will hot up as well. Both Knight Frank and Savills are predicting a 2-3% market growth this year. This update will discuss the activity in the last few months and what the industry professionals are predicting for the near future.   

According to Knight Frank, “March saw the highest number of exchanges, offers made, offers accepted and new prospective buyers registering with Knight Frank, in 10 years in London.” This follows an already busy January and February where there were high levels of transactions in order to beat the stamp duty holiday. In the prime sector, an introduction of a 2% surcharge in April caused the highest number of transactions since March 2016. Time will tell on how international buyers react now that the 2% surcharge is officially in place, however with the market 20% lower than it was in 2014, it is still good value comparatively. 

Savills latest report has similar findings and points out that while the demand is high, the supply is low. The number of transactions reached a new heigh in February, going over 120,000. Savills is expecting the transaction levels to remain strong throughout the stamp holiday extension period, which is anticipated to peak in June.

Data from Nationwide demonstrates that house prices rose more than 2% in the last month. According to Housing Today, “the increase means that the annual growth in prices has now reached 7.1%, putting house prices on course to reach double digit growth by June unless there are big drops in prices.” This might slow towards the end of the year if unemployment rises as many analysts expect. 

I always get asked is now a good time to buy a property in London. As you can see from the above data, the market has proven to be surprisingly resilient over the pandemic. While some areas of the market are currently very competitive, there are a few pockets of London where there are some good opportunities for fantastic homes. 

If you are interested in purchasing or renting a home in London, please get in touch for a free consultation.