APRIL 2024 - MONTHLY PROPERTY OUTLOOK
We often get questions from clients and friends asking about the market and what they should do as they approach the big question of buying or not…
Property in the UK is a complicated terrain to navigate. Constant curve balls and unseen market changes can leave you hot under the collar and questioning what the best course of action is…
While there will always be uncertainties and externalities, we have good news to lean on:
The number of sales agreed on between buyers and sellers is on the up (Rightmove).
The number of days to secure a sale has dropped by 25%, down to 63 days.
Interest rates are holding, not increasing (The Bank of England).
Our selling agents released that their buyer registrations are up 65%, new sales instructions up 35% and almost all listings are selling at asking or above.
Elections still hold a large grip on our minds, but these numbers show confidence is growing.
In our corner of the market, at Nutbrook, we have made 8 offers in the last month. We have been outbid on them all, which shows us that there is growing confidence among the developers.
When looking at the market, or deciding if you should take on a mortgage and buy a house, there will never be a perfect time, nor will anyone have a crystal ball (if someone proclaims to know exactly what is going on, then run!)
What we do know is that there are directional trends that we like:
We are seeing 5-year fixed rates come back down to under 4.5% again (Barclays, HSBC).
Inflation rates dropping and we expect interest rates to follow (The Bank of England).
Transaction volumes are increasing which results in more accurate pricing.
This all points to showing signs of recovery from a slower market over the last 12 months.
It would be worth mentioning that interest rates were once 15% back in 1992 (UK Interest Rate History), which shows that things will always change in the long term, so your concerns today will certainly be something else in the future - you have to adapt!
Despite what may come in the short term, we wear our long term hat and think London will be bigger and better in 10 years than it is today, and we are willing to bet on that!
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