Relentless Property Brexit
Ever since the referendum which took place 23rd June 2016 (Brexit UK Property Market) and the surprising result of the vote. The imaginatively named Brexit (Britain EU Exit) has been on the lips of many and ringing in the ears… After last nights 2:1 vote of no confidence in Teresa May’s Brexit negotiation deal the future is uncertain…
Back in June 2016 after the referendum house price growth declined and there were suggestions of another housing crash.
Property since Brexit vote
House prices did seem to stagnate for a while following the referendum until around March 2017. The following year in the same period saw a similar pattern, with prices remaining relatively static between July and March. Although historically, price growth tends to accelerate in the Spring and flatten over the Summer.
The rate of house price growth dropped dramatically in the year after the referendum everywhere in the UK and continued to decrease in England the following year, with the exception of Scotland. Some believe the slowdown in growth is simply an overdue market correction.
Property sales since the referendum
Another way of judging the health of the housing market is by looking at number of property sales in any given month. A lower number of sales tends to indicate market uncertainty, which is often triggered by events such as an election or a referendum. There was a big spike you prior to April 2016 caused by the introduction of a 3% stamp duty surcharge for buy-to-let investors and people buying second homes. This encouraged thousands of investors to buy just before the change came into force. After the April transaction slowdown, transactions have slowly crept up again…
Sellers & pre-Brexit market
Looking at the market with respect to sellers we can measure how the market is performing by stock per estate agent branch and time taken for properties to sell. In November, Rightmove reported that it was taking properties an average of 65 days to go under offer, compared to 62.5 days at the same time in 2017. This could be partly due to nervousness around buying a home in the run-up to Brexit.
We’d be interested in your thoughts on the current property brexit situation and what you think lies ahead? Please comment below…