Paul Smith, CEO of haart said the fact 98% of buyers will save money has already given the market a boost.
“It’s taken the coalition government almost five years to reform Stamp Duty but at last they have listened to the industry just before the election,” he said.
“UK property prices reached their highest levels in over two years in November 2014, up 7.8% annually, but our data shows a marginal cooling in the London market, with a 1.9% monthly drop in property prices and only single figure annual growth. However we are now optimistic for 2015 and while we may not see the market reach the giddy heights of the first half of this year, which is no bad thing, we predict that property price growth will remain strong and confidence will continue to ride a high as we approach the next election.”
The average London property price dipped 1.9% on the month to just under the £500k mark and produced single figure annual growth only for the first time in over a year.
Figures show the average UK property price rose 7.8% annually and 0.6% on month to £205,421 to its highest in over two years.
Demand continues to be high with nearly 11 buyers chasing each property for sale UK-wide. In London, there are now 17.4 buyers on average chasing each new property instruction which is a marginal increase on October 2014.
Haart said: “The [London] market has now become more balanced as the number of new buyer registrations and first-time buyer registrations decrease on an annual basis but at the same time the volume of properties coming to the market is on the up.”
It said the level of first time buyer registrations returned to relatively normal levels following the busy peak of March this year, but the Stamp Duty changes will reverse in December as demand rises again.
