Experts warn this will be ‘no ordinary summer’ as pent up demand, the stamp duty holiday, and stay-at-home holidaymakers are expected to shake up the property market over the coming months.
New homes listed for sale in the first week of July were 200 per cent higher than in the first week of January, according to analysis from Knight Frank. Typically the average increase in supply over the last five years has been 26 per cent.
Demand from home buyers was 25 per cent higher than the first week of the year, compared to a five year average decline of 20 per cent.
Tom Bill, head of UK residential research at Knight Frank, said: “Activity in UK property markets shows no sign of fading over the next several months.
“Not just because overseas holidays and the Olympic Games have been postponed until 2021. There will also be an unusual pattern of activity in UK property markets for buyers and sellers to navigate.”
He added: “This will be no ordinary summer.”
No seasonal lull
Bill noted that there was unlikely to be any seasonal lull in July and August this year and now that the chancellor has announced a stamp duty holiday, until 31 March, a drop off in activity usually seen at this time of year was even less likely.
“Buyers need to do their homework,” said Bill. Estate agents have been reporting that the first viewing of a property was being treated like a second viewing, with buyers having already assessed the home online using video technology.
Sellers are being warned not to hang on until September to list their property, because suitable buyers are less likely to be on the beach this year said Bill.
Knight Frank also observed that a number of buyers and sellers were acting now because they were unsure how severely the economy would be impacted by the pandemic in the final months of the year.
“For some, uncertainty around the impact of a second wave of coronavirus and the potential economic fallout as the government unwinds its financial support measures is causing them to act sooner rather than later,” added Bill.
