Industry reaction to latest Rightmove House Price Index
Various members of the property industry provide their reaction to the publication of the latest Rightmove House Price Index.
Director of Benham and Reeves, Marc von Grundherr, commented:
“Many have been quick to jump on a consistent decline in asking prices in previous months as signs of the market running short on steam. However, even with the boost of a stamp duty holiday, the market is susceptible to the usual seasonal trends and so slower market conditions over the Christmas period and into January are certainly nothing new.
“Now that we’ve found our feet in 2021, buyer enquiries are once again starting to surge as homebuyers and sellers remain in lockdown, allowing them to focus on their plans to transact. As always, this growing demand far exceeds the stock available and this market imbalance will ensure property values stand firm despite the end of the stamp duty holiday, as they have done through far trickier market conditions.”
Managing Director of Barrows and Forrester, James Forrester, commented:
“A few thousand saved in stamp duty isn’t the make or break cost of buying a home and so while many current homebuyers are likely to be disappointed come April, the market will continue to lift as buyers largely stick with their purchases.
“Looking at life after the stamp duty holiday, we can expect further government stimulus to help aid a quick economic recovery and it’s very likely we could see a negative interest rate push mortgage rates to sub 1%. As a result, the market revival that was initially spurred thanks to a stamp duty holiday should live on long after it has expired.”
Founder and CEO of GetAgent.co.uk commented:
“There’s seems to be this overarching opinion that the world will stop turning once the current stamp duty holiday expires and this is quite frankly ridiculous.
“The idea that the 31st March will act as a property market Armageddon, at which point all existing and future transactions will cease to exist, is just bonkers.
“Much like the fears around the Y2K bug, we’ll wake up in our beds come the 1st April and there will be transactions continuing to complete, with property prices remaining stable as a result.”
Matthew Cooper, Founder & Managing Director of Yes Homebuyers, commented:
“Although market activity remains buoyant, there are certainly dark clouds beginning to build on the horizon. We’ve never been in a situation like the one we’re currently seeing, where so many homebuyers are delayed for months on end. There will be a serious number of sales that fail to complete before the end of March, at which point we could see mass fall throughs as buyers look to change the goalposts at the last minute in order to account for the additional cost of stamp duty.
“Such a drastic drop in transactions is almost certain to cause house prices to fall and while this may only be a temporary drop, it will no doubt be prolonged due to the tricky economic climate caused due to Covid.”
Main article photo courtesy of Pixabay
