UK Property Market

As the Brexit deal is closing, the property markets are showing positive trends where the brokers expect the prices to gain significantly in the post-Brexit phase, when the number of inquiries may increase and purchase deal numbers will also grow. 

They claim the vendors have adjusted prices to meet affordability, and with the support of government schemes like Help-to-Buy schemes, buyers keen to get property of their own will seek deals. The Nationwide reports of the house price index estimate the growth in February to be 0.4 per cent and the month-on-month fall at 0.1 per cent.

A survey of landlords found that investors are keen on trapping the buy-to-let market, where 39 per cent of the respondents want to expand the size of their holdings. However, brokers are expecting a rebound in such requests.  

Many brokers claim that a smooth Brexit resolution can increase properties' prices, as the current market is in good shape. In addition, overseas investments continue to gain in the UK cities - Liverpool, Manchester, and Bristol, where, recently, a Singapore-based firm acquired three student developments for £55m. 

The group, Far East Orchard, acquired a student accommodations portfolio and expanded into Bristol, Liverpool, and Brighton cities.

In February, the markets remained almost flat, while some of the weakest growth regions were London and South East. Still, the markets were positive and growing in Midlands, Wales, North, and Scotland regions, where the demand continues to increase.

Buyers Arranging Mortgages for Home Ownership

One of the highest-selling regions includes the North West of England, where tremendous improvement in property transactions has been recorded in the cities of Morecambe, Widnes, Burnley, Lancaster, and Oldham, where selling the time of property is 14 days. Livingston in Scotland has the quickest selling property that takes about 35 days to sell.

In the last few months, the Nationwide property transaction report found the number of mortgages approved or the sales were stable. There has been an increase in homeownership pushed by the growth in the number of people who own home with a mortgage. This number has been declining since 2005, but this year it is growing.

Currently, the job market supports buyers who can get a home with a mortgage. The statistics reveal that the number of such people increased 5 per cent to 6.9 million, although it was still below the record numbers in 2000.  

Employment, affordability and low borrowing costs have led to a positive market recovery. The ONS data suggests the property in some regions like East Midland grew 4.4 per cent in the last year to £192,757. The region outperformed UK markets (the average value of the UK increased by 1.7 per cent since January 2019).  

One can get the quickest selling properties in the South West – Gloucester, and in the East Midlands- Welling borough. The data by Rightmove finds that local facilities like employment opportunities, improved transportation links, and infrastructure is the key motivating factors.

To know more about UK properties, click Hamilton International Estates (www.hamiltoninternationalestates.com).