Rightmove has reported that the price of property coming to the market in July has fallen by 0.9% (-£2,647), within the usual expectations for the run-up to the summer holiday season.
It said that buyer demand in the two weeks since the referendum result is consistent with 2014 although down on 2015. The same period in 2015 benefitted substantially from a post-election boost so enquiries this year are down 16% compared to that period, the firm said.
Rightmove argues that 2014 was not distorted by the election so is a better basis for comparison, and buyer enquiries are at the same level as the like-for-like two weeks in 2014.
Most agents are reporting market momentum continuing due to shortage of suitable property for sale, buyers fearful of missing out on scarce choice, and affordability and availability of low mortgage rates.
Sellers seem undeterred compared to the same period last year, Rightmove claimed. It said the two weeks pre-referendum saw the number of new properties coming to market down by 8%, and the two weeks post-referendum saw them up by 6%.
Jeremy Duncombe, director of Legal & General Mortgage Club, said: “Given the uncertainty that has followed the UK’s decision to leave the EU, it’s not surprising that house prices have decreased month-on-month for the first time in a while. We need, however, to look at the annual trend and not a month in isolation. House prices are still rising faster much than inflation over a 12-month period, and a slowing of this growth is not necessarily a bad thing.
“It’s clear that demand for property still exceeds the housing supply on offer, just as it did before the Referendum. The recent report from the House of Lords calling for 300,000 new homes to be built per year will provide some much-needed pressure in this area.
“However, we will have to wait and see how the new government plans to address the housing crisis in the UK, and the steps they are willing to take to ensure that more people have the chance to own their own home.”
