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Rightmove puts house price index on hold

Rightmove has temporarily halted its monthly house price index following the coronavirus (COVID-19) lockdown.

Its final set of data (for now) found that the total available number of homes for sale has fallen by just 2.6% since lockdown.

There were some 65,531 new listings on the site between 8 March and 11 April – compared to 112,570 between 10 March and 6 April 2019.

But the property portal said this marked an “abrupt turnaround from the best start to a year since 2016”, adding that before lockdown sales had been up 11% year-on-year.

Jeremy Leaf, north London estate agent and a former RICS residential chairman, said: ‘The latest Rightmove survey confirms what we have been seeing on the ground – our offices may be closed but the market is anything but quiet.

“Buyers and sellers are pausing, not cancelling sales, or listings, while continuing to access websites readying themselves for when lockdown restrictions are eased.

“But the market cannot re-start in isolation. We need surveyors to work with lenders, agents, and solicitors to ensure successful transitions as well as continuation of social distancing and safe visiting.”

Despite listings continuing Rightmove has said it will park its index for now.

Miles Shipside, Rightmove director and housing market analyst, said: “Given the lockdown and pausing of key activities in the housing market, statistics on the number of properties coming to market, new seller asking prices, and new sales agreed are not meaningful.

“You do not have a functioning market when buyers can’t buy and sellers can’t sell.”

By Ryan Fowler

Source: Mortgage Introducer

Asking prices lockdown
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Asking prices for marketed properties in the UK increase 0.8% to near a record high

  • Asking prices for marketed properties in the UK increase 0.8% to near a record high.
  • National total sales that were finalized posted a 12.3% annual increase.
  • RIC announced the house prices to have increased at the fastest pace in January in almost 3 years.

Rightmove’s House Price Index (HPI) for the United Kingdom came out on Monday. According to the property website, asking prices for houses in the UK placed on sale in February saw an increase this month that was fueled by the market optimism after Prime Minister Boris Johnson won the general election on December 12th.

Monday’s report offered an insight into the marketed property between January 12th and February 8th. As per the data, asking prices for such properties saw a 0.8% monthly increase. While it was significantly lower than a 2.3% increase that was recorded last month, the jump was sufficient to bring the HPI (House Price Index) close to its record high.

National Total Sales Increased 12.3% Annually

In terms of national total sales that were finalized, Rightmove announced a 12.3% annual increase. The increase in sales agreed in London, on the other hand, was reported at a much higher 26.4% annually.

Rightmove’s director Miles Shipside commented on Monday’s data and highlighted that the seller confidence is starting to show signs of recovery for the first time in many years. Although, it is still distant to the increase reported in early-bird buyers.

Experts also accentuated on Monday that the UK’s housing market has also shown other signs of recovery following Conservative’s victory in the general election of December 12th. According to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, last week’s data on house prices suggested the fastest rate in January in almost three years.

Macroeconomics Continue To Be Uncertain For UK’s Market

Despite the optimism, however, the macroeconomic scenario continues to be uncertain for the United Kingdom. The UK is currently negotiating with the EU to strike a broader trade deal within the deadline of December 2020. Britain is also interested in defining its trade terms with other countries as an entity outside of the European Union following its departure from the EU on January 31st. Any friction between the EU and the UK regarding trade relations, as per the analysts, can be expected to cast a dramatic impact on financial indices including the HPI.

Rightmove’s House Price Index was unable to stir a significant movement in the forex market with the GBP/USD currency pair continuing to trade between 1.3044 and 1.3051 earlier on Monday. The next significant move in Cable is expected on Tuesday after the Office for National Statistics reveals its average earnings index.

By Michael Harris

Source: Invezz

Residential Remortgage
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UK house prices: should you worry about the General Election?

UK house prices are showing signs of recovery despite the fast pace of political events in the country, including the impending General Election on the 12th December. The most recent house price index from Nationwide reveals that the rate of house price growth increased to 0.5 per cent in November, up from 0.2 per cent in October. This is the highest rate of house price growth since April, yet buyer confidence remains low.

It is understandable that, in light of recent political events and the unpredictable outcome of the election, first-time buyers in particular are anxious and would rather wait it out than take the plunge and take out a mortgage now. But is this anxiety justified by a historical correlation between house price fluctuations and elections?

The dataexamining the behaviour of house prices around previous UK elections (taking three months either side as the time period) is clear: elections do not have a significant impact on house prices either way. There is some indication that election results may slightly affect the rate of mortgage approvals (depending on how confident mortgage lenders are feeling following the election result), but again, the rate of change isn’t significant enough to become a phenomenon that recurs during every election.

Economists at Nationwide comment, ‘It appears that housing market trends have not traditionally been impacted around the time of general elections. Rightly or wrongly, for most home buyers, elections are not foremost in their minds while buying or selling their home.’

What prospective buyers do need to bear in mind is the potential for house prices to keep growing for reasons unrelated to the political situation in the country. Urban regeneration and investment in northern England, for example, are likely to see house prices increase substantially in the region over the next five years. London will inevitably continue to see house price growth thanks to fresh wave of foreign investment and the completion of transport projects such as Crossrail.

The slowing down of the pace of house growth, if only for the time being, should be welcomed by first-time buyers as an opportunity to secure a home at a time when we are seeing a relatively stable economy and steady wage growth. Our advice, as ever, is to just go for it if you are in a position to do so.

BY ANNA COTTRELL

Source: Real Homes

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As the weather heats up, London house prices settle in for a chill

As the often busier spring housing market comes to an end, the price of homes in London has continued to drop, according to a highly regarded report from Rightmove, the UK’s largest online real estate company.

The Rightmove house price index shows that new homes on the market this month were priced 0.9 per cent lower than last month.

This represents the largest fall in the price of property coming to market since January, and also means that new sellers in London are marketing their properties at cheaper average prices than a year ago for the 10th month in a row.

At an annual rate, London house prices were one per cent cheaper than a year ago.

The report also showed that there were 16.4 per cent more available property on the market in June compared to this time last year.

Meanwhile, the number of sales agreed to by estate agents in May was five per cent down on May 2017 in London, a slight improvement on the year-to-date figure of 6.5 per cent down.

Miles Shipside, Rightmove’s director and housing market analyst said: “This month sees the largest fall in the price of property coming to market since January, as new-to-the-market sellers recognise that the traditionally busier spring selling season is drawing to a close.

“The end result is that for the tenth consecutive month new sellers in London are marketing their properties at cheaper average prices than a year ago.

“With the normally more active spring buyer market over and with some potential buyers likely to be distracted by summer holidays and World Cup-itis, the goal posts have just moved.”

Source: City A.M.