The property market is booming in early 2020
Statistics from two of the most important portals in UK property, Rightmove and OnTheMarket show that the property market is exceptionally buoyant at the moment.
In January visits to Rightmove surpassed 150 million, the most ever recorded in a January – a 7% increase on January 2019. Also notable is that the time spent by potential buyers was up 4% with a total of 1.17 billion minutes being send on the site.
The latest figures, from Rightmove’s February House Price Index, show that average asking prices in the UK inflated by 2.9% compared to last year, with an average asking price of £309,399.
This market momentum is expected to increase even more ahead of the spring moving season, suggesting there will be even more records seen as we move forwards.
Miles Shipside, Rightmove director and housing market analyst said: “There is a boom in buyer activity outstripping the rise in the number of new sellers, which we expect to lead to a series of new price records starting next month.”
“… Spring buyers are likely to be faced with the highest average asking prices ever seen in Britain. Buyers who had been hesitating and waiting for the greater political certainty following the election outcome may be paying a higher price, but they can now jump into the spring market with renewed confidence.”
“After three and a half years of Brexit uncertainty, dither, and delay, many now seem to have the 2020 vision that this is the year to satisfy their pent-up housing needs.”
Lucian Cook, head of Savills residential research, said: “Since the election we’ve certainly seen a significant uptick in new buyer demand in the prime market which creates a real opportunity for sellers while stock for sale remains relatively low. Increased confidence is translating into increased activity, both in the prime market and across the wider market as a whole.”
Similarly, traffic to property portal OnTheMarket exceeded 30 million visits in January 2020, a new monthly record, and an increase of more than 28% compared with January 2019, and 11% more than the previous record of 27.2 million in September 2019.
Of course, some of this increase could be down to OnTheMarket’s increased market share as a property portal and a strong marketing drive; but there’s little doubt they are benefitting from increased confidence in the market.
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