Outlook for residential property prices in 2020

Rightmove suggests there will be a 2% rise in property prices in 2020. Do we agree?

Residential sales expert Aldo Sotgiu gives his take on the property market over the past 6 months, highlighting how a combination of great mortgages and political stability has brought buyers back in their droves. But are they here to stay?

At a glance:

• While the number of new buyers fell by around 8.5%, sales were strong in the second half of the year, increasing by 7.95% compared to the second half of 2018.

• Prices peaked in December at £324,000 suggesting that there was a ‘Boris Bounce’.

• There was an uplift of 1.2% in New Instructions in Quarter 4 against Quarter 3.

• At just under £316,000, we saw an increase of 1.3% compared to the first half of 2019.

• Rightmove suggests there will be a 2% rise in 2020.

 

Aldo Sotgiu – Managing Director of Operations for Arun Estates

“It seems both sides are breathing a sigh of relief now we’ve crossed the Brexit line. Despite many hurdles ahead a clear path appears to have bought a degree of confidence back to the housing market.

From Arun’s records, house prices managed to shrug off the uncertainty around Brexit and we recorded a rise in the average house price during the second half of 2019. It was interesting to note that while overall buyer demand dropped, those customers that were registering were more serious about finding a property, which was evidenced in improved sales activity, particularly in Quarter 4. This also suggests that there was some pent-up demand from buyers pre-Brexit.

Prices peaked in December at £324,000 suggesting that there was a ‘Boris Bounce’ which resulted in an unexpected Christmas present for us all. Our findings also mirrored the Nationwide Building Society statistics: After ten relatively stagnant months, prices rose strongly in November and December.

Some areas in the South East showed a strong increase in sale prices in the second half of 2019, with an uplift of 2.16% compared to the first six months. We were anticipating a reduction in customers over the same period and were pleasantly surprised.

In other news, we’re very pleased to see a growth in market share for both New Instructions and Sales with 12.3% of New Instructions in Quarter 4, an uplift of 1.2% against Quarter 3.

As we enter 2020, we’re in a good position with more properties available to meet the higher demand. The early signs for the New Year look very promising with increasing new buyer activity.”

 

Contact us

As you can see there’s lots of change over the last period and it’s likely to continue throughout the year.

Get in touch and see how we can help you move forward.

Want to learn more about the current state of the housing market? You can download the full report below:

Download the full biannual report here

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