Figures released today by Rightmove show that the housing market has had a good start to the new year, with a 0.4 per cent (+£1,086) rise in the price of property coming to market in January as compared to December. The figure is very similar to the 0.5 per cent rise recorded in January 2016.
According to the online property company, there has also been a notable increase in search activity, with visits to their website up by 5 per cent since Boxing Day, which is traditionally when movers start to search en masse.
A window of opportunity for first-time buyers has also opened this new year, with more stock coming available for the sale of two beds or fewer (up 1.9 per cent on the previous year).
Asking prices in London increased 1.4 per cent (+£8,793) month on month, bringing the average asking price of London property to £624,953.
Commenting on the report, Miles Shipside, Rightmove director and housing market analyst says: “The 0.4 per cent monthly [increase is an indicator] of the continued market momentum from the autumn. Demand for a suitable home is such that visits to the Rightmove website are still up by 5 per cent year-on-year, despite being compared to a period that was boosted by high demand from buy-to-let investors rushing to beat the stamp duty deadline. Year-on-year comparisons for transactions in the first quarter of 2017 should also allow for the distortion of last April’s additional stamp duty tax deadline, as transactions were up 40 per cent in the first quarter last year.”
Our property experts at Beavis Morgan have extensive experience in advising individuals and businesses on all aspects of the property market. We act for a broad range of property investors and developers who actively need advice on how to best structure their property deals, both to ring-fence and protect their property assets, as well as to minimise the tax arising from their business operations.
For further information contact Steve Govey or your usual Beavis Morgan Partner.