With the property market re-opening, there is optimism surrounding house moves, and the market in general. There will be many people who decide it is best to wait before they move home, but for many people, this is the right time.
A lot of circumstances will have changed during the lockdown, which makes moving a priority. Also, there is an opportunity for many prospective buyers to find a great deal, and the home they have been looking for.
Nick Sheratt, from Mojo Mortgages, spoke to the media about the market during the lockdown, and he said; “From a purchase perspective, I am not expecting any significant movements in the short term. We are seeing purchase transactions going ahead. From a re-mortgage perspective we have not seen a great downturn in those transactions, so there is no kick start to the market required. There are some challenges from a conveyancing perspective, naturally. Brokers require support from legal companies and lawyers to ensure we can keep transactions moving.”
There are always reasons to move home
With the market re-opening, some of the challenges will be removed, but it is vital people continue to follow social distancing measures and regulations. Nick Sheratt continued by saying; “I am calm about house prices. I think we are likely to see some turbulent swings, but in my opinion these will be minimal. Naturally, there will be some trending downwards, but I’m not envisaging anything like what we saw a decade ago. I think once lockdown ends, we will naturally see a spike in transactions, where people have been waiting to try and get their homes in place.”
This has been borne out by figures provided by Rightmove, who say the market has welcomed significant interest from prospective buyers since it has re-opened. This includes information like:
- On the day the property market re-opened, there was a 111% week-on-week increase in new sales listings
- The number of unique enquiry demand from the day before the market to the day the market opened doubled, and was just 10% less than the same day in 2019
Lenders are providing more support for buyers
It was understandable many mortgage lenders re-assessed what they could provide to customers and clients during lockdown. Lenders were inundated with existing customers looking for mortgage holiday advice and re-mortgage information. With many lenders furloughing staff or operating with a depleted workforce, it was impossible to provide the same standard of service that people expect.
However, with a growing number of mortgage products being made available each week, there is growing optimism in the market. Interest rates are in favour of buyers, so people who can justify the expenditure might find this is the perfect time to purchase property.
Anyone who is considering buying a home or who is looking for guidance on mortgage matters should be aware the market is operating, and help is available. Each person and household have their priorities at this current time. For some parties, the present circumstances will only reinforce their need and desire to step onto the property ladder.
