Market Comment – November 2018

November turned out to be a month of peaks and troths across our group.

It would be fair to say we got off to a sluggish start in sales and lettings but particularly in our sales division, however, I am pleased to report that in the last ten days we did as much business by and large as the first 20 days, which is a little surprising as it got significantly more busy just as the Christmas decorations went up and the adverts started on television. This furthermore underpins my opinion that it is an old myth that December is the quietest month of the year with regards to buying and selling property, as more and more people are not relaxing but instead working right up until Christmas Eve and are back and operating as normal between the 26th and the 31st. This is not surprising, as the busiest day for Rightmove traffic is boxing day, within the region of 20 million hits.

As I write to you, December has got off to a very solid start with new registrations for prospective purchasers busier this year than last year and the year before in week 49. There was no movement with regard to prices in November both in the sales and lettings markets, however there is a small spike in prospective tenants registering looking for property, with approximately 8 tenants for every property.

The news seems to be dominated by Brexit and some gloomy predictions how Brexit will impact house prices, and in this vein we cannot ignore the comments from Mark Carney the governor of the bank of England recently. We are all reminded all the time that the 29th March 2019 is fast approaching and our departure of the European Union imminent. I don’t pretend to be an expert in politics but from all that I read, next week is a crucial vote in parliament in that will we or will we not have a deal and will our exit be a soft or hard exit.

I was interested to read a report by Kaylene Isherwood on the 3rd December and I concur with her comments that regional markets are predicted to continue to fend off economic uncertainty, and whilst London and the South East are expected to feel the brunt of Brexit in 2019, I tend to think this is positive realignment and not a bad thing.

There is plenty to be positive about, in that the help to buy government scheme goes from strength to strength and we have seen no tightening of appetite in the sales or lettings market, with new prospective tenants and purchasers registering for property. The mood all round seems to be solid and confident and I have no reason to believe this will not continue in to the new year and I believe 2019 will be a stable year for the housing market.

Which only leaves me to thank all of our customers for your business in 2018 and wish all of our clients both past, present and new a very happy Christmas and happy new year.