DEMAND FOR HOUSING IS OUTPACING SUPPLY

Demand for housing is outpacing supply, according to Robert Burdett, managing director at James Leigh Property Management.

Burdett pointed to figures published in January, which showed that demand for homes is up 13% on the same period last year, with an 8% increase in new sales agreed.

However, there has been a 6% drop in available properties.

As a result, house prices are rising across all English regions, detailed Burdett.

Burdett said: “We’ve seen a quick start to 2021, despite the latest lockdown encouraged by the stamp duty holiday.

“The coronavirus pandemic continues to drive moving intent amongst buyers, but the latest lockdown has meant that sellers remain cautious despite the fact that the housing market has remained open.”

The availability of properties coming onto the market has slowed compared to this time last year, falling 12%.

Burdett believes that with the conclusion to the stamp duty holiday nearing, there is likely to be a brief slowdown as the race to complete existing purchases slows new business in the market temporarily.

Burdett said: “We don’t expect the market to grind to a halt as the stamp duty holiday comes to an end, but we do expect a brief slowdown in transactions during Q2 as people race to complete existing purchases.

“A short extension to the stamp duty holiday could mitigate this slowdown.”

Furthermore, looking to data published by Zoopla, the housing market performed strongly during 2020, with a 47% increase on 2019.

Although, average completion times have extended by around two weeks to just under four months.

Burdett said, “The housing market has performed strongly during 2020, significantly higher than 2019, despite the movement restrictions and economic turmoil caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

“And despite the expected temporary slowdown in Q2 caused by the expected end of the stamp duty holiday, the indications for continuing strong growth remain extremely positive.

“The Governor of the Bank of England has indicated that he expects the economy to bounce back strongly, and this is a further encouraging sign that growth in the housing market will remain strong during 2021.”