Buyer demand is expected to remain strong even after the full stamp duty holiday ends this week, according to Andrew Property Group.
New data published by the company shows that 50% of properties marketed since the chancellor confirmed in his Budget on 3 March that the stamp duty holiday would be extended until the end of June have gone under offer within a month.
Across the Andrews network of 50 offices in the south of England, instructions were up 6.1% in May, suggesting that sellers were not concerned that buyers may flee the market once the full stamp duty saving ends. Property viewings remained stable in May, up 0.7% on April.
David Westgate, group chief executive, Andrews Property Group, commented: “Buyer demand remains strong and we expect it to remain that way even after the full stamp duty holiday ends this week. The threshold at which buyers have to pay stamp duty will fall to £250,000 and £300,000 for first time buyers. That should keep many buyers interested in viewing and pushing through sales.
“Whether we will see market activity drop off in the later half of September onwards could depend on how the wider economy reacts to the end of the furlough scheme.
“Covid restrictions should have been lifted by then to soften the blow, but the Chancellor is unlikely to extend the stamp duty holiday again, so buyers and sellers now have a three month window of opportunity while economic conditions are relatively calm.”
It doesn’t work when an agent tries to be an economist. A three month window and then what exactly?
Forecasts written by salespeople are nearly always wrong and the author should be more concerned about whether mortgage lending will continue at low rates and high LTV rather than the effect of furlough coming to an end.
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Any agent that sticks their head above the parapet on PIE are very brave. After all they are indeed trying to teach the rest of us how to suck eggs…
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A very fair point.
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