Early signs of property market revival
Latest data shows residential demand at its highest level in nine weeks, confirming the boost from last Wednesday’s market re-opening.
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The property market took its first steps back towards normality last week after the government allowed transactions to resume under social distancing rules.
Data for the week ending 16 May shows that the number of new prospective buyers, registering with Knight Frank, reached the highest level since the second week of March.
The number registering last week was 39% below the five-year average in London: this compares to a fall of 77% in the first week of lockdown.
In markets outside the capital, the figure was -58%, compared to -84% in the first week of lockdown.
Estate agents had been unable to carry out physical viewings due to social distancing rules, which dramatically curbed sales volumes. Knight Frank has forecast a loss of 526,000 sales in 2020 as the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic plays out.
Transactions were allowed to re-start on Wednesday 13 May, meaning the increase reflects increased activity over a three-day period, when many estate agents were not fully open for business.
The data does however provide an early signal of what may follow, according to James Clarke, head of London sales at Knight Frank.
“Last week saw the first flicker of what we believe will be a strong surge in activity,” said James. “In these early days it has become clear that the market will spring back to life more forcefully than most people would have imagined only a few of weeks ago.”
Buyers and sellers certainly responded quickly to last Wednesday’s rule change.
“I had sellers emailing me last night and this morning saying they are happy for viewings today,” said Sam Sproston, head of Knight Frank’s Wandsworth office on Wednesday morning. “They said they would happily leave the house.”
Meanwhile, some buyers are now keener to advance transactions already underway. “We have one buyer at £2 million pushing to exchange as soon as possible before the expected surge in interest,” said Christopher Burton, head of Knight Frank’s Dulwich office.