Positive Signs in the Housing Market?
Transaction volumes and house prices increase in October
The latest LSL index has shown the housing market returning to growth with transactions increasing
by 24% and house prices rising by 0.1% during October.
Convey Law can also confirm that they saw a healthy increase in the number of new transactions
during October. Lloyd Davies (Managing Director) stated “We experienced an increase in the number
of instructions during October and the figures released this month from other institutions show that
there was definitely growth experienced during the month when compared to September’s figures.
However, despite the positive developments in the housing industry, equity rich and wealthier
buyers remain key to sales activity. First time buyers are still not able to join the property ladder.”
The Bank of England’s Funding for Lending scheme has provided lenders with access to cheap
funds. However, their strict criteria and the unrealistic loan to value figures are stopping younger
generations from purchasing their first properties, and hence, limiting the options in our contracted
housing market.
Lloyd Davies also commented on the changing seasonality of the industry in general. “Seasonal highs
and lows have been different from the past 7 years. We noticed a different set of new instruction
numbers this year, with spring instructions not as high as normal. It will be interesting to see how the
differentials impact later this year and what new instruction levels are achieved during the usually
quiet months of November and December.”