Tag: Property News

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Rush hour! Agents agree huge sales volumes since market reopened

Rush hour! Agents agree huge sales volumes since market reopened

Data released this morning by Rightmove suggests that agents in England have agreed no fewer than 40,000 sales since the market reopened little more than four weeks ago.

The data, from Rightmove, shows that over the past month in total sales are still down some 36 per cent on the comparable period last year; however, a snapshot from early June alone shows that sales are running at just three per cent lower than a year ago.

The portal – in another statement showing how influential it believes itself to be in the sales process  – says 10 of its busiest-ever traffic have been recorded in the past month.

The busiest single day for time spent on the site was Saturday June 6 with people collectively spending over 955,000 hours.

This rush of demand has had an effect on prices too.

The portal says asking prices in England are now some 1.9 per cent more than they were in the beginning of March, the last time there was sufficient data to make a meaningful comparison. This data applies to England only, as the market is still restricted in Scotland and Wales thanks to Coronavirus lockdowns.

New supply in England is also starting to recover, though there are over 175,000 missing sellers that would have come to market between March 24 and May 12 when compared to the same period in 2019.

“Whilst it’s still early days, Rightmove’s statistics covering 95 per cent of the market indicate far more resilience than had been expected, with a strong initial bounce-back in all metrics” reports the portal.

Rightmove has made a specific analysis of over 7,000 newly agreed sales provided by major corporates and property groups, and this study indicates that buyers are agreeing to pay closer to the asking price than they were at the beginning of the year.

In recent weeks, buyers were having offers accepted at 97.7 per cent of the last advertised asking price on Rightmove; although these sales have not yet completed, they are the most up-to-date view of sales agreed prices until completion data is available in a few months’ time.

“This indicates that sales agreed after the market reopened have not only shown price stability but a likelihood of modest upwards price pressure” says the portal.

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Property Gurus lure another prominent agent for central London

Property Gurus lure another prominent agent for central London

The new YOUhome Property Gurus agency has announced another key hire to strengthen its central London activities.

The agency, set up by Adrian Black, offers its so-called ‘Property Gurus’ a salary, commission, administration support, marketing support and access to PlatformYOU, which provides up to the minute aggregated market data and supports vendor management.

Now it’s revealed that it has appointed Chris Shaw to cover the Notting Hill and Bayswater area – Shaw has spent seven years at boutique agency Domus Nova and was previously head of sales for Hamptons International at its Hyde Park office.

YOUhome chief operating officer Laurence Lai says Shaw’s move to the new agency “reflects a seismic shift in the industry where good estate agents can enjoy the freedom to express themselves, provide a better service to their clients, take higher commissions and work flexibly whilst having the platform and resources.”

YOUhome Property Gurus became fully operational in London in 2017 and claims to have the most experienced sales team in London, with their least experienced guru having 12 years in the business and their most 30 years.

Collectively the agency’s sales team has sold almost 5,000 Prime and outer Prime London properties.

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Housing market reopens in another part of the United Kingdom

Housing market reopens in another part of the United Kingdom

The housing market in Northern Ireland is resuming on Monday after its lockdown because of the Coronavirus crisis.

Arlene Foster, first minister of Northern Ireland, says: “The real estate industry has the highest multiplier effect in the economy and I’m therefore pleased to announce that our Coronavirus Regulations will be amended to permit house moves for the sale of homes from Monday 15 June.

“This will incorporate the full end-to-end process from viewing to securing a mortgage and the house move itself. Guidance has been provided on all aspects of the house moving process and the Department for Communities plan to engage further with stakeholders.”

Propertymark says it’s been working with the Northern Ireland Executive to guide on the restoration of the market.

“We have been developing best practice guidelines which will overlay Executive Guidance. These will be shared exclusively with members in Northern Ireland in the coming days. Up-to-date resources including a Propertymark Covid-19 Checklist for agents and Consumer Guides are already available” says Propertymark.

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First time buyers take four in 10 mortgages since market resumes

First time buyers take four in 10 mortgages since market resumes

Today is one month since the government lifted restrictions on agents and the housing market – and since that time the largest increase in business has been for mortgages.

In the past month the total mortgage search volumes using FinTech service Twenty7Tec has doubled from 479,000 searches to 955,000.

“We’ve also seen the volumes of first time buyers’ searches quadruple since that announcement. First Time Buyers accounted for 39.4 per cent of all purchase searches in the past month – up from a lockdown low of 31.82 per cent just days before the [market opening] announcement” explains James Tucker, Twenty7Tec’s chief executive.

He adds: “There are still some major challenges ahead. Payment holidays are now in place for one in seven UK mortgages and we need to see how those are going to transition back to normal payments in challenging employment conditions.

“We hope that there’s a new price point that emerges quickly between first time buyers and lenders that will continue to reinvigorate the market. Currently, demand well outstrips supply with only 50 per cent of the volumes of mortgage products available pre-Covid now available.”

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High-profile husband-and-wife agents move to rival company

High-profile husband-and-wife agents move to rival company

Rupert and Annabel Wakley – both long-time stalwarts of Knight Frank’s country department – have moved over to the rival Jackson-Stops agency.

Rupert is to head up the Chipping Campden branch of Jackson-Stops, following 15 years at Knight Frank where he was most recently partner and office head of the Stow-on-the-Wold office in Gloucestershire.

Prior to that he spent eight years at the Knight Frank Stratford-upon-Avon office.

Meanwhile Annabel will be heading the Chipping Campden lettings operation for Jackson-Stops, having left her role as head of lettings for Knight Frank’s Stratford-upon-Avon office.

“We’re delighted to welcome Rupert Wakley to Jackson-Stops. His commitment and expertise in growing and developing offices within this region is impressive and we are looking forward to seeing Rupert, Annabel and the team continue to build on Jackson-Stops’ high-quality service in the area” says Jackson-Stops chairman Nick Leeming.

“Although a lot has changed in the last few months since Covid-19, I am looking forward to embracing our ‘new normal’ with Annabel and the team, building on our strong links with the local community, and continuing to share our knowledge and love of the Cotswolds with our clients and buyers alike” says Rupert Wakley.

Before establishing his career in the estate agency industry, Rupert Wakley was a professional jump jockey for 10 years, riding some 250 winners including Wandering Light, which he took to victory at the Cheltenham Festival.

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Rightmove to enhance online viewing features in roll-out to agents

Rightmove to enhance online viewing features in roll-out to agents

Rightmove has contacted all member agents saying it has enhanced its automated online viewing feature first introduced in April.

As part of the government recommendations when re-opening the housing market, it urged the industry to maximise the use of virtual viewings.

Rightmove is now telling agents they can give vendors the opportunity to request an online viewing when they send a lead.

This option can in turn be used by the agent to send a link to a video hosted on their own website, or to have a video walkthrough using a video calling app.

A message to agents from Dave Anderson, agency and new homes director at the portal, says:

“We’ll be releasing this new feature over the next week. We’ll let you know as soon as it’s ready to use and we’ll give you a step by step guide on how to do it.

“We’re telling you in advance that this improved feature, included as part of your Rightmove membership, is coming soon so you can arrange to get new video content in whatever way you think will work best for you, your customers and the current government coronavirus guidance in your area.”

He says the initiative is part of Rightmove’s 10 point plan, released a fortnight ago.

Anderson adds in his note to agents: “We know that you have a lot on your plate at the moment – we hope that you’re able to make use of the improved Online Viewing features to cut down on the number of physical viewings you need to carry out and better prioritise your hottest leads.”

There was no reference to the long-term fees issue which has been a focus of agency anger in recent months, prompting the creating of the Say No To Rightmove campaign.

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Delay property tax change until market revives, experts tell government

Delay property tax change until market revives, experts tell government

A taxation institute is urging the government to delay Capital Gains Tax changes relating to housing transactions until the virus crisis ends.

The Chartered Institute of Taxation says the controversial measure about which it is concerned is in the current Finance Bill, which begins its committee stage in the House of Commons tomorrow.

Private Residence Relief enables most owner occupiers to sell their properties without being liable for CGT on any rise in their property’s value since they bought it.

Final period exemption means that – under the law currently in place – people do not pay CGT on gains made in the final 18 months of ownership, even if it was not their main residence during that period.

However, the Finance Bill aims to reduce that period (backdated to take effect from April 6 this year) to the final nine months of ownership for most people, with the exception of disabled persons or those in care homes.

The institute says it’s concerned that the evidence used by the Treasury for this reduction in the final period exemption arose before the Coronavirus crisis brought the housing market to a near standstill.

The Treasury has suggested an average selling time of approximately four and a half months – but the institute says this may no longer be realistic for properties in the process of being transacted, having been delayed by the virus crisis.

“We applaud the government’s desire to better target a tax exemption – we think all reliefs should be regularly and consultatively reviewed – but is now really the right time to be making this change to this relief?” asks Marc Selby, who chair’s the institute’s Property Taxes Committee.

“We’re concerned that the original assumption of an average time of four and a half months for selling a property is out of touch with the reality of the property market today because of the impact of COVID-19. We strongly suggest that the original evidence base needs review and that consideration should be given to delaying the squeeze in the final period exemption until the impact of COVID-19 on the property market is better understood” he adds.

The institute says it is a significant possibility that the market will remain slow for some time, with houses taking much longer to sell than expected at the time of the consultation, leaving some sellers with an unexpected tax liability because it takes longer than nine months to sell.

“Many homeowners who are trying to sell a former home may not be aware of the reduction to nine months. If this change goes ahead now, the new rules must be better communicated” adds Selby.

“Their introduction coincides with the new 30-day time limit running from the date of completion to report and pay CGT.

“The reduction in the final period of ownership exemption from 18 months to nine months combined with a 30 day time limit for reporting and paying tax on residential property gains means that the realisation of a chargeable gain is much more likely, particularly as the property market revives, and there is now much less time to establish CGT liability and pay the tax due.”

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Sales progression app now used by 1,000 agency branches

Sales progression app now used by 1,000 agency branches

PropTech supplier mio says it now has over 1,000 agency branches using its sales progression platform – and it’s recruited Countrywide to issue a testimonial for the service.

The mio app provides a picture of the property chain, with each milestone being checked off as it is completed.

“We empower agents to quickly understand the status of each transaction in a chain by deploying updates from conveyancers, mortgage brokers and surveyors. Our sales progression process is really simple to follow, and the integrated consumer app ensures that it’s easy to manage communication with buyers and sellers. These features are all designed to make sales progression easier and faster so it’s no surprise that we’re seeing a strong increase in interest in mio as businesses plan for the future” according to Emma Vigus, mio’s managing director.

She says future enhancements to the service will focus on additional data on the platform to reduce re-keying by agents and improving connectivity between agents, mortgage brokers and conveyancers.

In testimonials issued by the company the managing director of Countrywide’s south west region, Stuart Lobb, says: “We have found the system of great benefit during these challenging times and we will continue to expand usage of mio as we emerge from lockdown”

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Downsizers should get stamp duty cuts just like first timers – call

Downsizers should get stamp duty cuts just like first timers - call

Family houses are under-occupied and only incentives to downsize can help improve the housing market – with a stamp duty cut being one of the most obvious.

That’s the thrust of a new report from the Centre for the Study of Financial Innovation, which says that if nothing is done there will be some 20m ‘surplus’ bedrooms by 2040, in homes occupied by the over-65s.

The growth in older households – over half of them one-person – is set to account for 36 per cent of the projected 3.7m increase in the number of UK households by 2040, it says.

The report says the current stamp duty regime “tends to jam up the housing market and can add significant costs to downsizing.”

It therefore calls on the government to ensure that so-called ‘last-time’ buyers are put on an equal footing with first time buyers with property purchases of up to £300,000 nil-banded for stamp duty.

The report also blames the housebuilding industry in part, saying there is a shortage of appropriate housing at affordable prices for downsizers; out also wants more independent financial guidance for older owners wishing to downsize.

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Rightmove says key market indicator already better than last year

Rightmove says key market indicator already better than last year

The number of full property details viewed on Rightmove – a key indicator of market health – is already stronger than a year ago.

The portal says this measure indicates serious buyers looking at pictures, descriptions, videos and floorplans; the figure has recovered from a 35 per cent drop as the housing market closed to now being up two per cent on this time last year.

Separately a survey by Rightmove during lockdown found that 94 per cent of first-time buyers were determined to continue with their plans to get on the housing ladder when they were allowed to do so.

This new analysis, based on properties that typically appeal to first-time buyers – those with two bedrooms or fewer – shows the additional amounts first-time buyers may need to save up for or hope to borrow from family, if they need a 15 per cent deposit to comfortably afford the mortgage repayments.

The study of 20 cities in England reveals an average difference of over £12,000 between a 10 per cent and 15 per cent first-time buyer deposit based on the current average asking price of £241,891.

There is a difference of over £58,000 between the biggest and smallest 15 per cent deposits required in cities in England, with the biggest needed in London and the smallest needed in Bradford.

Despite the seven week pause in the market, asking prices of all typical first-timer buyer property currently listed have generally held up, and are two per cent higher in England than this time last year in this sector.

There is currently £60 billion worth of property in this first-time buyer sector on Rightmove, including those that currently have a sale agreed and now hope to continue through the conveyancing process to completion.

In five out of the 20 cities asking prices are slightly cheaper than in 2019.

“Many first-time buyers looking to grab a bargain right now may find they’re disappointed, as on the whole asking prices of all first-time buyer properties up for sale have been holding up. There will of course be some sellers who need to sell quickly and may be willing to negotiate on price so it’s worth asking your local agent if there’s any with this predicament if you do now need to lower your budget. However, where demand is outstripping supply and it’s an attractive property in a desirable location then an offer closer to the asking price will have a better chance of being accepted” says Rightmove’s commercial director and housing market analyst Miles Shipside.

“If a property is over-priced it’s usually pretty obvious by looking at similar properties up for sale on Rightmove in the same area, or by using sold prices to find out how much properties nearby sold for recently, so this should help prospective buyers feel more confident that they know how much they should be offering” he continues.

“If lenders are able to offer more attractive lower deposit mortgages it would help sustain the recovery in activity. If it can be done responsibly, with strict affordability criteria, then a return to more mortgage offers of 90 per cent loan-to-value, or even 95 per cent could make a huge difference to someone having enough money now for a deposit or having to save up for another few years. First-time-buyers will be keeping a close eye on how lenders deals unfold.”