January sees new highs in househunter activity
Househunter numbers rise 54% compared to January 2005
Property enquiries rise faster still as more househunters ‘get serious’
The latest propertyfinder.com research reveals a sharp rise in interest in UK property. The number of people searching for property on the site hit 1.1 million in January, up 54% compared to the same period in 2005, when the property market was languishing in the doldrums. Since August 2005, househunter numbers have risen 30%. Propertyfinder.com passed on almost half a million leads from these prospective buyers to estate agents in January, 61% more than last the same time last year.
Furthermore, optimism among buyers is increasing faster than among sellers, which is a further sign that buyers are more prepared to commit to a purchase. In January, 64% of buyers expected prices to rise over the next 12 months, up from 61% in December. The proportion of optimistic sellers remained static at 75%. On average January’s buyers made offers 4.3% below the asking price, up from 5.5% below the asking price in November.
Jim Buckle, Chief Executive Officer of propertyfinder.com commented:
We have been surprised by just how strongly interest in the property market is reviving. What’s more, the fact that the number of enquiries we are passing on to agents on specific homes advertised is rising faster than the number of people looking at property, shows that there are far more serious buyers now and far fewer who are simply browsing. The rise in optimism on the market among buyers further underscores this notion. As buyers expect a stronger market in 2006, they naturally have greater confidence to actually press ahead
Househunter confidence
Adjusting for the size of the market, the regions seeing the most interest are London and the South East, where enquiries are up 74% since January 2005. Outside the South East, Cardiff is also exceptionally strong.
In total, 60.4% of survey respondents believe that property prices will rise over the next 12 months, in line with December’s data. There is a 76% correlation between househunter confidence and transaction levels, therefore this strong, steady reading signals a continued recovery in transaction volumes.
The revival in first time buyer interest was sustained into January. First time buyers represented 36% of househunters, in line with December’s 37% and well up on the average level for 2004 of 28%.
Jim Buckle concluded:
The property market has had an upbeat start to 2006, in complete contrast to 2005. Interest rates are at a comfortable level and with property prices rising more slowly than incomes, housing affordability is improving. This is tempting first time buyers back into the market. Sharper income growth in London and the South East is providing a particular boost to that market after a slack couple of years. We believe the Bank of England acted appropriately in holding rates last week. A rate cut would have risked reigniting a boom in prices which could actually undermine the recovery in housing market activity by putting people off again
Comments
A large part of this 54% increase in house hunters in one month is surely due in part to the increase in popularity of the propertyfinder.com web site, as opposed to alternatives, including rightmove.com and the general increase in the use of the Internet to search for property. I am not suggesting that there is not an increase in people interested in purchasing property over the month, but I think its important to look at the statistics in perspective.
Posted by: Greg | March 15, 2006 03:58 AM
Great reading, keep up the great posts.
Peace, JiggaDigga
Posted by: JiggaDigga | April 7, 2006 05:47 PM