Zoopla has predicted that UK
house price growth will remain in the +2% to +3% range over the next quarter,
with downward pressure on prices materialising later in 2020:
It said that after an initial rebound, we
expect demand to weaken over the summer months as the economic impact of COVID
starts to materialise. Zoopla said caution amongst lenders and more limited
availability of 90% loan-to-value (LTV) mortgages will reduce demand,
particularly amongst first-time buyers who – over recent years – have been the
engine of the housing market. Richard Donnell, director of research &
insight, said: “The rebound in housing market activity has taken many in the
industry by surprise. It is welcome news given the projections for falling
economic growth and rising unemployment. Estate agents and developers are
responding and using the upsurge in demand to rebuild their sales pipelines and
open up their developments.
“We see returning pent up demand
and new buyers entering the market creating upward pressure on prices in the
face of a lower supply of homes for sale which has been exacerbated by the
lockdown. House price growth is set to hold up in the near term and we expect
the downward pressure on prices to come in the final months of the year as
demand weakens. While the average asking price for homes marked as sold on
Zoopla are 7% higher than a year ago this is down to an increase in sales in
higher value markets where activity has remained subdued in recent years. We do
not expect the rate of growth in the Zoopla House Price Index to reach this
level, rather it is expected to hold steady at 2%.”
No comments:
Post a Comment