Mike Smuts January 24, 2019 Uncategorized no responses

Former Rics residential chairman, Jeremy Leaf

“What we are seeing on the ground is the release of some pent-up demand prompting more listings, viewings and offers over the past few weeks than we dared hope for,” he said. “However, interest is very patchy and real value must be perceived, otherwise little market change will result.

“Looking forward, we do not expect any significant improvement at least until the odds on a Brexit deal improve.”

Andy Soloman Boss of business growth adviser Yomdel,

 “The coming months are likely to bring some small green shoots of price stability and once we emerge from our Brexit blanket in to the cold light of day having reached an agreement, further stability and upward growth should return to the market,” he added.

“If the UK does enjoy a good EU exit, then a relief rally could be in store given the plentiful government support for buyers, cheap borrowing and rising wages coupled with low supply

Mark Harris, the chief executive of mortgage broker SPF Private Clients

 “Flat growth is probably the best we can hope for, given the current tricky political situation we find ourselves in. Brexit has caused a slowdown in purchase activity as would-be buyers sit on their hands, waiting for the outcome before committing to something as major as buying a new home.” He noted that many lenders had reduced their mortgage rates to pull in customers.

Hansen Lu, a property economist at consultancy Capital Economics

 “We therefore expect annual house price growth to bump along at its current rate, ending 2019 at 1%.

“That is assuming the UK exits the EU with a deal. If the UK exits without a deal, house price growth would be even slower, or even fall gently. But a correction in prices would still be unlikely.”

Samuel Tombs, chief UK economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics

“a sentiment-led deterioration in house price growth, which chimes with the drop in measures of consumers’ confidence since November, when it became clear that the [Brexit] withdrawal agreement would not be ratified seamlessly”.

“Looking ahead, increasing numbers of prospective house-buyers likely will wait a few months for Brexit uncertainty to fade, forcing sellers to lower asking prices to attract braver buyers in the interim. As a result, year-over-year declines in house prices in the near term should not be ruled out.”