Welcome to the latest edition of the TwentyCi Property & Homemover Report, providing a comprehensive review of the UK property market, created from the most robust residential research and property change sources available.
Our report provides a real-time review of the UK housing market in Q1 2018, covering 99.6% of all sale and rental moves. This property market analysis and state of the nation report provides unique insight into the people behind the numbers, creating a picture of the demographic, regional and socio-economic factors impacting the UK housing market, including:
- Factual data (not modelled or sentiment-based)
- Full market coverage
- Demographic overlay
- Property sales data
- Property rental data
UK Property Research Headlines – Q1 2018:
• Confidence is building. Nationally, property exchanges are up nearly 8% compared to Q1 2017, suggesting a continued building of confidence, stability and momentum in the market. Following the usual Q4 slowdown, Q1 has seen 100,000 more properties come on to the market.
• London is changing. Within inner London, asking prices are down 4% year on year, but the number of exchanges is up 8% in the same period. Prices are probably subdued by the pathway to Brexit and the international makeup of the market.
• Smaller homes are on the rise. Over half of all exchanges in Q1 were made on terraced and semidetached houses, up 17% year on year. Nearly 1 in 5 exchanges were represented by a flat, up 10% year on year, reflecting the change in the composition of our housing stock, with flats dominating our large towns and cities.
• Baby boomers are on the move. The Silver Economy is still showing good levels of growth year on year, with 46% more property exchanges in Q1 2018 compared to Q1 2017. The active growth in the property market for the 55+ age groups is undoubtedly fuelled by a combination of pension drawdown and equity retrieval as the baby boom generation accesses the wealth accumulated in their properties and pensions.
• Commuting can be cost-effective. The reduction and scheduled ending of Severn Crossing toll charges is already showing significant benefits for those commuting from South Wales to Bristol, with house prices dropping by up to £6k for every mile you move further across the border. And all for less than an hour’s commute.
