Market Reports

Finally some proper summer weather has arrived but are we looking at a property market also about to heat up? It’s a case of ‘steady as she goes’ in July, with consistent activity. There are, however, indications that more home movers are primed to take action soon.

Politics, especially the period before an election, can be hard to keep tabs on. With a new Labour Government assembled, our job is to make sense of what was contained in the party’s manifesto, what was verbally discussed by then shadow ministers and what will actually be delivered now Sir Keir Starmer is Prime Minister.

With high summer in full swing, the property market has entered into its usual seasonal phase. Less fevered activity has been replaced by a more measured approach to home moving. This is widely attributed to holidays, the build-up to a General Election and even the European Football Championships.

May has been an interesting month for the property market. There’s speculation on how a General Election may affect movers’ intentions in England. In Scotland, there’s rumour of an urgent review of The Housing (Scotland) Bill.

One thing that fills the property market with optimism is better weather. It’s a weird correlation but we see an uptick in activity when conditions are more clement. While it’s not full-on summer just yet, spring conditions have woken home movers from their winter slumber.

We’re already a quarter of the way through 2024 and a stocktake of statistics shows a resilient property market. In March, experts were waiting for two important figures to be updated: inflation and the base rate. The news on both was encouraging.

With February concluded, we’re at a great point to measure the sentiment of the moving market. There are several reports that suggest optimism is building, especially in the sales sector. The first piece of analysis has just been released by Rightmove.