By Legal Futures Associate Minerva
After a period of record-breaking growth that saw house prices hit a new record high for the third consecutive month, properties are selling faster than ever before but there are mixed messages. Compared to the last ‘normal’ market of 2019, buyer enquiries are up 31% and mortgage approvals and sales are up by 12% and 11% respectively. However, there are half as many properties available to buy and stock levels are down 55% (according to Rightmove, HMRC, Bank of England)
The demand/supply imbalance has kept upward pressure on prices, which are set to persist through the spring and summer market, with supply continuing to build gradually.
The one question everybody wants the answer to is: How long is it going to last?
Over 433,000 homes in the UK changed hands in the first four months of 2022, making this the third busiest start to a year since 2007. (Dataloft, HMRC)
A perfect storm
Economies worldwide are being hit, with expectation of growth pared back, while consumer confidence has plummeted to its lowest level since records began in 1974. The Covid recovery, war in Ukraine and rising energy and food prices, alongside a strong labour market and low unemployment, have created a perfect storm. Inflation is pushing a 40-year high. Thanks to fixed-rate mortgages, many households are cushioned from the impact of the latest base rate rise, but day-to-day budgets are increasingly feeling the squeeze.
In the fourth of our short webinar series with people from our industry, we are going to be chatting with one of our advocate users and early adopters, Richard Carter, Managing Director at award winning Martin Tolhurst Solicitors.
These short snappy, chatty gatherings are our way of bringing to you the experts in their field, a conversation on the things that matter to our sector – how we can continue to grow and manage the pain points, celebrate the challenges, and achieve great things both firm wide and with clients.
So, what is happening with the next one – Wednesday 6 July at 10am?
Richard Carter is managing partner at Martin Tolhurst and has one of the country’s largest conveyancing departments. Here he will discuss with our own Richard Mathias, the challenges ahead and what you can do to prepare to meet them head-on.
Join the two Richards for a lively morning break discussing how the conveyancing market is possibly under more pressure than ever. The discussions around better services and faster transaction time is not going away, but just how is everything going to pan out over the coming months. No one knows the answers, but with both of our experts knowing the market well, you can be sure there will be lots to talk about!
