Housing demand won't be damaged by Brexit vote, says estate agent

A potential Brexit vote will have no effect on demand for houses and after the poll the biggest rally in house prices will be in the southern region of the UK, while London will see falls no matter the result, according to a major survey by an estate agent.

According to the report from Jackson-Stops & Staff, the south east of England, excluding London, had the highest demand for properties. In the region 7.5% of privately owned properties were on the market, nearly double the average for the country at 4.4%.

The estate agent sampled 750,000 properties that were for sale in the UK, which is over 90% of the national total, between the 5 and 9 June.

The south of the country is projected to see the strongest increase in house prices over the next six months, regardless of whether the UK is in or out of the EU. There was an 11% rise in the past 12 months, 6% in the last six months.

Over half of the properties on the market in the south are already on the market or under offer in comparison to the national average of 40.9%. The report said that this indicates a high level of demand.

The south of England also had the highest number of buyers claiming a property, 20 to the national average of 14.

London, on the other hand, only had 32.7% of properties under offer compared to the national average of 40.9%. The report said London’s house prices, on average, are likely to moderate over the next few months regardless of the upcoming of the referendum. The analysis indicates that house prices have likely reached a short-term peak.

The second region which was in most demand was East Anglia, where 52.2% of the properties on the market were under offer and an average of 17 buyers to a property.

Northern Ireland, the north west, the north east and Wales experienced low demand for properties. The regions had less than a third of properties under offer with only 6 buyers chasing a property.

Out of the major cities or towns, Bristol had the highest demand for houses, with 67% on the market were under offer. The report revealed that based on how quickly the properties were being sold, Bristol could see the highest house price growth in the next few months.

The cities with lowest demand were Belfast and Blackpool. Bradford and Middlesbrough had less than 30% of properties on the market under offer.

Chairman of Jackson-Stops & Staff, Nick Leeming said: “Buyer hotspots like Bristol and Northampton have two thirds of their ‘for sale’ properties already under offer which could indicate future house price growth.

“In these hotspot areas an average of 21 buyers chase every property on the market. The laws of demand and supply will continue to prevail and the demand built up in these hotspot regions and cities will not suddenly disappear post 23 June.”