Property market to bounce back once restrictions are lifted
The UK housing market will bounce back once the current coronavirus crisis has passed.
This is according to Guy Gittins, who is managing director of London estate agent Chestertons.
He said: “The bottom line is that people still need to move, still trust property as a solid long-term investment and are not expecting prices to change dramatically as a result of the pandemic.”
Despite the inability to do physical viewings, video viewings have ensured that the sales market in the capital remains relatively active, albeit quieter than usual.
Chestertons reports that it generated 250 new sales offers and agreed 88 new sales over the first two weeks of lockdown.
Looking at March as a whole, Chestertons’ properties were viewed online 13% more than March 2019 and its agents are registering over 500 new buyers per week since the lockdown.
The days immediately following the prime minister’s announcement of the lockdown in mid-March were the quietest, but activity picked up by the end of the week and has been relatively steady since.
Gittins added: “Although normality sometimes feels like a lifetime ago, restrictions will be lifted at some point and once that happens, we are anticipating a bounce as the pent-up demand is released over the months following.”