The housing market in London is at an all-time low, compared to the rest of the country. It seems that in the third quarter of this year, London was the region that performed the weakest, with the price of a home going down by 0.6% when compared to the same period a year ago.
And it seems that despite being the most expensive region to buy a house in, because of the housing market slowing down and house prices getting lower, the difference between the price of a home in London and the price of a home in other regions is decreasing.
This may be good news to those who would like to buy a home in the capital. It seems that more and more house owners are pricing their homes practically and realistically so that they will be able to sell their houses. So you may be able to buy that home in London that you’ve always wanted.
There may be many reasons why the housing market in London has significantly slowed down, but the three listed below are at the top of the list.
1. Brexit – since the Brexit poll in 2016, many people have confessed to feeling the uncertainty in the market and it seems that it has still continued up to this year. It seems that Brexit is the catalyst. In the surveys conducted for the housing market since last year, it seems that more and more people do not see buying a house as a practical thing to do. Gathering a deposit in itself is becoming hard, with many young adults not sure if they would be able to get a mortgage and many are also concerned over the rise of interest rates. Part of this concern comes from the feeling of being unsecured in their jobs, what with the unstable economy and all.
2. Stamp duty changes – it was about three years ago when stamp duty changes made the cost of buying a house upfront to increase, and just this year there is another change. There is now a higher rate of duty when you want to buy a second home. This discourages people from buying another home which causes the housing market to slow down.
3. Mortgage constraints – in the past years, the interest rate presented by the Bank of England was at an all-time low. But the problem is that not a lot of people still get approved to take out a mortgage loan. This policy was meted out in order to make sure that people do not stretch themselves too thin with their loan, only to not make the payment. Aside from that, the Bank of England recently raised their interest rate, and this will reduce the affordability due to the higher interest rate payments.
If you are a homeowner and you think this is a good time to sell your house, don’t forget to make sure that when you move, you need to a good removals company to handle your things with care. Check out www.aswiftmove.com for any service you might need on moving day.
