April 2006 - Property Market
The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyor's have recently published their housing market survey for April 2005. This survey is considered to be one of the most authoritative reports available in the industry with many lenders as well as investors drawing upon the information contained within it to make significant business decisions on a monthly basis.
The report contained some insightful information; all in all, April 2006 was a good month for the UK's housing market, showing a sixth consecutive month of price increases, with the highest performing sector being at the higher end of the market, and 3 / 4 bedroom properties leading the way. The current differential between the upper and lower sectors of the market are reported to be at their largest differential since the latter part of 2001.
It would seem that the property market has firmed up somewhat as a result of a good economic climate and fairly low rates of borrowing, although that said, there was a small rise on average of the number of seller's coming to the market with what seems to be as a result of an increase in the level of unemployment, particularly in the Midlands where the weak manufacturing employment environment has had a negative impact.
Available property stocks were down 10% against August 2004, representing the lowest level of housing available for purchase since October of the same year, which is interestingly accompanied by a rise of reported new purchase enquiries which have increased once again for the eleventh consecutive month.
Sales in the current year to date (CYTD) showed relatively little change against the last year to date (LYTD), still up by around 17% although the same period last year had seen a downward turn of around 15% which re-enforces statements of a stabilising of the market place after a "rocky" period in 2005.
Stocks of unsold properties reported a fall in April 2005 with the market moving in favor of the seller, complemented well by many chartered surveyors expecting to see property prices being well maintained in the months to come.
Interestingly for the coming months, some property professionals believe that many people are considering the possibility of disposing of property now in light of new government legislation that is set to require seller's to instruct home information packs to be produced when publicly marketing a property in line with the Home Information Pack Regulations 2006.
These regulations, which are supported and criticised alike, are aimed to reduce the number of property deals that fall through, and create a more transparent property market on which individuals can make informed decisions about their property transactions. This does however come at a price with estimated averages of around £600 to £1000 per property report and some would argue that it also increases the cost of property acquisition and disposal, given that many potential purchasers will not be happy to rely upon a report instructed and paid for by the vendor as the new regulations require, but shall instead instruct their own independent surveys as is the current common practice.
For more information on the Home Information Pack Regulations 2006, see the relevant category in our publications section.
