The new name given to the property industry is the ‘Corona Coaster’. The first set of figures have been released relating to property transactions in the UK since lockdown. There were just 55,381 residential sales completed in March with a huge number of solicitors confirming they did not complete one sale. In contrast to January where there were over 100,000 sales completed, a 4 year high. Just looking at these two figures you can see where the name ‘corona coaster’ has come from.  

Further statistics confirm that each conveyancer completed on average 15 transactions each in March, the lowest since 2013.

However, when you look at the whole first quarter of 2020 a 5% increase is evident with over 235,000 sales completed. However, it will be interesting to see how quarter two pans out given the industry has returned to some form of normality.

Since the market re-opened last Wednesday Rightmove have reported some positive numbers as far as interest is concerned with a high percentage of these been first-time-buyers. However, many experts predict that these first time-buyers might be slightly disappointed as the reductions and discounts they are hoping may not be there.

The property portal Rightmove released date illustrating that 60% of first-time buyers postponed their plans to buy a new property. However, now lockdown on the market has slightly relaxed these first-time buyers have decided now is the time to book a viewing. Because of this influx there isn’t any early indication that property prices are going down as there is plenty of demand. These thoughts were backed up by Rightmove as their data indicates that asking prices are up 2%.  The question is how long will this last for? Is it just a honeymoon period or a backlog given in reality the market has been closed for nearly 8 weeks?

Therefore, the clever tactic for some who aren’t in a rush might be to wait whilst things pan out as that deal maybe there it might just be a waiting game until the honeymoon period is over. On the other hand there will be obviously those sellers who need to sell fast for whatever reason so if you are looking for a bargain it maybe worthwhile calling a few agents to see if they have a vendor who are in a personal situation where they need a quick sale.

But it’s pretty obvious and the property market as many other markets comes down to the basic economics of supply and demand. Whilst there is plenty of demand which at the moment there seems to be you if you are wanting to make an offer on a property you may need to pay the asking price or if not very close to it.