One effect being that every transaction is taking a bit longer; with some mortgages having to be renegotiated, which in turn causes delays to these transactions, especially where there are any associated sales or purchases.
The new stamp duty land tax does not appear to have made a significant difference but where there are savings to be made it does help – after all “every little helps”.
It looks like Liz Truss’s mini-budget appears to be having a longer term effect and serves to illustrate the importance of the property market and how it can be used as one of the benchmarks for the economic climate.
There are also many market changes and variables and some important influences; first and foremost the cost of living crisis.
A lot of homeowners are looking at ways to make energy reductions and savings. Whether that’s better insulation, underfloor heating or by simply improving annual ‘core’ energy costs for heating their homes.
Some mortgage lenders are offering ‘green mortgages’ which give better interest rates and sometimes cashback for energy-efficient homes, and in the not-too-distant future homebuyers may be willing to pay more for a property which uses renewable energy.
We also must not forget other influential market factors such as high energy prices, VAT reduction from 5% to 0%, Brexit, not having fully recovered from Covid and the war in Ukraine.
Confidence is not great overall and there is a lot of waiting and seeing at the moment which is expected given the current market and the time of year. However I think things will level out later this year; simply because there will always be demand because of the shortage of homes, more especially within the Elmbridge area; we just need the dust to settle.