Residential market trends

We are finding that even though we were at around 50/50 on BTL and resi, BTL has dropped to around 20%. Residential has picked up though and we are placing far more of those too.

Getting sales over the line is the most critical issue in the property market right now. This is affected by the ability of buyers to obtain the correct funding which has been challenging since Q3 2022 if we truly reflect on the mortgage market. Without this assurance of mortgages, we see a reduction of buyers, chain breaks (regulated bridging is on a growth), and people reconsidering selling and opting to say put.

We have seen an increase in inquiries around porting mortgages and product transfers vs remortgage calculations. Which is a sign of people staying put or reducing the cost of living expenses.

With incentives and encouraging support in the 1st-time buyer market, the push to keep the entry-level housing market buoyant will certainly help into 2024. This is welcomed at a time when we see high levels of landlords exiting the market due to Section 24 tax reform creating excess entry housing stock.

Asking prices are at record highs, buyer demand is up on 2019, and all the estate agents we talk to are relatively busy. I don't see a huge crash on the horizon until demand for houses keeps up with supply and that's not a likely prospect any time in the forseeable future.

We are still seeing demand for people buying properties, I think most are accepting that they will have to pay a higher rate with the hope that this reduces dramatically in the next couple of years.