Homebuyer and sellers undeterred by current market uncertainty

The latest gauge of property market sentiment by London lettings and estate agent, Benham and Reeves, has found that despite the turbulence of the last few weeks, the majority of homebuyers and sellers remain undeterred from their endeavours to tackle the housing market, with many feeling that it has been greatly exaggerated.

The survey targeted those who were specifically in the process of entering the UK property market to either buy or sell a property and the sample of over 1,500 respondents also highlighted the continued imbalance of market supply and demand, with 65% of those answering being buyers versus 35% who were selling.

When asked if, in the past two weeks, they had changed their plans to buy or sell a home that they were otherwise committed to, a resounding 84% said there had been no change in their plans.

Just 16% had been swayed by the news of turbulence within the mortgage market, when lenders pulled a small proportion of available mortgage products in anticipation of further interest rate increases.

In fact, when asked about whether they believed that the fear and caution of the last few weeks had been exaggerated, 42% believed it had – 20% believing it had been greatly exaggerated, with 42% believing it had been somewhat exaggerated.

Just a quarter didn’t feel that the current doom and gloom surrounding the UK market had been exaggerated, with 13% simply unsure.

However, while confidence remains, 45% of those surveyed do believe that house price will cool in 2023, with 18% thinking they will remain unchanged, while 22% believe a further boost is on the cards.

Director of Benham and Reeves, Marc von Grundherr, commented:

“A rather level headed approach by the UK’s homebuyers and sellers who appreciate that we simply can’t expect house prices to soar by double-digit rates of growth forever and therefore we are likely to see current hot market conditions cool a tad come next year.

However, at the same time, they simply aren’t buying into the wider doom and gloom surrounding the market at present, having seen themselves the resilience of bricks and mortar in tough economic times, but also how quickly the market can bounce back following a period of instability.

As a result, many remain undeterred in their ambitions to either buy or sell and as they continue to do so, any fears of a property market crash will be firmly laid to rest.”

Survey of 1,528 UK homebuyers and sellers (988 buyers & 540 sellers) carried out by ProperPR on behalf of Benham and Reeves via consumer research platform Find Out Now (6th October 2022).