Property Market News

“The Covid crisis has pushed the property market into a hard reset," says Jonathan Hopper of Garrington Property Finders.

"Some parts of central London are now looking extremely cheap compared to their previous price levels," suggests Coutts Bank, going so far as to advise its HNW clients that there are "bargains for buyers…

Any increase in demand for country living over urban location is likely "to be a one-off factor rather than a long-term ‘seismic shift’ in consumer attitudes," says Zoopla.

The UK's Covid-19 lockdown caused a dramatic slump in the number of new instruction and sales agreed, reports Twenty EA, but property exchanges appear to have been more resilient.

"The UK will officially be declared to have entered a recession next month," says Knight Frank's Tom Bill.

Edinburgh's prime property market has picked up more quickly than Scotland's country house scene since Covid-19 lockdown restrictions were eased, says Knight Frank.

"A full house price crash [is] a distinct possibility," warns Oxford Economics as it assesses the potential fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic on global markets.

England's prime regions "remain price sensitive" despite a surge of demand and activity in the aftermath of the first Covid-19 lockdown.

Activity may have plunged, but global super-prime property markets "outperformed expectations" under lockdown, reports Knight Frank, with 153 sales going through above $10m since March.

"Current activity levels clearly show that Britain is getting moving again," says Rightmove, with the Stamp Duty holiday serving to “amplify the buyer surge”.

A rise in the number of properties available to rent combined with a drop in international demand have driven a 7.4% year-on-year decline in average rents in Inner London, says Hamptons.

Three scenarios for house prices and transactions volumes over the next five years have been presented by the Office for Budget Responsibility - an Upside, a Central, and a Downside.