Property Market News

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.

There's been an extraordinary release of pent-up demand in the sales market since lockdown restrictions were lifted. "The uncertainty is how long it can last," cautions Knight Frank.

Asking rents outside London have climbed by 3.4% in the last year, while the capital has seen a dip of 0.6% as rental stock piles up.