Buyers and sellers’ sentiment were strong in December with many of them confident that they would purchase and sell a property within the next three months.
This is despite housing market activity tending to be muted in December, data from the OnTheMarket Property Sentiment Index showed.
The study showed that the market remained surprisingly resilient this time around with 71% of UK buyers confident they would purchase a property within the next three months. The data was consistent with November.
And 55% of sellers remained confident that they would sell within three months, only one percentage point lower than the previous month.
The study also showed that sentiment among buyers regionally remained consistent. However, there were significant variations in seller sentiment, highlighting that the housing market is made up of many local markets which operate independently from one another.
Seller confidence saw a 7 percentage-point increase in Scotland in December 68% compared with 61% in November, compared with a 7 percentage-point decrease in Wales 51% in December compared with 58% in November.
The biggest variation was in London which saw a 15 percentage-point decrease in seller confidence to 51% compared to 66% in November. This may just be a Christmas blip, however, the researchers said at the time of publication in January seller confidence has picked up again.
They noted that some London agents are reporting that vendors whose properties had been on the market for a few months became less confident about their chances of finding a buyer as activity dipped in December.
On the mortgage front, 8% of movers were either very worried or slightly concerned about getting a loan in December, unchanged from November. This suggests borrowers have become more relaxed about the outlook for lending after three consecutive holds in base rate seem to indicate that the painful increases are over and that the next move by the Bank of England may be downwards.
The reduction in Swap rates has enabled lenders to reduce rates, accordingly, resulting in a welcome return of sub-4 per cent five-year fixes, among other cheaper deals.
