Slow summer: property market to hit record low as heatwave sends Londoners to the beach
The summer heatwave has frazzled the capital’s property market — delivering the flattest picture in living memory, with fewer homes coming up for sale and buyers vanishing to the coast the moment temperatures top 22C.
According to new figures the number of “for sale” listings fell by almost 13 per cent between June and last month, with every borough except Newham experiencing stock falls.
“It’s hardly surprising people are heading to the beach rather than the estate agents,” says Sam Mitchell, chief executive of HouseSimple, which put together today’s data.
Though summer is traditionally slow for property — with many buyers and sellers either away or dealing with the school holidays — this year’s “kipper season” looks likely to set a new record low.
The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors agrees that the UK’s property market is running dry, with the number of homes on sale per estate agent close to historic lows at just 43 per branch.
And according to research by Mayfair estate agent Wetherell and property analysts Dataloft, if the weather is sunny and above 22C, the number of viewings typically plunges 45 per cent.
Buying agent Ashley Wilsden of Middleton Advisors says even Saturday viewings have been particularly quiet this summer. “Perhaps it is too hot to get on the Tube.”
The ongoing underlying factors such as the protracted Brexit negotiations and stamp duty increases just ad to the woes.
“Owners are reluctant to sell at prices considerably lower than they could have achieved a few years ago,” says Marc Schneiderman, director of Arlington Residential.
Homes with outside space, and at the top end of the market with swimming pools, remain popular, while Sotheby’s International Realty reports a 65 per cent increase in clients looking for homes with air conditioning.
“Air con was normally only requested by our international tenants and buyers,” says Aree Rand, the company’s director of north London.
Forecasters say that today’s cooler weather should last for two weeks before a scorching end to the month and a balmy September and October.
Estate agents are keeping their fingers crossed for a strong September as they enter the crucial autumn period up to Christmas.