The campaigning is almost at an end, and as Britain heads to the polling stations, uncertainty over the UK’s future in the European Union is still rife.
Predictions, forecasts and speculations about the impact of a potential Brexit have dominated newspapers over recent weeks, and opinions have naturally been split.
Here’s our summary of the EU referendum and how it’s affecting the property market:
- Rightmove’s recent House Price Index shows some signs of ‘referendum-associated uncertainty’ with fewer new sellers coming to the market compared to last year. However, this hasn’t done anything to slow the increasing house price growth, fuelled by a general shortage in suitable property and continued buyer demand. Read More
- Today, London’s largest private housing builder Galliard Homes and Peter Wetherell, a London Estate Agent, have stated that the property market would be ‘turned upside down’ if voters opted to leave the European Union. They say a faltering economy would hit house prices, limit new home building and allow overseas investors to benefit from down-valued property. Read More
- Fortune, part of Time Magazine, said that it’s the London property market that will be hit by a potential Brexit. They cite an end to ‘the incoming stream of bankers and other financial services professionals from the US, Europe and the rest of the world’ as a result of Brexit, and the fact that London house prices are already highly inflated, effectively having ‘further to fall’. Read More
- In terms of mortgages and interest rates, George Osborne has stated that leaving the EU would mean a rise in interest rates from their current low of 0.5%. Conversely, as The Guardian states, ‘some market watchers believe interest rates will fall because the Bank of England will be forced to stimulate the economy in the event of a leave vote’. Read More
This is just a snapshot of the property market forecasts that we’ve been seeing. The important thing is that you go out and vote. Make sure your voice is heard.
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