Lack of Housing Stock Stalling Sales
Available stock of housing has fallen for the second month in a row according to data from Nationwide Building Society. The anticipated spring/summer spike hasn’t materialised as consumers sit on their hands as the number of houses put up for sale has fallen for the 14th month in a row. This lack of supply does mean one good thing for sellers; prices are steadily increasing.
So why is this happening? One school of thought is as less homes come up for sale anyone wanted to move can’t. There simply isn’t anything to move into. This in turn prevents them from selling their house. LBTT is also dampening house sales as the cost of moving to anywhere over 400k hits consumers hard in the pocket. Anecdotally, the General Election in June and Brexit may also make consumers think of staying put.
Simon Rubinsohn, RICS chief economist, said: “Although the picture clearly does vary across the country, the bulk of the feedback we are receiving points to a fairly flat summer for both activity and prices.
“Lack of stock on the market remains a key challenge for the sector with recent and forthcoming tax changes having a material impact on transaction levels, particularly at higher price points.”
So now is the time to sell; there are people out there that want to move, stock is low driving sales prices up.
By sjhill12@outlook.com
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