BREAKING PROPERTY NEWS – 12/04/2022
Daily bite-sized proptech and property news in partnership with Proptech-X.
PRESS RELEASE: Caution Creeps Into the Property Market as Just Under One-in-Three Property Sales Falls Through
2% of property sales fell through before completion between January and March of this year, according to new figures from Quick Move Now.
Of the sales that failed, 25% fell through because the buyer struggled to secure mortgage finance, suggesting that lenders are beginning to show more caution in light of rising interest rates and living costs.
Quick Move Now’s managing director Danny Luke says: “Property prices have been climbing and climbing in recent months. At the same time, the UK has been experiencing a steep rise in inflation and lots of people are beginning to really feel the pinch from steep rises in the cost of living. It was inevitable that the squeeze on people’s wallets would begin to be reflected in mortgage companies’ affordability assessments. From our conversations with potential buyers and estate agents, it is clear that lenders are being more cautious about which properties they’re prepared to lend on and how much home buyers can afford to borrow in light of rising day-to-day living costs. Energy prices have already risen by 50% for most UK households, and they look set to increase even further through the latter half of this year and into 2023. That, of course, has a significant impact on homeowner affordability.”
It seems it’s not just lenders that are feeling cautious. Other reasons for failed property sales in the first quarter of this year included:
- Buyer changed their mind about the property (34% of failed sales)
- Seller pulled out of sale due to slow progress (25% of failed sales)
- Buyer attempted to renegotiate the agreed sale price (8% of failed sales)
- A change to the buyer’s circumstances meant they could not proceed with the purchase (8% of failed sales)
Danny concludes: “The property market has defied many predictions over the last two years, remaining buoyant and thriving despite challenging external conditions. Demand has remained strong since the end of the stamp duty holiday, and a shortage of properties coming to the market has led to exponential house price growth. However, both buyers and sellers are beginning to show more caution. Steeply rising living costs and worries about future financial security will undoubtedly impact buyer confidence. It’s little surprise that 34% of failed sales are attributed to the buyer changing their mind about a property after agreeing a sale. There is such stiff competition for properties at the moment, it’s easy for buyers to be pressurised into agreeing a higher purchase price than they’re comfortable with, in order to secure a property. A few weeks in, when the sale really begins progressing, it’s understandable that buyers might start to get cold feet about the agreed sale price – which accounts for 8% of failed sales – or pull out of the purchase altogether.
“Sellers also seem concerned that the current property bubble is unsustainable. 25% of failed sales since the start of 2022 have been as a result of the seller pulling out of the sale due to slow progress. Sellers are keen to lock-in the sale of their property before demand or prices begin to dwindle.”
Data Calculation: Quick Move Now buy and sell hundreds of properties each year and the fall through statistics are calculated month-on-month, quarterly and annually.
PRESS RELEASE: Taylor Rose MW acquires stake in prop-tech disrupter SlothMove
Taylor Rose MW, the fast-growing and innovative UK law firm, has acquired a stake in the property-tech company SlothMove, to accelerate its fast-growing change of address and home-setup service across the UK.
The average home move involves over 21 points of contact to update their addresses – including with insurers, employers and healthcare providers – with some wait times as long as an hour. SlothMove reduces this to just one single point of contact, saving each user an average 12 hours of time. SlothMove is the latest prop-tech disrupter, Rated Excellent on TrustPilot, and helping over 50,000 movers to date.
SlothMove will use the seven-figure investment from Taylor Rose MW to develop its technology, employ 50 additional members of staff and develop further commercial partnerships.
SlothMove CEO Jack Roberts said: “Our partnership with Taylor Rose MW marks our next stage of growth in fulfilling our mission to change the way the UK moves, making it as hassle-free as possible. Taylor Rose MW’s investment will supercharge our growth, creating new jobs across technology, operations and business development. All of this enables us to take the stress out of moving and reduce fraud risk for our rapidly expanding userbase.
Taylor Rose MW CEO Adrian Jaggard added: “Jack, Anna, Dan, and the SlothMove team are highly impressive and are solving a problem that many of our property clients face – using the latest property technology to quickly and easily update our clients’ personal details across a myriad of often disparate services to help save hours of hassle and make moving house a more stress-free and secure process.
“We are highly confident in SlothMove’s future and believe our investment will help propel SlothMove to its next stage of growth, whilst providing benefits to our market-leading conveyancing teams. We are excited to work with the SlothMove team going forward.”
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