Can the housing market carry on as before?

Carry on as before

At twenty past seven on Saturday night just before ‘Strictly’ had crowned its newest winner; Robert Jenrick the Housing Secretary tweeted ‘Housing market update: the sales and rental markets remain open in all tiers. All associated activities can continue as before.’

If this means that even if you live and work in a Tier-4 area, it is business as usual for the real estate sector in the UK; and even this needs full clarity, can the housing market in 2021 ever move on as it did?

Putting aside the devastation for many that Christmas is cancelled ‘Grinch style’, and making no judgements as to the efficacy or the thinking behind it. What can now not be downplayed is can agency ever go back to its structure pre-covid-19?

Will the way the general public want to interact with agents and vendors and landlords of property that needs to be transacted enter a new phase? A much more hands off, more Virtual or even Augmented Reality approach – with laser focused attention on who is looking to buy or rent what, and their ability/motivation to do a deal?

Social distancing, isolation and keeping property personnel and the general public healthy, safe, and not at risk, will be very high on the agenda as we enter an uncertain January. So is it time to, as many agents did in May when lockdown was forced on them – to re-think every single process? And start to more efficient, safer ways to do things?

Some core issues, if the number of viewings that take place drop by 75% and yet the same amount of business is achieved, is this not only better use of time, but it creates efficiencies for all stakeholders. The right people view the right property, vendors, landlords and tenants in situ, are less inconvenienced, by ‘inappropriate viewers – wasting their and everyone else’s time.’

Pre-qualification of buyer’s or prospective tenants, this is an easy win, utilise technology, get your digital helper to ask the important questions before showing that rental property. Question, what date will you be able to move forward with a tenancy? In the next 14-days, tomorrow, or in several weeks as they have not given notice.

Lastly, with agent’s doors being locked or with huge notices saying do not enter or make an appointment, how necessary is it for the general public to physically come into your branch? Is this the tipping point?

Many agents bury their heads in the sand and say things will just bounce back, the same way. But, with 60,000 plus instructions again this year for Purplebricks – that is a huge validation from the consumer voting in what they want to use.

It is only a tiny fraction of the 1.1M completions each year, but it is likely to be more than all the instructions that Countrywide Plc, Connells & Sequence group list – combined.

So, although relevant what agents feel about onliners – and everyone knows my views – is it not what the consumer wants/likes that agents need to look at? I would be very happy to be listing 1,153 properties every week of the year, especially 2020.

Billy Baliey – might have snatched victory from the young guns this year on the dancefloor, but I can not help but think it is the ‘youth’ – who are plugged into technology 24/7 who will feature more and more on the Strictly winners podium. And they will be featuring more in the profit and loss accounts of agents, so maybe a good time to start adopting how they want to do business.

Andrew Stanton

CEO & Founder Proptech-PR. Proptech Real Estate Influencer, Executive Editor of Estate Agent Networking. Leading PR consultancy in Proptech & Real Estate. Want to contact me directly regarding one of my articles or maybe you'd like a chat about future articles? Email me via editor@stagingsite.estateagentnetworking.co.uk

You May Also Enjoy

How to add value to your home
Estate Agent Talk

5 Top Tips for Running a Business From Home

Have you ever wanted to start and run your own business from home? Although it’s an incredibly rewarding experience, it can be tough to set up and know where to start, especially if you have no business experience or background! Whether you want to run a small business, or have grand ambitions for eventual expansion,…
Read More
Estate Agent Talk

The Importance of Time Management for Real Estate Investors

Time is one of the most valuable assets for real estate investors, especially when juggling multiple projects, clients, and market trends. Without a strong grip on time management, getting bogged down in tasks that don’t drive growth is easy. You see, every minute spent on admin tasks or low-value activities is a minute that could…
Read More
Estate Agent Talk

Transforming Your Condo into a Next-Gen Smart Home Experience

Gone are the days when we must get up to press a button on the TV to adjust the volume, use actual keys to unlock doorknobs, or turn a knob to control the air conditioning unit's thermostat. These days, all we have to do is sit pretty on our couches, let technology do its work,…
Read More
Breaking News

Nationwide House Price Index for October

Annual house price growth slows in October UK house prices rose 0.1% month on month in October Annual growth rate slowed to 2.4%, from 3.2% in September Headlines Oct-24 Sep-24 Monthly Index* 529.6 529.0 Monthly Change* 0.1% 0.6% Annual Change 2.4% 3.2% Average Price (not seasonally adjusted) £265,738 £266,094 * Seasonally adjusted figure (note that…
Read More
Rightmove logo
Breaking News

Rightmove’s weekly mortgage tracker – 31/10/24

  The average 5-year fixed mortgage rate is now 4.64%, down from 5.36% a year ago The average 2-year fixed mortgage rate is now 4.91%, down from 5.81% a year ago The average 85% LTV 5-year fixed mortgage rate is now 4.66%, down from 5.44% a year ago The average 60% LTV 5-year fixed mortgage…
Read More
Breaking News

Breaking Property News 31/10/24

Daily bite-sized proptech and property news in partnership with Proptech-X. Labour’s first Budget – A missed opportunity for meaningful change A property industry insider view of  the Autumn budget   Rachal Reeves the new Chancellor of the exchequer unveiled a £40 billion taxation budget in her autumn statement. Reeves says it is a moment of ‘fundamental choice’…
Read More