Photographer: Jason Alden / Bloomberg
Photographer: Jason Alden / Bloomberg
UK home prices fell in January as sellers tried to speed up transactions with rebates before a temporary cut in a hefty home buying tax ends – though many deals will miss the deadline anyway, according to Rightmove.
Average asking price fell 0.9% this month, seemingly to entice movers into last-minute sales, according to the UK’s largest real estate website. However, of the 613,000 deals already in the pipeline, it expects about 100,000 will be closed after the March 31 close, meaning they face tax bills as high as £ 15,000 ($ 20,000) than they would. to have.
While activity in the first weeks of January usually sets the tone for the rest of the year, Covid-related market closures and the stimulating stamp duty are likely to skew the numbers in 2021.
Tim Bannister, Rightmove’s director of real estate data, said the main difference between Britain’s first lockdown last year and the one in which it finds itself now was that the housing market was open this time, so that “changed housing priorities can therefore be more easily met. “.
As more people work remotely and school their children at home, they have sought homes with more space – inside and out – which pushed the market into the market after the initial shock of the pandemic, despite its worst economic slump in three centuries. The number of agreed sales had increased by a 10th last year compared to 2019.
Matthew Smith, director of sales and rentals at Thornley Groves, Manchester, said the desire to expand to the suburbs is the main driver for the sale.
“I don’t think the high activity we are currently seeing is solely due to the duty-free day,” he said. “It just encouraged people to be alert to moving, which in turn has led to more demand.”