Britons indulge in a pre-Brexit house buying party | Money



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British housing researchers launched a wave of surprise buying in August before the planned Brexit date. New data shows that sales have reached their highest level since 2015 during the normally sleepy summer period.

The number of agreed sales grew 6.1% from one year to the next on Aug. 10, according to the Rightmove Real Estate website, which claims to track nine out of 10 purchases in the UK. United.

According to the Office of National Statistics, UK housing prices have generally been rising steadily since April 2012, but the pace of growth has plummeted since the Brexit vote of June 2016, from an annual rate of 8.2% to just 0.9% in June 2019.

London and southern England have seen price declines over the last few months and home economists have pointed to the effect of Brexit-related uncertainty, the buyers wanting political chaos to mitigate before making long-term decisions.

However, Miles Shipside, Director of Rightmove, said the latest figures suggest that buyers are now looking to finalize their transactions before the last Brexit deadline of late October.

"If another deadline close to Brexit is no longer a novelty for potential buyers, it may seem more accurate, and therefore to beat, with the government that considers it as a" death or death "" , did he declare.

"Although the Brexit issue at the end of October remains uncertain, more and more buyers are looking for certainty to enter into an agreement, some having perhaps hesitated earlier in the year. # 39; year. "

Historically low mortgage rates, in a context of intense competition between lenders to recruit new borrowers, have heightened the incentive to accelerate purchases, he added.

"Buyers and sellers can not delay the family, financial and emotional forces that drive the need to move. And since the average time between a sale and moving in is greater than three months, we are now entering the last chance. sedan for those who want to have finished their move before the end of the year, "said Shipside.

"We often see an autumn activity bouncing back, but perhaps this year's political activities have brought it to a summertime wave, as buyers have become bolder and earlier than usual."

Glynis Frew, general manager of Hunters real estate agent, said the volume of home sales was also fueled by sellers eager to close deals.

"Many sellers at the present time seem happy to demand slightly lower asking prices if it means that they can conclude the deal as quickly as possible in light of the fact that they are in the market. current uncertainty in Brexit, "she said.

The increase in sales volume was felt in all regions of the country, but was most pronounced in the North East and East of England, as well as in Yorkshire & the Humber , with an increase of more than 10%.

The average price of real estate entering the market on August 10th fell by £ 3,192 from the previous month to £ 305,500. This represents a drop of 1%, but prices remained 1.2% higher than in the same month of last year.

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