Active start to 2016 and surprisingly good news for first-time buyers

• Price of property coming to market up 0.5% (+£1,509), the second highest Christmas/New Year period rise since 2007

• First snapshot of 2016 sees demand surge with Rightmove visits up 21% in first working week of 2016 compared to same period in 2015

• Welcome and unexpected surprise for first-time buyers with more fresh property choice and price standstill:

  • 6% year-on-year jump in number of newly-marketed properties in their favoured market sector to highest New Year level since 2007

  • First-time buyer prices have hardly risen (+0.1%, +£209) suggesting impending stamp duty levy could be having a calming influence sooner than expected

The first snapshot of prices, demand and supply in 2016 shows that all have increased over the period, indicating an active year ahead. The price of property coming to market is up by 0.5% (+£1,509) on last month, the second highest rise at this time of year since 2007. Demand as measured by visits to the Rightmove website in the first working week of 2016 is up by 21% on the same period in 2015. There is welcome and unexpected news for first-time buyers with a 6.6% year-on-year increase in the number of fresh-to-the-market homes in their target sector of two bedrooms or fewer, the highest since 2007. With the monthly price increase in this sector at a near standstill (+0.1%, +£209) this suggests that some of the dynamics of the changing tax regime for buy-to-let investors are starting to play out sooner than expected.

Miles Shipside, Rightmove director and housing market analyst comments:
“Upwards price pressure remains, with the second-highest rise seen at this time of year for nine years. The early snapshot of home-hunter visits in the first week of 2016 is up by 21% on the same period last year to 27.8 million visits, showing demand is not letting up either. Encouragingly for first-time buyers there’s more fresh choice with more property coming to market in their target sector. With their asking prices pretty much the same as a month ago, perhaps the knock-on effects of the more punitive landlord tax regime have arrived early and they now face a dilemma over whether to buy now or wait to see if prices drop in this sector over the next few months.”

 While the 0.5% rise in new seller asking prices is lower than the 1.4% recorded in last January’s report, it is higher than every other January since 2007, before the credit crunch began. A lack of property coming to market has been an upwards driver of both prices and unfulfilled demand, though encouragingly there has been a slight 1.8% year-on-year uplift in the number of newly-marketed properties.  However, the only sector that has increased is that of two bedrooms or fewer, so the only beneficiaries of this are likely to be first-time buyers or investors looking to buy and complete before the April stamp duty hike. Some of this increase could be due to some landlords selling up or more first-time sellers marketing to take advantage of any first quarter surge in investor activity and guard against a post-April slump.

Shipside advises first-time buyers:
“Perhaps because of the increased competition among sellers and a keenness to attract buy-to-let investors before the April deadline, prices have hardly increased month-on-month for properties with two bedrooms or fewer. In this stock-starved era it will come as a relief to first-time buyers that their negotiating power may already be improving because the forthcoming tax changes, and there is a window of greater choice as more owners of smaller properties try to sell. Rather than waiting until later in the year, having a good look around now while choice is up and interest rates remain unchanged could get you onto the ladder sooner and at an acceptable price. For several years buy-to-let investors have been enticed by high tenant demand and attractive returns, but as their window of opportunity starts to close it already appears to be opening wider for first-time buyers.”