In the first of what will be a huge number of predictions for UK house prices in 2017, a search specialist has released their predictions for 2017.
The UK property prices are expected to remain flat in 2017 and expats who return to the UK are forecast to turn from the capital to the Home Counties.
Senior management at Stacks Property Search & Acquisition have provided predictions of how property demand will pan out in 2017, including the effect of the election of Brexit and the election of President Trump.
They say London property will benefit from being seen as a safe option, although there is expected to be little or no rise in values.
Managing Director, Sara Ransom, says, “Trump’s victory will be a win for London property. European investors anticipate further turbulence in the forthcoming Italian, French and German elections, and Americans are nervous. London will be viewed by Americans and Europeans alike as a safe option – with the added advantage of recent price drops of as much as 20% which make central London look like good value.”
Regional Director, Bill Spreckley, says, “Property prices will show little in the way of movement, with a few sector exceptions. Lack of supply, together with uncertainty about our future in Europe, and a Trump-led America, will result in zero price change.
“Expats whose first purchase on their return to the UK would traditionally be a London home will bypass the Capital and go straight to the Home Counties or beyond. The costs of buying and selling are now too onerous to make an ‘interim’ purchase viable.”
Meanwhiles, house prices in the capital are growing more slowly, according to a new survey.
The new Hometrack UK Cities House Price Index highlights the extent to which the capital’s property values have climbed in recent years, with the price to earnings ratio in London now at a record high of 14.1.
London has the highest price to earnings ratio, due to lack of supply and strong demand fuelled by low mortgage rates, which have driven house prices up 86 per cent since 2009. London’s 14.1x is the highest in the UK, ahead of a national average of 6.5x and the lowest of 3.7x in Glasgow.
Cambridge and Oxford also have double digit price to earnings ratios, which are well ahead of the average over the last 12 years.
