‘I can’t wait to move out!’: Most buyers agree to follow through with moves

Most home applicants are determined to move forward with their property transactions once closing restrictions are eased, new findings show.

Ninety-four percent of buyers and sellers surveyed in an investigation by the property website Rightmove said they want their real estate business to move when the housing sector goes down.

As the confinement has transformed housing and work arrangements, an increasing number of workers who have been working from home are seeking to leave cities like London and Edinburgh in favor of more rural areas.

The housing market was showing strong signs of a post-election surge before the coronavirus crisis hit in March, and data from Nationwide yesterday showed that house prices in April rose 3.7 percent on a yearly basis.

But now it is stagnant, with limited mortgage deals, closed real estate agents, canceled visits, and postponed moves.

However, real estate agents claim that most endings and moves are postponed rather than canceled, and virtual tours of the house, like the one pictured above, are on the rise as prospective buyers explore what is being done. offers while they are hiding at home.

‘I hope to move as soon as possible’

Shopper Claire Dugdill, 35, is eager to make her move.

Claire Dugdill, 35, a real estate manager, is buying a £ 122,000 two-bedroom townhouse with a bathroom in Atherton, where she was born and currently lives.

Ms. Dugdill saw the property before closing and paid for the searches to be conducted on March 31. As a result of the block, he is still waiting for the results of those searches to be performed, but his mortgage offer has been issued.

The entire process is taking longer than expected due to the lockout, but Dugdill said the contact from the estate agent involved and the seller has been quick and helpful so far. “It seems like everyone wants to come to an agreement,” he said.

Ms Dugdill told This is Money: ‘I have lived with my father and jointly owned my current property with my father for 10 years. The circumstances have now changed and his partner is moving and I am shopping on my own.

“I hope to move into my property as soon as possible, exciting times to come.”

Make the deal

Of nearly 800 buyers and sellers, Rightmove said 94 percent say their transaction appears to be going ahead after closing.

Most of the homes listed on the property’s website have remained intact and inventory levels have reportedly dropped just 2-3 percent since the closing began.

One in ten said their transaction was proceeding as planned, while more than half said their plans were postponed, but on track to continue after closing.

Once the lockout started, Rightmove saw the number of visitors visiting homes on its website decrease by 40 percent, but this has recovered ‘slowly’ in recent weeks. This week, the number of people searching for homes for sale on the group’s site has increased 20% above the levels seen in the first days of closing.

Miles Shipside, commercial director of Rightmove, said: “ The determination of buyers and sellers to continue with their sale is clear, whether they are those who are already going through the transfer process or those who currently have their house on the market or they want to buy when the running of the bulls is over.

While Rightmove remains bullish, an estimated 373,000 property transactions with a total value of £ 82 billion have been suspended due to the blockade.

In an attempt to make the real estate market move, the sector presents new ways of guaranteeing that the market can progress according to the guidelines of social distancing.

Prospective buyers can now often find virtual online tours of the property they want to buy, which in some cases could be an improvement on the conventional still images that prevail before closing.

Alistair Brown International Real Estate noted new technologies like Resivue that act as a digital sales brochure.

He said: “This particular app allows consumers to view a property through 3D tours and floor plans, connect with real estate agents via live chat, and has the ability to show any home, update property details and put it on the market in minutes. “

Once in-person visits begin again, open doors could be removed and it appears that a strict one-on-one policy will emerge.

But possibly the main point of conflict after closing will be price or valuation. Many buyers, assuming home price data turns negative, will seek to narrow their bids, while sellers will have even more difficulty than normal in putting an exact value on their property.

This could at least lead to delays in reaching the exchange stage.

But, in a sign that the sector is preparing for a resurgence, a spokeswoman for the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors told This is Money that she is writing a new set of guidelines for appraisers across the UK and hopes to launch them in a meaningful way. imminent.

Looking for permanent isolation?

Since the closing began, the trip has become a pleasantly distant memory for many, while those in one-bedroom apartments without a garden are likely longing for more space.

Therefore, it is not surprising that an increasing number of potential buyers appear to be willing to abandon large cities such as London, Birmingham or Edinburgh in favor of quieter, more rural and isolated locations.

At this point, a year ago, just over 40 percent of Londoners who contacted real estate agents were looking to move out of the capital. Since closing, this number has increased to 51 percent, according to the latest Rightmove findings.

There seems to be a similar trend in Edinburgh, where 60 percent of residents are now looking to move out of town, compared to 53 percent at the same time a year ago.

Please: since closing, more people are looking to move from cities like London

A similar picture is also emerging in Birmingham, where half of residents looking to buy a new home are now looking out of town, up from 45 percent at the same point last year.

Cities like Liverpool, Sheffield, Glasgow and Bristol are beginning to see the same pattern emerge.

Rightmove’s Mr. Shipside said: “There has been a noticeable change during the closure of more people contemplating movements outside of the city.”

Reece Giles, manager of Douglas Allen’s real estate agents in Brentwood, said: “Interest has skyrocketed, really.”

Meanwhile, Helen Burley, sales manager for Fine & Country in Woldingham, said: “We have definitely seen a trend of people moving out of town to live in our town.”

“The people we’ve been talking to since the confinement who want to move out of London can’t wait to move into the village.”

Of course, it remains to be seen how much of this pent-up desire among shoppers to go into rural life materializes once the closure restrictions are lifted, and in all likelihood, for most, the reality of daily work comes into play.