Despite the enormous rise in the cost of living, the number of people expected to move house in the UK over the next three months has increased quarter-on-quarter by 72 per cent from 191,538 households in January 2022 to 328,640 in April 2022.
MILTON KEYNES, United Kingdom, April 21, 2022 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- According to the Q1 2022 Property & Homemovers Report from property and data insight specialist, TwentyCi, the number of people wanting to move soon has also increased. Rising from 317,793 households in January 2022 to 365,873 in April 2022, an increase of 48,000 households, which roughly equates to the same number of households in the city of Exeter.
At the beginning of April 2022 there are over 1.45 million households progressing through the home move journey which, in addition to Wanting to Move and Moving Soon, also includes households that are Moving Now, Just Moved or Settling In. This is an increase of nearly 300,000 households compared to January 2022. The spending power associated with this massive volume of movers, estimated to be worth three per cent of GDP, can bring huge revenue gains and strong ROI across multiple sectors and categories, particularly as the economy and retailers start to experience a slowdown in consumer expenditure due to the cost-of-living crisis.
Colin Bradshaw, TwentyCi's Managing Director, comments:
"2022 has not, as yet, brought a re-calibration of the residential property market. On the contrary, the owner-occupied sector appears to be removed from the woes that are besetting the wider economy and this despite households wrestling with the rise in the cost of borrowing, price inflation and the surge in fuel and energy charges.
"It would appear that Homeowners continue to be determined to take advantage of the rise in property prices that has occurred over the past two years, both trading up and down the property ladder. It is also the case that whilst interest rates have risen, the cost of borrowing is still at an historically low-level benefiting affordability so will this trend end anytime soon?"
The average asking price across the UK is now £403,000 compared to £339,000 in Q1 2019 (the last 'normal' period in the property market prior to the impact of the pandemic), an increase of 19 per cent. High prices are being maintained by the lack of property stock coming to the market. Demand has now outstripped supply for the last 18 months. Aside from Inner London, the whole of England and Wales at a regional level have just under two months' worth of property stock left to sell and overall, the available months of stock are down by almost half on historical norms.
Sales agreed are up by 17 per cent since Q1 2019 and Exchanges have increased by 21 per cent highlighting the surge in activity that occurred during the pandemic. New Instructions are down by nearly nine per cent compared to Q1 2019. Without a significant uplift in the volume of New Instructions the residential property market is at risk of significant slowdown in 2022. This is also reflected by the huge reduction (-49 per cent year on year) in the number of price changes. Home sellers can now command close to the asking price for their property, with no need to discount. Withdrawal is also down by 34 per cent as sellers can achieve a quicker sale than in prior years negating the need to remain in their existing property.
ENDS
Notes for editors
TwentyCi is an information and marketing services company that provides UK residential property data, analytics & insight for marketing and other key strategic purposes. Our experience and client portfolio encompasses multiple sectors and categories, including property and estate agency groups, retailers, financial services, automotive and utilities.
Holding the UK's largest and richest resource of factual homemover data compiled from more than 29 billion qualified data points, TwentyCi works with advertisers and their agencies to create contextually targeted marketing programmes that cut through by reaching consumers at the exact moment that they need a company's product or service, through the best media channel for that individual.
Please note that our publication normally provides year-on-year comparison of the residential market, however, given the extraordinary impact on the market arising from the Covid-19 pandemic and the unique events affecting the property market during 2020, for this report the comparison looks back at 2019 to provide a 'near normal' comparison.
For further information please contact Louisa Osmond on 07977 401 235
Media Contact
Louisa Osmond, TwentyCi, 44 7977401235, [email protected]
SOURCE TwentyCi
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