‘Tide begins to turn’ after sales plummeted almost 30% before referendum

Transactions plunged almost 30% in June at estate agents haart. They were down 28.6% month on month and 25.1% year on year.

But haart CEO Paul Smith said “we are already seeing the tide begin to turn” as sales pick up again after the uncertainty caused by the referendum.

Based on the firm’s own data taken from over 100 branches, haart is estimating that there were only 38,643 exchanges across the UK last month.

House prices nudged down by 0.2% to average £235,347 at the point of exchange. London house prices dipped 1.3% to average £558,760.

Demand also fell, with new applicants down 6.8% on a monthly basis and 15.5% on an annual comparison.

The supply of new homes fell 2.3% on the month and 3.2% on the year. Viewings declined 4.9% on the month and 10.6% on the year.

However, Smith said that since June 23, confidence seems to be coming back.

He said: “Following the uncertainty in the lead up to the EU referendum, confidence is now returning to the property market.

“We saw transactions fall 29% on the month in June which is the biggest decline on record.

“We have also experienced quite a dramatic drop in the number of new buyers, down 7% on the month and 16% on the year.

“However, since the outcome of the referendum was revealed, we are already seeing the tide begin to turn.

“While there is still a level of uncertainty due to the Brexit vote, I don’t believe this to be a long-term trend as the effect of the vote hasn’t been as great as we anticipated.

“We are seeing sales begin to pick up once more as opportunist buyers take advantage of the situation by snapping up bargains caused by the uncertainty.

“Valuations have actually increased in the last couple of weeks as vendors look to get a professional opinion on the value of their home to understand what effect there has been.”

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