Predictions for the 2019 London Property Market

Uncertainty will continue into 2019

The London housing market has been subjected to a significant period of uncertainty in recent times. There has been reduced demand and turnover in central London for a couple of years, and this has spread to the suburbs and Home Counties over the last 12 months.

Unfortunately, it looks as though this uncertainty will continue into the new year.

Brexit is, of course, one of the main contributing factors with the nation’s political instability reflected in the housing market.

Other key factors include a rise in buy-to-let stamp duty and increased taxation, which have contributed to a decline in people’s willingness to buy.

Return to confidence?

The good news is that stability could be on its way.

The Brexit process, which is fuelling much of the doubt, should be more defined when the UK officially withdraw from the European Union.

No matter what the deal looks like, this should help increase confidence and predictability in the 2019 London property market.

Buyers in a position of strength

Many buyers may also look at the 2019 London property market with optimism.

First-time buyers will be in a strong position to negotiate with sellers thanks to a reduction in the demand for property.

Buyers who are already homeowners should also feel safe to move with the knowledge that house prices are relative. Bricks and mortar will remain a sound investment and history has shown that the South-East property market is particularly resilient.

Investors can also start to feel positive for next year with mortgage rates at an all-time low.

Private rental sector to power through

The private rental sector should still go from strength-to-strength in and around London in 2019.

Political wrangling has done little to dampen demand for rental properties across the city and the South East, as workers are still attracted to the capital and commuter towns by the lure of jobs.

A lack of new properties coming to the market, however, will see prices continue to rise in many areas.

Despite this, the 2019 London private rental market should be robust enough to support expansion in the coming years.

The 2019 London property market: The key takeaways

Unsurprisingly, Brexit will have a huge role to play in the 2019 London property market.

We still don’t really know what the UK’s departure from the European Union is going to look like so predicting how it will affect the property market is not straight-forward.

However, we would expect to see:

• Great deals for first-time buyers

• Opportunities for homeowners to move worry-free

• Growth in the private rental market

After that, we’re also hoping to see stability across the market once the final details of the Brexit deal have been put in place.

Read more about how Brexit will affect London house prices and the future of the London property market on our blog.