Recovering property market helping the wider economy

The recovery in the property market since the first lockdown restrictions were eased has been surprisingly sharp with research from Halifax House Price Index showing that house prices in July have hit a new record and that sales have risen sharply.

That’s good news for homeowners but this also has strong positive knock-on effects for the wider economy which sometimes gets forgotten in the debate about house prices and transactions.

A cut to Stamp Duty and mortgage interest holidays have played a major role in supporting this increase in activity.

The Stamp Duty cut is saving buyers an average of £14,000 in London and the South East and Zoopla research shows demand has been particularly strong in London and the South East of England since the Stamp Duty cut came into force on July 8. Property sales in London increased 27% alone in the immediate weeks after the announcement.

That is a pretty emphatic result and it is going to lead to a lot of additional economic activity. Moving to a new home triggers spending on white goods, new furniture, decoration and refurbishment. Builders, contractors and a wider ecosystem all benefit from the spending triggered by a housing transaction and that money ripples out into the local economy. This is why keeping the housing market active is so important.

Stephen Ludlow, Chairman at ludlowthompson, says: “Government initiatives that were introduced to boost the property market post-coronavirus have already had a very positive impact.”

“Savings on Stamp Duty and mortgage holidays have enabled homeowners to spend money on their homes – allowing builders, contractors and a huge network of other businesses to also benefit.”

“It shows that a recovering property market is vital to the recovery of the economy as a whole, with many industries reliant on activity in the housing market to get back to work themselves.”

Ludlowthompson’s Lettings and Sales agents are continuing to offer prospective renters and buyers guided video tours of properties. In person viewing appointments complying with social distancing, are available following virtual viewings.

This week’s video tour is a three-bedroom period house in Streatham

We received 1,179 5-star Google reviews in 2019

 6,217 positive AllAgent reviews – Top 5 Agent in the UK (2020)

ludlowthompson staff are measured by how our customers rate them via 1000s of questionnaires

Every single questionnaire read by Stephen Ludlow and David Thompson

Louise via Google Reviews:

“The team at ludlowthompson have handled my property sale very well, despite the events and stressful moments of 2020. Thanks to their tireless work, we ended up with three keen buyers making great offers and I was able to choose the one who seemed most positive about the property. Overall, ludlowthompson seems staffed by focused and hard-working people who communicate well and get good results.”

Jesse via Google Reviews:

“The ludlowthomson staff were really friendly, helpful and proactive. We found that they had access to more attractive properties than other estate agents and were generally well-organised.”