The impact of pay rises is beginning to show in the property market, according to Anthony Codling, market analyst and CEO of Twindig.
In conversation with Iain McKenzie, CEO of The Guild of Property Professionals, Codling said: “Pay rises are obviously good for the housing market as mortgages are based on what people earn. Wages going up will help under pin house prices as people borrow more money.”
On the subject of house prices, Codling said: “It is interesting that we are currently getting some conflicting information, with one index reporting house prices going up in February, and another saying they are going down.
“If you look at the Nationwide data we had recently, the actual month-on-month figure was only down by £284, which in the context of £270,000 is not that bad.”
McKenzie added: “Despite the impact of the mini-budget on the final quarter of 2022, over 1.2 million property transactions occurred during 2022, which is a rather robust figure in terms of transactional volume.”
Codling also commented on fall-through figures, observing: “During this quarter the number stands at 25.25%, whereas in Q4 2022 was at 38.7%. If you compare the average fall-though rate between 2017 and 2019, which was 28%, this quarter’s figure of 25.25% is better than what we could broadly call a normal market.
“Interestingly, as estate agents would know well, a third of fall throughs are down to people changing their minds, followed by mortgages, slow progression and the results of survey.”
