UK property demand continued its upward trajectory in Q3 (July to September) 2017 with an average 5 per cent increase, according to the National Hotspots Index.
Both Scotland and Wales registered strong figures of 8 per cent and 7 per cent respectively, whereas demand across England fell marginally. Yet within the English market, the South West, South East, East of England, Midlands and East Midlands all recorded robust growth in demand.
After several years of historically exceptional growth, demand in London has paused, falling by 15 per cent over the quarter. Yet even within London there are several major hotspots of rapid demand growth. Bexley in the southeast of London, soon to benefit from a Crossrail station which will place it just minutes’ journey from central London, notched 52 per cent buyer demand, followed by Havering at 50 per cent and Waltham Forest at 46 per cent. Redbridge, Sutton and Ealing were all strong performers in Q3.
Elsewhere in England Wellingborough in Northamptonshire, nearby Kettering, and St Edmundsbury in Suffolk were all in high demand, along with West Lothian, Edinburgh and Dundee in Scotland, plus Rhondda Cynon Taf, Caerphilly and Cardiff in Wales. Aberdeen – home of the troubled North Sea oil sector – suffered a severe drop in demand, as did Newport in Wales.
Report company CEO Russell Quirk commented: “Those predicting that a market crash is imminent are wrong to do so and would find a greater degree of success trying to predict the latest Lottery numbers.”
