55% of buyers continue to postpone purchase plans

The latest gauge of home buyer sentiment by Yopa, the award-winning national estate agency, has revealed that the lack of a stamp duty incentive in last week’s Autumn Statement was a missed opportunity to help revitalise a weary property market.

Yopa commissioned a survey of over 1,000 home buyers across England and Wales who have been in the market for the last year but are yet to make their move.

The survey found that 45% had put their plans to purchase on hold as a consequence of rising mortgage rates and market uncertainty.

While there were widespread rumours of a stamp duty reprieve due in last week’s Autumn Statement, this failed to appear, along with any other incentive designed to entice buyers back to a cooling property market.

58% of home buyers surveyed by Yopa said the lack of a stamp duty incentive was a disappointment.

47% stated that had a stamp duty incentive been announced it would have spurred them to act with greater confidence and intent when searching for a property and pushing ahead with a purchase.

What’s more, 39% said they would have been prepared to offer more on their potential property purchase if they were saving money on stamp duty, which would have helped revitalise house prices that are currently sitting static where both the monthly and annual rate of growth is concerned.

It looks as though the market could be set to continue to tread water, at least until the new year.

When asked about their position in the market and their current plans, 30% said they would continue to postpone their plans to purchase until 2024.

25% stated that they would continue to postpone their plans indefinitely, while 23% will continue looking following the Autumn Statement, but they will do so with caution.

However, 22% also stated that they would proceed with confidence now that the chance of a stamp duty saving has passed.

CEO of Yopa, Verona Frankish, commented:

“The property market has stood firm all things considered, but there’s no denying that higher mortgage rates have led to a reduction in buyer activity and this has caused the rate of house price growth to grind to a halt.

“We had been hoping that the government would help stimulate the market by way of a stamp duty shake up. Had they done so, it’s clear that it would have helped entice hesitant home buyers back to the fold.

“Unfortunately this wasn’t the case and, as a result, over half of home buyers plan to keep their ambitions to purchase on ice.”