Several weeks into the third lockdown, and with the end of the stamp duty holiday now looming, you would be forgiven to assume that the housing market has been brought to standstill.
The governments “stay at home” message is clearly working as there has been a significant reduction in the number of viewings taking place. Whilst buyers are still actively viewing, they are taking their time to review each development before committing to a viewing. This could prove to be a very smart move whilst there are fewer competing buyers out viewing.
But what will this mean for the market when the lockdown is eventually eased? A little glance back at the first lockdown last March might give us all some clues.
The first similarities can be seen online, where there has been a significant hike in online activity and new enquiries in the past 8 weeks since Christmas. Chameleon Group have seen a 1,046% in increase in traffic in 2021, compared with the same period in 2020 - remember the Boris bounce? Current online activity and interest appears to be dwarfing that!
So what does this tell us?
When you look back at the first lockdown, the online enquiries to then (virtual) viewings ratio followed a similar pattern to todays lockdown enquiries to viewings ratio. In April and May last year, we saw a significant spike in interest and enquiries which erupted into a viewings mini-boom as we entered the summer months.
It was only in July, that the Chancellor, Rishi Sunak announced a temporary holiday on stamp duty on the first £500,000 of all property sales in England. Long after the interest started bubbling in the first lockdown.
With the stamp duty holiday expected to come to an end next month, the pattern emerging is that regardless of these tax breaks, the pent up demand and appetite for home ownership remains as strong as ever. Could there be another mini-boom on the horizon?
If you’ve been thinking about whether you can make the stamp duty holiday deadline and benefit from up to £15,000 in savings, then fear NOT! Chameleon Group have been working hard with our developer clients to offer our buyers, an exclusive stamp duty holiday on selected developments.
To find out more, Begin your journey, or you can check out our new homes and ask about what incentives we have on offer today.