Rishi Sunak’s stamp duty holiday sparks record demand for property

Home sellers are set for a bumper Easter as Rishi Sunak’s stamp duty holiday sparks record demand for property

  • House prices could soar after stamp duty holiday extended to the end of June
  • Average asking prices are already up £2,484 to £321,064 due to limited supply 
  • Easter busiest time for estate agents with 12 per cent more agreed sales this year

Property sellers are set for a bonanza Easter as the stamp duty holiday extension sparks record demand, experts say.

This month average asking prices are already up £2,484 to £321,064 as frenzied buyers battle over limited supply, according to Rightmove.

The property website said the number of inquiries per listing on its website was at a record high, meaning this could be one of ‘the best ever Easters to sell’.

Forecasters said prices were likely to soar again after Chancellor Rishi Sunak extended the stamp duty holiday to the end of June

This month average asking prices are already up £2,484 to £321,064 as frenzied buyers battle over limited supply, according to Rightmove

This month average asking prices are already up £2,484 to £321,064 as frenzied buyers battle over limited supply, according to Rightmove

It comes as forecasters said prices were likely to soar again after Chancellor Rishi Sunak extended the stamp duty holiday to the end of June.

Easter is traditionally the busiest time of the year for estate agents, with Rightmove saying agreed sales in the first week of March were already up 12 per cent on the same period last year.

The website’s Tim Bannister said record low interest rates and the desire for better homes sparked by lockdown had also created the biggest excess of demand over supply for ten years.

‘Blossoming demand coinciding with blossoming gardens should put a spring in the steps of sellers,’ he added. ‘More coming to market will provide a much-needed increase in the choice of property for the many looking to buy.’

Rightmove data shows that estate agents have already agreed sales for two-thirds of homes on their books, while there are signs that a slump in listings is starting to ease.

However, tight lending criteria amid the pandemic are set to stop costs spiralling out of control.

Average asking prices are up by 0.8 per cent since February and 2.7 per cent since March last year, Rightmove said. Nick Leeming, chairman of estate agents Jackson-Stops, said he had 17 buyers chasing every new home listed last month in ‘one of the busiest markets we’ve seen for years’.

In lockdown, he added, homeowners have reassessed what they want from their properties and this, with the stamp duty holiday, has ‘created a swell in demand’.