Areas of expertise: rural estate management, valuation and surveying of country houses, expert witness work.
“Better than expected post-referendum economic and labour market data looks to have fed through into buyer sentiment, with a widely expected market correction not materialising. Prices have remained steady, although transactional activity is still at relatively low levels,” says Phillip Nicholson, MRICS FAAV of Carter Jonas.
“Investment activity looks to be slowly returning, after falling away significantly since the 3% SDLT second home surcharge was introduced. The signs are that the surcharge is slowly being accepted into the collective psyche of smaller scale landlords. Returns from residential investment remain relatively good, and this should help to underpin demand for the foreseeable future.”
“With the SDLT hike quickly followed by Brexit, April to June 2016 was a once-in-a-lifetime quarter. We’re now expecting a period of relative calm with prices steady and transaction levels slowly recovering.”
Carter Jonas’ view:
- Q2 2016: once-in-a-lifetime market conditions
- widely expected market correction has not materialised
- transactional activity still at relatively low levels
- expect a period of relative calm, steady prices and gentle recovery of transaction levels
- higher stamp duty now almost accepted as the norm
- residential property investment still offers a healthy return
The professional view.
A critical aspect of what Middleton Advisors offers is the ability to draw on different strands of expertise from across the full spectrum of property and professional services. The Middleton ‘professional view’ blog offers topical comment from experts and professionals to provide insights into the current market for prime property in London and the UK countryside – what is driving activity and prospects, trends, legislative changes, opportunities and threats.