Stamp duty holiday rush – RICS

AN increasing number of first time house buyers are looking to beat the imminent closure of the stamp duty holiday, new research claims.

The latest RICS UK housing market survey found that expectations for future house sales in Yorkshire and the Humber edged up slightly during January.

Almost a fifth (19%) more surveyors in the region expect transaction levels to increase rather than decrease in the coming three months, the survey found.

From March 24, first time buyers will no longer be exempt from stamp duty on properties under £250,000 and some surveyors said this has produced an increase in activity at the lower end of the market.
 
Despite this optimism, respondents in Yorkshire and the Humber noted that actual sales levels were yet to increase, as 6% more surveyors claimed newly agreed transactions had fallen rather than

risen. 
 
Elsewhere, prices across the region continued to drop, with 40% more surveyors reporting

price falls rather than rises.
 
Supply remained relatively steady in the region during January, with 11% more surveyors reporting increases rather than decreases in new homes coming onto the market.
 
Michael Newey, RICS housing spokesman, said: “With first time buyers no longer exempt from stamp duty as of the end of March, surveyors are hopeful that many will be looking to purchase homes before the deadline.

“However, many problems with the market still exist and the lack of affordable mortgage finance is still preventing many from getting onto the property ladder. Prices are still falling across the region, but expectations for future prices have become slightly less pessimistic.”
 
Edward Waterson, of estate agents Carter Jonas in York: “There has been a suprisingly brisk start to the year, despite the economy. Buyers appear to have gone the bit between their teeth and a shortage of stock is forcing them to make decisions and stick to them.”