Industry reacts as house prices fall following first stamp duty deadline – UK House Price Index

Managing Director of Barrows and Forrester, James Forrester, commented:

“A prolonged period of property panic buying spurred by the chance of a stamp duty saving has seen UK homebuyers essentially clear the shelves over the last year.

So a natural market adjustment is always going to occur in the run-up to each of the staggered deadlines. However,  the proof in the pudding is yet another strong annual rate of growth and the reality is that there has been no let-up in demand, while available stock also remains scarce.

So where the long-term health of the market is concerned, we are yet to see any signs of a wobble.”

Director of Benham and Reeves, Marc von Grundherr, commented:

“While there is no snooze button this time around where the stamp duty deadline is concerned, the end of this government tax reprieve is unlikely to act as a pothole in the property market’s road to recovery.

A certain level of natural realignment is to be expected but those who judge the market on such an erratic, short term metric as monthly house price growth are ill-advised to do so.

We’re now heading into what is traditionally one of the busiest times of the year and we expect buyer demand to remain consistently high throughout.

We also expect the return of foreign buyer demand to further boost the UK housing market over the coming months, with London, in particular, seeing a sharp increase in market activity and house price growth.”

Founder and CEO of GetAgent.co.uk, Colby Short, commented:

“Before we run for the hills at the first sight of a house price decline it’s important to note that the market has been moving at a record pace for a sustained period of time and so a pause for breath is more than natural.

We know the stamp duty holiday has had an incredible impact and so a monthly decline following both deadlines is to be expected. However, market sentiment is still extremely high and while mortgage affordability remains at record lows, the housing market will continue to blossom well into autumn and beyond.”