The number of residential valuations to date in 2013 has exceeded the record, according to chartered surveyors Connells Survey and Valuation.
Activity in the housing market has been greater this year than in 2007, with the first six months of 2013 seeing 1 per cent more valuations than in the same period six years ago.
Figures were bolstered by a particularly strong month in June. The total number of residential valuations conducted in that month rose by 54 per cent from a year ago, marking the ninth month in a row of year-on-year growth. On a monthly basis, valuations activity has picked up by 36 per cent since May.
John Bagshaw, Corporate Services Director of Connells Survey & Valuation, comments: “It’s been six years since there was such a heady atmosphere in the housing market. Naturally, we shouldn’t get carried away. It might be strawberry season once more, but no-one’s cracking out the champagne until we’ve negotiated some awkward economic topics.
“The credit crunch is still lurking in the background, with Europe and now even China serving as constant reminders of the danger of over-optimism. But closer to home things are stabilising, and this is feeding a resurgence in the housing market. Activity has grown rapidly during the first half of the year, with June figures looking particularly positive. After nine months of year-on-year growth, the market is going from strength to strength.”
Much of the revival in activity is due to an ongoing surge in remortgaging. The number of remortgaging valuations in June was 94 per cent higher than in the same month last year, while on a monthly basis remortgaging in June saw 54 per cent growth.
Buy-to-let activity grew at the second fastest annual rate, with valuations for landlords in June up 59 per cent compared to a year ago. On a monthly basis, buy-to-let activity has grown by 32 per cent compared to May.
Alongside rapid increases in other sub-sectors, first-time buyers have also seen a strong improvement. In June, a 27 per cent monthly increase leaves the number of valuations on behalf of first-time buyers 44 per cent higher than in June last year. As a proportion, first time buyers now make up 31 per cent of the valuations market, compared to 33 per cent in June 2007.
Home movers saw a 40 per cent annual increase in valuations activity, after a 34 per cent pick-up from May. As a proportion this leaves those valuations undertaken for people moving home at 32 per cent of all activity, down from 35 per cent of all activity in June last year and 37 per cent in 2007.
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