Thirty years ago home owners moved, on average, every 7.4 years. Now they move on average every 19.2 years. This would indicate a considerable slowdown in the property market.
At Propertysurveying.co.uk we investigate why and try to uncover the reasons behind this strange, but true, statistic and whether or not it matters.
Perhaps the biggest reason for the slowdown is that transaction costs have become very high.
The barriers to moving have mostly affected those stepping up, or down, the housing ladder. Higher house prices to earnings, stricter mortgage criteria and a lack of suitable property have added to the struggle.
Surprisingly, a record number of transactions have been recorded in the first time buyer market. These have been mostly supported by the Bank of Mum and Dad as well as government help to buy schemes. The government has been committed to improving access to the housing ladder and has gone some way to increasing the supply of new and affordable homes.
The government is also aware of the negative effect of a slower, wider housing market on the general economy and is looking proactively at ways to inject new homes, at all levels, into the system. Ministers are working with developers, planners and lenders to ensure that the whole market is serviced.
Transactions are taking place at all levels of the market but, with the record number of transactions at first time buyer level, are we shortly to see a push up through the housing tiers, once the Brexit indecision has been removed? a number of commentators think that this is a probability.
RW/LCB