Conveyancing – my crystal ball gazing for 2023
Tim Bishop, senior partner of Salisbury solicitors Bonallack & Bishop, is also an active property investor: here he shares his thoughts on the 2023 property market in our January Conveyancing Update.
Failed transactions
Already around 20% of all residential transactions fall through pre-completion and industry experts are warning that this figure will rise sharply in line with increased market uncertainty. That also seems likely to me.
Timescales?
Whilst the average conveyancing transaction used to take around 3 months, our experience is that it’s gone up to 4 months plus. And some industry insiders reckon that it’s now taking buyers over double the time to get to completion than it did pre-pandemic. Sadly I don’t expect that to change any time soon.
House prices?
At this stage my personal crystal ball went on the fritz. Must send it in for repair. The general consensus seems to be the prices will drop, though the odd maverick seems to think that 2023 will see housing prices increase. But will it be a dip or a crash? Again general consensus seems to favour a dip in property values ranging from 5 to 15%. And according to the Office of Budget Responsibility, house prices will fall by around 9% between the end of 2022 and September 2024 (followed by a bounce back of 2.1% growth between 2025-26). And I’m with the dippers.
A reduction in transactions
A recent report from Savills forecasts a 28% drop in residential conveyancing transactions for 2023. Again that sounds about right to us – and reflects my law firm’s conveyancers experience in the last couple of months.
And I suspect the property related businesses worst affected the recession will be those geared more to transaction volumes than prices. And that includes estate agents, conveyancing solicitors like us (although we have been steadily gaining market share and expect to replace any work lost through the recession from a series of new referrers within 6 months) and trade retailers. Interestingly Howdens, a well-run company, is down nearly 40% since late 2021.
My last prediction for 2023? I’ll launch a new law and property related podcast in the New Year – and that’s the only prediction I would put my money on!
What are your thoughts?
For further information about anything you have read in the January Conveyancing Update, contact the team at Bonallack and Bishop Solicitors. They are a fast growing law firm based in Wiltshire and Hampshire with offices in Salisbury, Andover, Fordingbridge and Amesbury.
Contact Bonallack Lease Extension Information Enfranchisement Information
Please note. While we take care in choosing local property partners to recommend to our clients, we cannot be held responsible for the service they provide.
-
Our Customers
We’ve been helping people with their mortgage and protection needs for over 15 years. Find out what our happy customers have to say about us.
More info -
Recommend Us
At Your Mortgage Expert, we believe that something good is worth sharing. So, if you’re happy with our service, why not tell a friend?
More info -
Contact Us
If you would like to speak to us about your mortgage and protection needs, please get in touch
Contact us
Our handy mortgage calculator
Our mortgage calculator can help you get a better idea of how much you can afford to borrow, and how much your mortgage will cost you in monthly repayments.
CALCULATE NOWUseful Resources
-
Legal and privacy information
Your Mortgage Expert Ltd is an appointed representative of Mortgage Advice Bureau which are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority
-
5 Reasons to use a mortgage broker
We often get asked why use an Impartial Mortgage Broker like Your Mortgage Expert. Here’s our five top reasons.
-
5 Tips for remortgaging your property
Adam Nanson from Your Mortgage Expert shares his top five tips for remortgaging. These will help ensure you save time, money and stress.
-
5 Reasons to remortgage your home
Thinking about remortgaging but not sure whether it’s for you? Read our handy guide to find out if a remortgage is suitable for you.
Your property may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage.
There may be a fee for mortgage advice. The actual amount you pay will depend upon your circumstances. The fee is up to 1% but a typical fee is 0.3% of the amount borrowed.