Property deals fall through as buyers get cold feet over Brexit

A significant number of house sales fell through in the immediate aftermath of the win for Brexit as buyers got cold feet because Britain’s decision to leave the EU is set to have an adverse impact of the UK housing market. 

The number of buyers pulling out of transactions rose by 11% over the last weekend of June - following the EU vote - compared to the last weekend of May, according to haart estate agents.

The estate agents also report that there was a hike in the volume of vendors seeking valuations, although other measures of activity including branch call volumes, website traffic and applications remained static.

Somewhat surprisingly, despite the outcome of the EU vote, 1,500 new buyer applicants registered between Friday and Monday, the same level seen over the last weekend in June the previous year.

Paul Smith, CEO of haart estate agents, commented: “While it’s true we have seen some buyers pull out of transactions due to the uncertainty caused by the Brexit vote, the effects haven’t been as great as we anticipated and we expect this to be a small blip as people come to terms with the result and get their head around what a Brexit means for them. Less than a week after the decision, we’re starting to see the market settle and confidence returning after the Friday morning low.

“The result has had no impact on website traffic or applicant figures, in fact the outcome may be resulting in opportunist buyers taking advantage of the situation by snapping up bargains caused by the uncertainty. What has been positive is that valuations have actually increased as vendors look to get a professional opinion on the value of their home to understand what effect there has been.”