Brexit ‘not the Armageddon’ that was expected, says agent

Brexit horror scenarios, including the collapse in UK house prices forecast by the chancellor George Osborne, have failed to materialise so far. Instead, many estate agents are talking up the market by reporting a rise in demand from buyers now that the uncertainty of the EU vote is over.

“What we are seeing, following the Brexit vote, is not the Armageddon that everyone expected,” said Simon Bradbury, director at Thomas Morris. “The number of offers coming in and the value of these offers says to me that people are still confident in the property market and aren’t running away or pulling out.”

Thomas Morris, which has offices across Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire, says that on average, offers across their seven branches are currently within 5% of the asking price, with some properties achieving over the asking price, which explains why many sales have been agreed post-Brexit.

He continued: “Of course this is still very early days in our Brexit position, and things will change and develop over the coming weeks and months. However, where people need to move they will move, and so far property values haven’t dropped.”

Elsewhere, David Adams, managing director of John Taylor in central London, has reported that he’s been “inundated with more calls from the Middle East” looking for UK property since the Brexit vote, while Peter Kavanagh, managing director at Romans, insisted it is business as usual now that the EU referendum is out of the way – by reminding people that UK property remains a ‘safe investment’.