Majority of property professionals maintain 2024 market confidence

18 July 2023

When looking ahead to expectations in 2024, a webinar poll undertaken by Countrywide Surveying Services (CSS) - one of the leading suppliers of valuation panel management services - found that almost three quarters of property professionals are confident that 2024 market conditions will be no worse than those experienced in 2023.

The poll revealed that 40% of property professionals are ‘mildly confident’ that 2024 will be better than 2023, 6% expressed that they are ‘very confident’, with 27% expecting market conditions to be ‘much the same’. In contrast, 24% of respondents were ‘not confident’ that conditions in 2024 would be more favourable than those in 2023 with 3% forecasting that they will be ‘much worse’.

These responses emerged at Countrywide Surveying Services’ regular webinar series which used the halfway point of 2023 as an ideal time to pause, consider what’s happened, to look at where we are now and then to discuss the future.

Over 300 people actively engaged with the session, with the audience consisting of lenders, brokers, surveyors and other property professionals. The panel included Graham Sellar, Head of Business Development - Mortgages, Santander UK, Tim Bannister, Director of Property Science Innovation, Rightmove plc, Terry Higgins, Group Managing Director, New Build Mortgage Services and Jonathan Stinton, Head of Intermediary Relationships, Coventry Building Society.

It was hosted by John Baguley, Director of Technical, Risk and Compliance at Countrywide Surveying Services.

A further poll taken during the webinar asked how hopeful attendees are for the rest of 2023, with the results showing that 48% were ‘mildly pessimistic’ and 24% ‘mildly hopeful’. 21% reported being ‘neither hopeful nor pessimistic’, 4% were ‘pessimistic’ with 2% ‘very hopeful’.

Attendees were also asked – what proportion of your property investor clients have either sold up entirely, sold some of their properties or are seeking to do so in the next 12 months?

The results showed that just under half of respondents (45%) found this to be the case for less than 25% of their property investor clients. 35% reported this to be the case for between 25-50% of their property investor clients, 18% for between 50-75% of their property investor clients and 2% for over 75% of their property investor clients.

A final poll posed the multiple-choice question – what do you feel are the biggest challenges facing any new government?

Interest rates being over 5% topped the responses, coming in a whopping 71%. This was followed by a housing shortage (to buy or rent) at 39%, enabling FTBs to buy (26%), building the amount and type of properties required (25%), making it attractive again to be a private landlord (19%) and enabling empty nesters and the retired to downsize (10%).

John Baguley, Director of Technical, Risk and Compliance, Countrywide Surveying Services, commented:

“The results of these polls are indicative of current market sentiment, economic uncertainty and the impact of rising interest rates. However, what we can glean from this highly interesting and informative discussion is just how robust the mortgage and housing markets are, despite experiencing huge amounts of pressure from various directions over the course of the past 12 months.

“A plentiful amount of enthusiasm and positive energy still courses through the industry, with many businesses and individuals working extremely hard to deliver a range of innovative solutions to help overcome some of the obvious challenges we are likely to experience in H2 2023 and beyond.”