London leading the way as housing market ‘normalises’, Winkworth says
Pretax profit climbed 26 per cent to £1.0m from just over £810,000 last year.
Estate agent Winkworth said the housing market was returning to more “normalised” levels with revenue growth in London outperforming the national average.
The estate agent said that revenue rose 20 per cent to £5.1m in the first half of the year, up from £4.3m in the same period last year.
Pretax profit, meanwhile, climbed 26 per cent to £1.0m from just over £810,000 last year.
The estate agent noted that income from sales agreed has grown much stronger than completed sales, which boss Dominic Agace put down to “extended conveyancing times”.
Sales revenue across the business was up nine per cent on last year, with London outperforming the national average.
Sales income in the capital rose 11 per cent, which Agace put this down to “a return to popularity of city living…without significant price escalation”.
“Our first half results are in line with expectations and reflect an uptick in sales, with a greater number of properties coming to market and transactions returning to more normalised levels,” he said.
In the past couple of years, the housing market has slowed due to the impact of higher interest rates. The Bank of England hiked the benchmark Bank Rate from near zero to a peak of 5.25 per cent in under two years, knocking house prices and putting off potential buyers.
However, the market recovered slightly over the first half of the year in the anticipation of lower borrowing costs. Although there has only been one rate cut so far, Agace said 2024 has been “very encouraging”.
“An increase in sellers coming to the market has drawn out demand from buyers and this, combined with more positive economic news, has led to far better conditions than 2023, when uncertainty over the outlook for interest rates weighed on activity,” he said.
Agace hoped that a combination of political stability and an improving economic outlook would further support the housing market in the months ahead.
“Now that the election is behind us and a government with a strong majority is now in place, ending years of political uncertainty, and with interest rates set to decline, early indications suggest that activity in the property market will increase,”
“Sales agreed have noticeably accelerated since the general election in early July 2024,” he noted.
The firm announced a dividend of 6p per share for the first half, up from 5.8 per cent last year.
