Shropshire house market stable despite uncertainty after Brexit vote

A new study looking at major cities around the country suggests that major urban centres continued to see double-digit price growth in their property markets during June.

City property values in June were 10.2 per cent higher than a year earlier – matching the annual rate of price growth seen in May – property analysts Hometrack found.

A Shropshire estate agent has said he does not expect to see prices slow down locally either, adding that sentiment since the EU referendum has backed up his early feelings about the outcome.

Michael Nettleton, director of sales and marketing at Nock Deighton, said: "I think realistic prices will still be fully achievable. The large institutions are still predicting an increase in house prices for the remainder of the year and in 2017.

"The only danger to the market is sellers adopting a 'wait and see' approach. This will have no negative impact on prices – possibly the opposite – but may result in people holding off putting their properties on the market, starving it of supply.

"Having said that, we have not seen any major signs of that happening here in Shropshire. All in all, I still see it as a balanced market with good conditions to trade in for those who have the motivation to move."

Bill Brookes, from DB Roberts Estate Agents, said he thought it was too soon to make long-term forecasts for prices, but said interest in the market in Shropshire had not fallen as sharply as he expected.

"In terms of properties coming onto the market, viewings, and people registering new applications to say they are looking to move, the numbers haven't really gone up or down since before the vote," he said.

"We've maybe seen a slight dip in terms of commitment, and viewings converting to sales, but I'm coming to the conclusion that because the areas in which we are active voted for Brexit, then to a certain extent we are dealing with a market where people got what they wanted.

"Perhaps there isn't the degree of pessimism, concern and anxiety around that there might be in other parts."

Earlier in the week, figures from the Office For National Statistics showed that the average house prices across the UK increased by £16,000 over the year to May. Across the UK, the typical property value was £211,000 in May, marking an 8.1 per cent increase compared with a year earlier, the ONS said.

Hometrack's new research appears to bolster the suggestion that the uncertainty around the Referendum has not had a serious impact on property values. But, the latest report also said both sales and price growth are set to cool in the second half of the year.

London is likely to bear the brunt of the slowdown, though, and Shropshire is often considered to be insulated against sudden shocks because of the disparate and relatively small-scale nature of the economy.