Price of property coming to market within a whisker of new record.
The price of newly-marketed property rises by an average of 0.3% (+£1,058) this month New all-time price highs in East Midlands, North West, Wales and Yorkshire & the Humber push the national average to within £91 of a new record despite backdrop of political uncertainty.
Purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) is the most mature and liquid of the operational property markets in the UK.
The first quarter of 2019 has been relatively quiet, with just over £600 million of investment. That’s 44% less than Q1 2018 and 38% less than Q1 2017, reflecting the uncertainty leading up to the UK’s original March 29th deadline for leaving the EU.
Room occupancy in March remained level at 75% whereas bedspace occupancy, at 52%, fell by -1% when compared to March 2018. In March 2019 there was an increase of +2.3% in room supply and an increase of +2.4% in demand when compared to the same month in 2018.
RevPar, which is the total room revenue divided by the total number of available rooms, was at a similar level in March compared to the previous year at £67.51
We project UK growth to dip to 1.1% in 2019 and to strengthen only moderately, to 1.6% in 2020. Slow growth this year reflects the drag on business investment from ongoing economic and political uncertainty relating to the outcome of the Brexit process. Our main scenario assumes an orderly exit from the EU with a transition period, with business investment and GDP growth picking up later in 2019 and in 2020. But short-term risks are weighted to the downside due to the possibility of a more disorderly Brexit.
