It is widely accepted that the warmer months in spring and summer bring with them spikes of activity in terms of the buying and selling of properties. A new piece of research has taken this one step further, however, and directly linked an increase in temperatures to increases in house prices.
The research conducted by a national estate agent firstly looked at seasonal differences in selling prices, and it comes as no surprise that the summer season posted the highest average selling price. In Winter 2018, the average selling price was £291,810 and this increased to £293,347 in springtime. Summer average sale prices increased once more to £301,321 and prices during the autumn period fell to £289,833.
With seasonal changes prevalent in terms of property pricing, it is the temperatures themselves which the research then looked into. The data shows a direct correlation between price decreases between January and February as the temperatures cool, and similar changes are recorded as both temperatures and prices consistently increase from February through to July.
When analysing the seasonality on a financial level, the research shows that selling prices increase by £2,150 for every single degree of temperature change. For every degree that the temperature increased, this represented an extra £1,461 in sold price; however, the drop-off in temperatures increased to £2,838 for every degree colder.
Shepherd Ncube, founder and CEO of Springbok Properties, commented: “The seasonality of the national property market is widely discussed as patterns of buyer and seller behaviour dictate market activity and ultimately the price achieved. However, it seems that something as external to the property as temperature itself also has a direct correlation.”
“With spring now officially sprung, we should start to see the Brexit price growth freeze thaw.”
