National Cash Buyers Broaden Their House Search

In the latest Market Insight from Hamptons International, they have shown that UK cash buyers are now starting to broaden their horizons when it comes to buying a house.

The report shows that there were 92,845 cash only house transactions in the UK in the third quarter of 2016. This figure is a 5% fall compared with the same period last year.

This seems to be part of a consistent trend in the reduction of national cash buyers in the market since 2014.

This decline in the reduction of cash buyers seems to be the highest in the most expensive areas of the UK. Broken down into regions, the report shows that in the South East, the number of cash buyers fell by 13% compared with 2015: in the East, it fell by 11% and in London by 9%.

In the past national cash buyers would generally buy property in and around the UK region they currently lived in. However, this report shows that in 2016 Cash buyers are broadening their horizons on their search for a home. Back in 2013 83% of national cash buyers bought in the same region they came from, but in 2016 this figure has fallen by 5% to 78%.
London cash buyers have now set their sights further afield in the search for debt-free homes.

The South West has seen an increase in the proportion of London cash buyers buying there. In 2013, only 7% of London cash buyers bought a home there but this has now grown to 10% in 2016. Similarly, only 2% of London cash buyers bought a home in the North in 2010 but this has now grown to 8%. South East national cash buyers also show a similar trend.

Here is the full Market Insight from Hamptons International