Homebuyers moving on in spite of pandemic

The survey shows 71% of prospective buyers are still planning on buying a new home in the next year, compared with 68% of prospective buyers who were surveyed last May. File Picture

The Covid-19 pandemic has not deterred would-be homeowners, with almost three-quarters planning to plough ahead with buying a property in the next year, a new report has suggested.

Half of the almost 3,000 surveyed believe 2021 will be a good time to buy a home, property website MyHome.ie showed.

The ongoing pandemic has not only failed to put off potential buyers, the results suggest, but those planning to purchase have actually increased since May when the country was gripped by restrictions socially and economically.

The survey shows 71% of prospective buyers are still planning on buying a new home in the next year, compared with 68% of prospective buyers who were surveyed last May.

Just 13% of survey respondents believe property prices will fall by over 10% in the next year, whereas last May, 37% of consumers predicted that outcome, MyHome.ie said.

Half of all respondents believe next year will represent a good time to buy a home.

The survey of 2,716 people also found that just over three-quarters of respondents believe the Government could do more to help the property sector.

Almost a quarter of respondents believe that the ongoing pandemic will lead to quicker sales, while 61% believe it will lead to more online transactions to minimise unnecessary contact.

Almost three-quarters said they feel safe viewing properties at the moment.

Last month, MyHome.ie analysis showed that asking price inflation rose by 1.2% nationally compared with the second quarter of 2019.

Managing director of MyHome.ie, Angela Keegan, said that the findings reflect the ongoing demand that is evident in the market.

“Even though consumers have not seen the price drops that many predicted when Covid-19 emerged, demand has stayed strong," she said. 

It appears that many prospective buyers have not been hit by the economic fallout from Covid-19.

"MyHome.ie had its busiest ever month for website traffic last July, and this is reflected in the fact that seven out of 10 respondents are planning on purchasing a property in the next year.” 

She warned that it is crucial that construction activity is "allowed to continue in the coming months", and that construction be as unfettered as possible.

“Our analysis shows that stock levels are down by 22% year-on-year, which is concerning," she said. 

"A healthy, functioning property market needs a good balance of supply and demand, and as such we need to see construction continue unimpeded over the winter if at all possible.”

Meanwhile, Ulster Bank's monthly purchasing managers index (PMI), which is an indicator of economic health for manufacturing and service sectors, stated that the recovery in Irish construction activity showed signs of stalling in August.

Chief economist at Ulster Bank in the Republic, Simon Barry, said: "Following two months of post-lockdown increases in activity in June and July, respondents reported that overall activity slipped back into contraction territory last month, albeit that the pace of contraction was nowhere near as severe as during the peak of the crisis in April and May."