What coronavirus means for the property market in Hertfordshire

The St Albans housing market has been largely unaffected by coronavirus so far – with a few exceptions.

“There has been a recent trickle of cancellations of appointments from vendors and buyers who feel under the weather and are taking the sensible approach,” said Nick Doyle, senior property consultant at Cassidy & Tate. “We had a vendor feeling unwell who didn’t want to take any chances so cancelled viewings.”

Nick added that the market had proved “mostly resilient” to the impact of the virus, with activity levels “still strong”.

The news from Putterills, who have offices across Hertfordshire, is similarly positive. Managing director Mark Shearing said that, while he was conscious that the virus could yet have an impact, “at present it does not seem to be dampening people’s house hunting enthusiasm”.

Paul Barker of Paul Barker Estate Agents shared this positive outlook: “Work is still very busy and people are still happy to view and offer for now,” he said. “I hope it lasts.”

The latest House Price Index from Halifax showed a 0.3 per cent increase in prices during February, up 2.8 per cent on the previous year. Halifax managing director Russell Galley said this reflected “the continued improvement of key market indicators”.

He noted that the future was uncertain, however: “Looking ahead, there are a number of risks, including the potential impact of coronavirus, which continue to exert pressure on the economy and we wait to see how these will affect housing market sentiment later in the year.”