Estate agent sees confidence return after ‘clear’ election outcome

house sales

Estate agent Savills said it saw a strong close to 2019 in Britain after the “clear outcome” of the general election restored confidence to the property market.

Shares climbed 7% after the company added that “increased political stability in the UK should maintain improved sentiment”.

Savills said its business had “shown considerable resilience in a year which exposed the group to significant challenges in the UK and Hong Kong, two of our key markets”.

The company added: “In the UK, the effect of Brexit and political uncertainty suppressed market activity in both commercial and residential transactional markets until mid-December.

“The clear outcome of the general election prompted a strong close to the year as confidence to transact returned to the market.

“In Hong Kong, the political unrest severely reduced the volume of trading activity from mid-year and continues to do so.”

Savills, which operates in Asia, North America and Europe as well as the UK, said it was on course for annual results “at the upper end” of its expectations.

“Looking to the year ahead, increased political stability in the UK should maintain improved sentiment in real estate markets,” it predicted.

But the company said that some caution may remain over Brexit while “certain other global markets continue to be overshadowed by macroeconomic and political uncertainties”.

The update comes after latest house price measures from Halifax and Nationwide pointed to a pick-up during December.