Conveyancers counter claim of a stagnant housing market

Despite numerous reports of a 'stagnant market' and predictions of a 'housing bust', conveyancers have 'bounced back after a disappointing end to 2017'.

This is according to Search Acumen's latest Conveyancing Market Tracker.

The quarterly research shows that the average conveyancer's caseload increased by 12% in Q1 2018 when compared with the final three months of 2017 and by 11% when compared with the same period last year.

The number of recorded transactions last quarter (271,546) was the highest recorded since the second quarter of 2016 (286,485).

During the first three months of the year, the average conveyancing firm processed 64 transactions, up from 59 a year ago.

“Regardless of a strong start to the year, we are still of the opinion that 2018 will be full of challenges for conveyancers while the housing market continues to stumble along," comments Andrew Lloyd, Search Acumen's managing director.

"We all look to the government to find ways to free up the housing market and create more stock, but it’s down to us to ensure the conveyancing market effectively adapts to the future landscape of property transactions.” 

“The story of 2017 for the conveyancing market was the continued rise of the challengers – those firms operating just below the biggest conveyancers – and that seems to have continued into 2018," he says.

"It is perhaps the fact that smaller firms can be more nimble to market movements and more quickly embrace technology that has allowed them to take advantage of increasing transactions."

"With a dearth of new entrants to the market, it’s been the job of all conveyancers to do more with less, and they are seemingly up to that challenge."