Simmering demand boosts leads to 1.6m for The ValPal Network

by Steph Rady

The ValPal Network has reported a record 1.6m leads generated in 2023 and Director, Craig Vile, says it’s due to the pent-up demand in the market.

We all know that the housing market faced challenges last year in the face of higher mortgage rates and a cost of living crisis.

But the market proved its resilience and the number of customers seeking online home valuations increased by over 8% on 2022 figures.

These numbers are calculated by adding full leads where a customer provides address and contact details to bonus leads where they have supplied their address details only.

And as if that wasn’t enough, the New Year has got off to a flying start with over 65,948 valuation requests received by TVPN up to January 12^th – that’s over 5,495 per day.

Craig says: “These figures demonstrate the high levels of pent-up demand that is simmering away in the market.

“Both buyers and sellers have been waiting for conditions to improve just enough for them to be confident that interest rates have peaked and inflation is under control. While it was tough-going for some in 2023 and transactions dipped a bit following the Truss/Kwarteng mini-budget, the demand remains as strong as ever and there is lots of market activity beneath the surface.”

Savvy buyers

Zoopla has reported that buyer demand is tracking 14% ahead of early 2023 and new sales agreed up 16% compared to the first week of 2022.

Craig added: “The second half of 2023 was better than the first and this momentum is gathering pace into the New Year. Mortgage rates have been easing for months now and lenders are becoming very competitive with the prospect of lower base rates in the Summer.

“Sellers will be reassured by the fact that prices did not collapse in 2023 as some commentators predicted.

“That said, some regions did see a modest readjustment so there may still be some bargains to be had for savvy buyers if they get their skates on.

“But even when the going was tough, people were still keeping track of the value of their properties – and our research shows that 18.5% of leads convert to sales.

“There’ll be the Spring Budget on March 6^th  and perhaps some direct action from the Chancellor to make life a little bit easier for first time buyers. That, combined with more benign economic conditions, will give the market a huge boost and motivate both buyers and sellers.”