That shift has been visible in his own client base over recent weeks. “I’ve noticed getting contact back with clients, who months ago had been looking, and they’re suddenly making offers and things,” he said. “It’s certainly the last couple of weeks that I’ve really started to see it pick up.” Rate reductions have kept coming through in the background, he added: “There are reductions still coming into the market even today, so that’s all good in all parts of this.”
That pattern is consistent with the Bank of England’s monthly money and credit data, which tracks mortgage lending and approval volumes across the UK.
Even so, Edwards was careful not to overstate the recovery. “For me personally, it’s certainly quieter than it has been,” he said, comparing current activity against the same period last year.
Why rates cut through a divided market better than price data does
Edwards said national price averages mask a regional divide that rate movements don’t fully erase but do help offset. “Individual data needs to be looked at rather than general statistics,” he said. “It very much geographically can be skewed across the whole of the UK. Certain areas can be shooting up in value where others can still be reducing down.”
London and the South East illustrate the point, he said, describing a market that responds to rate changes on a delay. “London will respond for speed a little bit slower depending on when there’s a recovery,” he said. “It will probably start to react quicker as the market picks up and reflect better figures later in the year.”