The first half of 2024 has demonstrated market resilience despite ongoing economic challenges. While sectors like banking and real estate face pressures from new government policies and global uncertainties, strategic adjustments are evident.
The Architecture and Design labour market, which reached its zenith in 2022, is now poised for a significant decline in 2023, with an estimated -10.9% decrease in professional vacancies, bringing the total to 3,983 positions. Indeed, the increase in interest rates and the subsequent implications on borrowing costs for developers means that with the cost of capital going up, there has been a slight dip. That combined with the Conservative party scrapping housing targets, has also led to a slowdown in demand, according to the latest UK Real Estate Labour Market Trends report by market data analysts Vacancysoft.
The Real Estate Industry is starting to hit headwinds not seen in a generation, as interest rates start to rise. Insofar as the long-term average interest rate has been around 4-5%, the last decade has seen low rates and unprecedented amounts of quantitative easing which as they have ended, have meant the industry is under pressure.
