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With more and more people working remotely and the return to offices seeming a long way off yet, several reports cite that house prices in urban areas are set to fall as more people retreat to the suburbs in a bid for a more relaxed way of a life. In addition to this, with the majority of Brits spending more time than ever at home over the past 12 months, it’s changed the way homeowners assess their requirements from a house.
While living in London in pre-COVID times was convenient and appealing to many - due to the close proximity to work and having the hustle and bustle of the city on their doorstep - the national lockdowns we have encountered have brought to light the need for private outside space, greenery and beautiful scenery. Many Londoners are now retreating to nearby counties such as Kent, Surrey and Hertfordshire, to ‘tick off’ as many of their new found requirements from a home as possible.
Not only has the housing market been effected by COVID-19, but it’s also has Brexit to contend with too! Data shared by Which? shows that the time for a property to be marked as Sold STC was heavily influenced by the market shut down from the beginning to middle of 2020. However the introduction of the stamp duty holiday saw properties sell far quicker in the final 4 months of 2020. Which? states “in November 2020, properties took just 49 days to be marked ‘under offer’ or ‘sold subject to contract’, the lowest figure recorded by Rightmove to date.”
David Hollingworth, Associate Director of communications at L&C mortgages
The stamp duty holiday will have helped drive activity, so questions remain over what happens after it ends in March. If the end of the transition period has an impact on the broader economy it could affect activity, although a deal being reached should calm consumer sentiment.
Mortgage rates remain competitive, and this will help boost borrower affordability and confidence. Availability has also been improving for those with smaller deposits in recent weeks, which will help too. If the demand continues as it is and we begin to see restrictions ease there’s little to suggest that prices will be hit, but the recovery from the pandemic carries an uncertain outlook and any disruption from Brexit could still add to the uncertainty
It’s impossible to completely dissociate the point of leaving the EU, and any ongoing uncertainty in the economy it could generate, from the ongoing pandemic. Since the market reopened after the initial lockdown, there has been extremely high demand, so it’s difficult to point to confidence being hit.
Overall, home buyers have been showing that they remain confident enough to move during a pandemic and to take advantage of low mortgage rates. They can also fix those rates in order to protect against any potential future fluctuation and many are taking the opportunity to lock into low rates now.” Source: Which?
With demand for properties set to remain high and the growing changes in both people’s business and personal circumstances, we feel confident that it’ll be a positive couple of years for the property market - but ultimately, only time will tell. It’ll definitely be interesting to hear the Chancellor’s take on the stamp duty holiday that he introduced last year, when the new tax year commences in April.
Until then, the Cooper & Cole team continue to look to the future and plan ahead for our next, exciting and diverse property development projects. The future is definitely bright for us and we hope it is for you too…
If you're interested in partnering with us and exploring exceptional investment opportunities, don't hesitate to get in touch.
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Read all the latest property investment advice, property news and property management tips from our team a at Cooper & Cole.
