As far as once in a lifetime global events go, this one has been, I’m sure we can agree, something of a big one.
Forced into our homes for the best part of 18 months, restrictions placed on to our daily lives for a similar amount of time and unable to even send our children to school at various points, it’s hardly been an easy ride.
Similarly, the economy took a kicking too, with the UK economy entering recession for parts of last year and this year too. Certain sectors have struggled immensely, none more than the travel and hospitality industries which have been effectively closed for over a year, relying on government support.
That being said, what’s now becoming apparent is that the housing market has suffered no such fate, despite fears that it may. As the vaccination programme appears to be doing its job and cases are now falling rapidly, eyes are now turning to the rest of the year and the future.
The North West
According to recent ONS data, released this month, UK house prices up to May had increased by 10% year on year.
That in itself is some pretty impressive going, but the data also went on to reveal that the North West of England reported an absolutely massive 15% growth in the same period.
As reported by The BBC, “Estate agents have reported huge demand from property buyers during the year so far.
This picked up when many buyers wanted to complete their purchases before stamp duty holidays were wound down. In May, the tax breaks were still in place for England, Northern Ireland and Wales.
However, that it not the only explanation for rising prices. Scotland’s property tax break was withdrawn at the end of March.
People’s changing priorities as a result of the pandemic mean they are looking for bigger homes in which to live and work.”
This ties neatly into something we’ve been saying for some time now, mainly that, although stamp duty has indeed played a role in rising prices and good performances, it’s not the whole explanation and, in fact, changing attitudes towards property and living spaces have had more of a contribution to this.
Investment in 2021 and 2022
Now that the stamp duty holiday has ended, most agents are still reporting high traffic, enquiries and offers on properties, even if exchanges have slowed.
For investors, this displays a very healthy and firing property market that’s not only attracting buyers and investors from across the world, but is also experiencing record demand for rental property too.
Yields, rents and demand have been rising for some time, and this would seem to indicate that the North West is very much a hot spot for property investment in this regard.
That being said, it also seems that competition is becoming fierce for scarce resource, and although many investors are pleased that they’re invested in such a steady market, some sound advice might be to make sure you’re making the most of potential investments when the market appears to be leading into a similarly strong performance next year and beyond.