Current House Prices
House prices have risen significantly in the last year, with the housing market boosted by a stamp duty holiday, among other things.
In Zoopla’s House Price Index, we can see that demands for homes have hit a new high since the start of 2021. The index goes on to say, “The combination of children returning to school, the stamp duty holiday extension announcement in early March, the return of first-time buyers and the continued ‘search for space’ among homeowners, came together to create a demand boost — especially for family houses”.
With all of this, plus workers reconsidering the homes they want to spend their days in, now that flexible working is more readily available, the demand has undoubtedly risen — and with it, the price. We’ve also seen houses in more rural areas growing in popularity among home-workers.
We predict that this pricing increase may dip a little once the stamp duty holiday ends, as the demand settles. This means that now could be a good time to sell while demand is still at its highest.
Stamp Duty Holiday
Starting in July 2020, the stamp duty holiday allowed home-movers in England and Northern Ireland a temporary tax-free threshold of £500,000, replacing the usual threshold of £125,000.
This boosted the property market significantly, with prices rising by 3.8% over the rest of the year. The tax holiday was due to end in March but was later postponed, with the holiday transitioning out in stages. By October 2021, stamp duty will be back to its original threshold of £125,000.
We’ve already seen home-movers rushing to buy properties before the tax holiday ends, so this demand will likely maintain until at least October.
The rest of the year could be a potential opportunity to consider utilising, especially if you’re an estate agent, a property developer or if you’re considering selling your house and moving up the property ladder soon.
Housing Market Predictions
There are several reasons to believe there will be a slowdown in price growth after a few key events in 2021.
These include the end of the stamp duty holiday and the end of the furlough scheme. We expect both of these things to bring a decrease in public spending, a rise in inflation and higher interest rates. Though house price increases could slow down after the tax break ends, it’s unlikely that we will see too steep a crash.
Many predictions still suggest that the housing market will stay relatively strong into 2022.
How Does This Impact Estate Agents?
With house demand still running high, Autumn just around the corner and the possibility that house price increase will dip again after the stamp duty holiday ends now could be an excellent time for property sales.
While this is good news for estate agents, there are some issues that we regularly see arising in property sales, especially when the demand is looking to be so high — such as property chain issues and cost-related problems while waiting to sell.
Property chains are common in property sales, but did you know that at least one in five sales will be lost to a broken chain?
A collapsed chain can produce problems for you, your clients and potentially everyone involved. Chain Repair Schemes, as well as Part Exchange Schemes, are both great options to help reduce worries about property chain issues, with zero risks to you and your buyer.
What these schemes will do is buy the problem property in a chain that has collapsed, keeping everyone else’s move on track in as little as 7 days.
If you’re an estate agent or property developer having trouble selling your property or worrying about the demand for property in the future, one of these schemes could be for you.
