Since the start of the pandemic and despite widespread concerns of a covid related property crash, there has been a boom in the property market, fuelled by a house buying frenzy with demand outweighing supply, which has in turn led to pushing up prices.

The figures for March were recently released which again showed a record high for the third consecutive month. However, although prices in March increased by 9.8% (compared to March 2021), this was actually a decrease from the 11.3% seen in February (1). It was however, still an increase and as of March the average price of a home in Wales had increased to £206,000 which was an increase of 11.7% but which was lower than in England which came in at £298,000 (+9.9%) but still higher than Scotland and Northern Ireland, £181,000 (+8%) and £165,000 (+10.4%) respectively.

Although growth is lower than the increase seen in February, the market is still clearly full of confidence with demand outweighing supply. For how long this level of increase continues will remain to be seen with inflation rising to 9% meaning that spending power may be reduced as household budgets are due to be squeezed even further.  Could this mean that the curve is starting to flatten?

Amanda Aumonier, who is head of mortgage operations at online mortgage broker Trussle, seems to think so as she was quoted as saying that the market is beginning to see “key indicators that a shrink in house prices is on the horizon” (2). One such indicator is that mortgage rates continue to increase, with estimations that they will rise a further 2% by the end of the year, which could put homeowners under tremendous financial burden if they are on short term deals or due to re-mortgage.

However, many agents believe that there is still a vast shortage of houses and as such they cannot satisfying the demand. Jason Tebb, who is chief executive of Onthemarket.com said that the housing market continued to “defy expectations” with prices and sales still increasing albeit across the UK albeit at a slower rate.  However, he believes that for as long as demand outweighs supply, house prices will continue to grow, if the rate of increase slows (3).

What is clear is that the demand for houses is still great which in turn is pushing up prices despite homeowners facing higher bills relating to the cost of living. In fact, properties are selling twice as quickly than in the normal “pre-covid” market in 2019, under which Rightmove advised that the average time to sell was 67 whereas it now stands at 53 (4).

Therefore, homebuddy believes that it is still a great time to consider selling your home with leading market experts still predicting that this supply / demand mismatch will remain for at least the rest of the year. In light of a rise in inflation, it is vital for families to carefully monitor their spending and outgoing, and as homebuddy don’t take commission or traditional estate agent fees (our list price is a fixed fee of £99), you could save yourself thousands of pounds by selling privately.

So why not visit our site today at homebuddy.co.uk.

References

(1) Office for National Statistics; (2) Forbes; (3) Financial Times; (4) Rightmove