Home working set to create ‘second surge’ of house buying
More and more people will be looking to move home as five-days-a-week office working become a distant memory.
The sector is forecasting a second surge in house buying next year as the home-working phenomenon continues and The Negotiator has reported that 44per cent of industry leaders now offer staff flexible working options.
A desire for more space and flexibility will continue to stimulate the market in 2022 and while equity-rich homeowners have dominated activity since the start of the pandemic, it expects a second wave of lockdown-induced demand from those who have been unable to move this year.
A record-breaking first half of the year means that more homes will have sold in 2021 than in any year since 2007, which should add up to 1.5 million completions.
However, a slowdown in house price growth into autumn and winter is also expected, ending the year at 4.5% across Great Britain. The average price of a home will end the year at about £258,000, a similar level to July 2021.
London is set to underperform the rest of the country until the house price cycle ends in 2024; by then, the average home in the capital is set to cost 87% more than the national average.
The North East will be the top performer over the next four years, where house prices are predicted to rise 21.5% by Q4 2024, outpacing the Great Britain average of 13.5%.
Meanwhile, the rapid pace of rental growth will slow, ending the year up 3%, before dropping to 2.5% in 2022 as affordability bites, however, by the end of 2024 rents should have risen by 10%, led by Southern regions.
Andrew Cadwallader, Co-Director at Samuel Wood says people now place a higher value on their homes, having have spent more time in them than ever before.
“Flexible and remote working, which look set to continue, have encouraged households to make bigger moves,” he said.
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