Moving home: what can we expect in 2022?
In his latest Shropshire Star column, our co-director, Russell Griffin, discusses - will 2022 be your year to move?
Whether you’re starting your new home search or you’ve been looking for a while, the good news is that we’re now starting to see more properties coming to market for you to choose from.
In fact, the highest number of new sellers ever recorded by housing portal Rightmove was recorded on Boxing Day 2021 – numbers were up by 21% compared to the previous year.
Some sellers may have held back last year due to the frantic and changeable market. Some people want to ‘wait out’ changing situations, preferring to let the dust settle a bit before they feel more confident to come to market. But many sellers are now taking advantage of the high number of prospective buyers searching for their next home as people seek to get ‘back to normal.’
Rightmove also recorded December 30th as the busiest day since May 2021 for people requesting estate agents to come out and value their home.
Buyer demand has also remained high, especially between Boxing Day and the new year, so the 2022 housing market will continue to be competitive.
If you find a property that could be the one for you, we recommend getting in touch with the selling agent to book a viewing as soon as you spot it.
It is being predicted by sector experts, including Propertymark and Rightmove, that the national average asking price for a home – which is currently £342,401 – will rise by 5 per cent this year, which will mean an increase of about £17,000.
An imbalance between the huge number of home-hunters looking to move, and not enough homes available to buy, continues to push prices up.
As always, there will be variations to this across Britain. But currently the most competitive locations for buyers are in Scotland, the West Midlands, the Southwest and Yorkshire and the Humber.
Other things to look out for this year include:
Buyer search areas have expanded.
People are willing to live further from their workplace with a longer commute on office days. For many, bigger homes and more space have become far more important than a shorter commute, especially as hybrid working looks here to stay.
Shortage of rental homes will start to ease.
Prospective tenants have been faced with a shortage of rental homes, because some landlords moved their properties into short lets to take advantage of the staycation boom, and some tenants chose to renew their lease for another year instead of moving because rents increased at the fastest rate ever recorded.
Price premiums for more privacy — and bigger houses
2021 is perhaps best remembered as the year of ‘the race for space’ and the rise in average asking prices for bigger homes really showed that. Since March 2020, the asking price of a detached house has risen by 14%, and by 11% for a semi-detached home.
The pandemic certainly redefined the role of the home and has potentially changed forever how we live and work. But the key for 2022, I think, is to keep checking housing portals and move quickly if you want to view. The housing market is hotting up.