Will we see the same explosive growth in the property market that we saw in 2021?
In this 3 minute read take a look at what happened to the property market in 2021 and find out our property predictions for 2022!
What a year 2021 turned out to be, with so much uncertainty in the World there is one thing that soared. I’m not talking about COVID cases, but the property market. We are yet to see the official figures from Land Registry, but property prices locally have shot up by double figures over the last year which is phenomenal.
Just to put that into perspective. If you bought a home at the start of 2021 for £250,000 it will now likely be worth in the region of £275,000.
The same can be said for the Lettings Market, with a shortage of stock in the area and high demand - rental prices have also seen double-digit growth.
So, not only has it been a fantastic year for property but also for THINK Estate Agents. Not only have we sold more homes than any other agent in 2021, but we also Let more homes than any other agent.
This is down to the many innovations we have implemented over the last 18 months, putting customer service at the forefront of our business, opening earlier, closing later, creating captivating property videos to give customers a real feel for their new home and most importantly investing in clever technology that lets our customers create property profiles like never before. Always wanted to be within walking distance of the Riddling Rack or a stones throw away from Haydock High School for the kids? Our clever system will keep you updated 24/7, 365 days a year with new properties that fit your criteria.
Not only did we do all this but we also wanted to help out local business! It's been a crazy couple of years for businesses, especially small independents!
Being a family run business we could see the struggle some businesses were facing. That’s why we created the THINK Community Card to help small businesses thrive! With a video to promote their shop, a Newsletter sent to customers monthly and a discount for customers for shopping locally it was a win win for everybody and delivered for FREE from us!
I almost forgot to mention our biggest achievement of the year! We are proud to announce that we are the only local agent with every single member of our sales team qualified to a level 3, ensuring our team are well adept to help with your property needs. Our lettings team are close behind with Jack fully qualified and Jade just one exam away! Our newest member of the team Scott will be getting started in the coming months and be fully qualified by the end of 2022!
Now looking forward into 2022 what are we expecting to see?
Due to the nature of the world at the moment, Yes I’m talking about COVID - it can be difficult to make predictions.
Firstly we will look at mortgage interest rates. Bank of England recently increased the base rate from 0.1% up to 0.25%. although there has been a slight increase, borrowing money is still incredibly cheap right now which means people have been able to pay more for property.
We think this will likely increase this year by another 0.5% to help with inflation. If this does look likely it might be a good idea to speak to our Independent Mortgage Adviser to help you get the best fixed deal.
This year saw the UK have 1.5 million market sales which as we know has been a strong year for property. Despite people thinking the end of the Stamp Duty relief would see the market go quiet, we continued with a strong end to the year with plenty of homes still coming to market and selling. I think we will see a similar amount of homes sold this year as people continue to adapt to working from home on a permanent basis and having time to reflect.
I also feel that if we start to see the world go back to normal this year which hopefully we will, this will only add to a confident market and give people who have been hesitant to move - the confidence to do so.
The big question on everyone lips is prices? Are we going to see a drop this year? I highly doubt it! With demand in the UK far outweighing supply which is bound to keep pushing prices up. I’m also a big fan of the 18 years property cycle which follows the property market from the crash to the boom and back to the crash.
If you look back at the property market over the last 100 years you will see this pattern occurring roughly every 18 years. By looking at the market we currently find ourselves roughly in year 13/14 of the cycle which means we should see strong capital growth moving forward.
Although I think property prices will increase, I don’t think we will see the double digit growth we had last year. I believe this for a few reasons. Firstly due to the Property Market closing down for around 8 weeks we did see plenty of demand that really helped grow prices in 2021. Not only that, but we also had the Stamp Duty relief that I feel added fuel to the increase we saw last year. With all that in mind I believe we will still see growth in the region of 6% in 2022.
Here at THINK estate agents we have big plans to keep improving customers journeys and make property as simple and stress free as possible. So whether your looking at buying your first home, are a portfolio landlord or just have a question about property, our team are on hand to help you though your property journey.
Want to speak to our team? Call us on 01925 290290 or 01744 371371
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