Changing Aspects Of Housing Market

Changing Aspects Of Housing Market

We all know the housing market changes quickly, but many people have been shocked at how quickly changes have occurred of late.

We know how busy the market is, and yes, there is significant demand for property. We also know there are many challenges to overcome in the market. If you are keen to make an informed decision in the Bury St Edmunds housing market, make sure you call on Coakley & Theaker.

Average property prices continue to rise

According to the recent Zoopla Price Index, the average price of a UK home is £244,100. The cost of the average house has risen by around £80,000 in the past ten years.

Zoopla highlighted the following key points in their report:

• Property prices increased by 7.8% in the 12 months to end of January 2022
• However, the rate of house price growth might be easing off
• The number of properties placed for sale in January 2022 was 5% higher than the five-year average
• However, the demand for property is still far greater than the supply of homes

Grainne Gilmore, head of research at Zoopla, says: “The sheer level of activity in the market in recent years eroded the stock of homes for sale. But the data indicates that more homes are now coming to the market, as movers and other owners list their properties - and this will create more choice for the many buyers active in the market. However, the imbalance between high demand and supply will take much longer to unwind, and this imbalance will continue to underpin pricing in the coming year.”

First-time buyers and furlough

The average first-time property buyer paid £199,246 in 2020. With a deposit of 15%, these buyers required to save £29,887 to purchase their first home.

For buyers who saved 20% of their net income per month, equating to £377, it would have taken 6.6 years to save this amount. The average age of the first-time buyer at this time was 32 years old. Of course, events of the past couple of years have been highly challenging. Those on the furlough scheme will likely have been set back with respect to their property ambitions.

Many people lost out on money

The average gross UK salary came in at £31,646, and for the 19 months the furlough scheme was in place, the average person lost £7,967 in income. Anyone in this position, going by the average figures, would require an additional 1.8 years of saving money to fund their deposit. This meant the average age of first-time buyers rose to almost 34 years old, thanks to the impact of lockdowns and the furlough scheme.

Colby Short, Founder and CEO of GetAgent.co.uk, commented: “Buying that first home has always been one of life’s milestones and in recent times it has become particularly hard to reach as a result of ever-increasing house prices, with first-time buyers saving for far longer simply to amass enough to secure a mortgage deposit. The pandemic will have only added to this difficulty and those who were furloughed, or worse made redundant will have seen their journey to homeownership become all the longer as a result of a reduction in earnings and their ability to save.”

Contact Coakley & Theaker for all your Bury St Edmunds property market needs

At Coakley & Theaker, we aim to support the local community as much as we can, and we know this is an extremely trying time. A lot of people are looking for support and guidance, and if you have any property or housing related questions, we are more than happy to assist you, so contact us today by calling us on 01284 769691.