House prices will continue to rise until at least 2024, and will do so by 3.5% a year according to estate agent, Hamptons.
House prices have gone wild since the start of the pandemic. Summer 2021 has marked a peak for growth, and market demand is getting stronger and stronger as more buyers fight it out for a limited number of homes.
Hamptons says that more homes will sell in 2021 than the UK has seen since 2007. And while price growth will likely slow down for the next few months, it is expected that by the end of the year, prices will be 4.5% higher than December 2021.
Despite a slow in growth, the so-called race-for-space is likely to mean that demand stays high for at least a couple of years as buyers look for bigger homes with more outdoor space, not least in rural areas of natural beauty.
It was widely expected that the end of the stamp duty holiday would pour cold water over an overheated housing market, but this has not come to fruition. It’s possible that forecasters have underestimated people’s desire for a new way of life delivered by moving to a new home in a new area, mistaking market growth as the result of people looking to take advantage of the government-issued tax break.
Hamptons’ statement comes after The Halifax said the average cost of a property increased by 0.7% in August while fellow mortgage lender Nationwide said the monthly rise in August was 2.1%, the second-highest in 15 years.
Hamptons believes that the north of England will see the most striking price growth over the next two years, while London, already struggling since the pandemic, will continue to see slowed growth if not all-out price drops.
