2020 has been a very turbulent year for the property market. With the future of Brexit being decided affecting housing regulations, especially in regards to overseas buyers, and of course the COVID 19 pandemic. It’s been a difficult year for many people in the world and in the world of property development, sales, and HMO. However as we approach the new year it’s important to ask, what does 2021 hold for us all? We can offer some predictions and estimations when it comes to the property market.
Prices will fall, before bouncing back.
Housing prices are often linked quite closely to the economy as a whole, when people have to cash to move and invest then they will do so. Interest has kept fairly stable during 2020, with property portals seeing increasing in traffic despite lockdown driving down the actual sales of property.
With the property market almost shutting down overnight the indices aren’t clear as they more than likely do not have enough data to properly operate. Because of this we can predict that there’ll be some drop, but this depends on future arrangements around the possible lockdowns, and how quickly the COVID 19 vaccine can be distributed.
One indicator we can use is the past performance of the UK housing market. The UK housing market is very resilient; it has survived several recessions and depressions over even the last 20 years, and there’s no reason why the COVID crisis will be any different than the previous crises.
Suburbs will continue to grow and increase in value.
Many people have been looking for a lovely home close to the centers of cities, where they work, eat out, and meet with friends – this trend will change next year. Though interest in rural areas is up significantly, these housing are still offering very high prices and the high interest will push up the prices in these areas.
The current predictions, based on the current habits at the end of 2020, is that the suburbs will increase in number and value. This makes sense, as an increased number of people working from home means that more people will be focusing on the quality of the home and the community around the property.
Properties with more space will be a hotspot in the market.
Continuing from the last point, any property with a home office, or space to work, will become much better in terms of holding value.
Many employers are already considering allowing more staff members to work from home more often. So even post-lockdown the possibility of more time not in the office will encourage homeowners to seek out more space in their home.
Viewings will continue to change
The viewing process for many properties will continue to change and evolved, as it has been doing for a while now. This change of a swing toward ‘virtual viewings’ will continue as tenants, landlords, and those looking to buy and sell property realise the increase in effectiveness for all parties that virtual viewing offer.
Of course, seeing a property in the flesh is much better for getting a ‘feel’ of the property, but you can have many more people view the property in a social distant manner. This means that there may be an increase in possible large moves, with people being able to widen their perspective in terms of where they will want to look for property, and this may mean a more spread out market.
Home improvements will become much more popular.
As we are all indoors more often, home improvement has become a way to pass the time, but as we continue to spend more time indoors the indoors will have to improve around us too.
Property developers, builders, and architects will benefit from this. So too will neighbouring properties, as the house price of homes locally will of course rise with any improvements that have been made or are being done, and the desirability of the area as a whole will improve.
There will be a great deal of change as we move forward from this remarkable year, and of course there may be changes that we can’t begin to predict, but we are confident that people will always need places to live and that property investment will always be a great option for investment. If you want to discuss anything mentioned here, or any of the great property related books on our website, please get in touch.
Nick Fox started his property investment career 10 years ago and his portfolio has grown to one of the largest in the UK. Nick now mainly focuses on HMOs (houses in multiple occupation) and works to help others achieve property success too. Visit here to find out how he can help you.
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