Unsurprisingly, the extended stamp duty holiday and news of a replacement scheme has had a big impact on the demand for, and consequently the price of property throughout the UK, with the Wirral seeing the second highest growth after Wales for the year to February.
The main statistic from this month’s report is the predicted 1% growth for the year 2021. While the last year has seen huge growth powered by seismic changes to the way we live and work, the end to various support measures combined with an end to lockdown and eventual end of the stamp duty holiday look likely to combine to halt the growth – though not to reverse the trend entirely.
For the time being, however, the report features the growth to February which – for the North West – has reached 5.4% overall.
This may be at least partially, the report theorises, due to the proportion of property in the area which falls below the tapered stamp duty threshold that will be in place for much of the rest of the year.
The report puts it as follows:
“As such, we expect continued upwards pressure on pricing in the North and Midlands as demand, which we had expected to be sustained even if the stamp duty holiday ended, is now further encouraged by the continued savings on offer.“
However, the report continues to state that ‘the data signals that the ‘reassessment of home’ among existing homeowners is set to continue, resulting in a search for space – inside or out, or looking to live in a different location.’ Gráinne Gilmore, Head of Research at Zoopla summarised as follows:
“The search for space is driving continued demand for family homes, putting more upwards pressure on pricing for houses than for flats. Houses are also selling more quickly.”
While the forecast for 2021 overall is not as optimistic as could be hoped, the unprecedented growth of property value during what is essentially a slow boiling recession, and the fact that there is growth predicted at all is impressive.
Zoopla sums up the trends from February as follows:
- Demand spikes after Budget while new supply still lags
- The post-pandemic ‘search for space’ means average time to sell for houses falls to 42 days, some 20 days less than flats
- The ‘search for space’ is also putting more upwards pressure on price growth for houses, up +4.9% year on year, compared to flats, up +1.9% year on year
- Annual price growth at +4.1% in February, up from +1.8% growth a year ago
- Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds & Nottingham leading on city price growth, rising at more than 5% year on year
- Markets in North well positioned to take advantage of tapered stamp duty extension, with 70%+ of available supply priced at up to £250,000
All this means that landlords in the Wirral area find themselves in a position where growing their portfolio of properties may be expensive. However, using current equity to improve existing properties may represent an ideal opportunity to capitalise on the increased value of their properties and unlock the potential for higher rental values can come as a result.
At Wirral Homes, we feel it’s vital to stay up to date with trends both locally and nationally in order to give our landlords the best advice we can. Want to discuss how to maximise the return of your property portfolio? Contact Us today.
