Market Comment – August 2022

It used to be an old rumour that August was the 2nd quietest month after December, owing to the school holidays and for obvious reasons, families taking advantage of this 6 to 7 week holiday. In recent years, this has turned out to be nothing more than an old fashion saying, as in August 2022 we saw no change in prospective applicants registering and it would be important to note that this was for 1st time buyers, 2nd time buyers and the family home sector, all the way up to £1.5m.

According to The Guardian, the annual rate of the UK house price growth doubled to 15.5% in one month, whilst the office for national statistics said that the sudden doubling for the annual rate of growth of 7.8% in June to 15.5% in July, was mainly because of the base affect from the fall of prices seen this time last year as a result of changes in the stamp duty holiday.

As I write this, I am aware that we are all facing heavy rises in the energy sector and moreover, there are many other things that I have noticed from petrol to plasterboard that have increased dramatically and we are working with our staff and clients to monitor this on a monthly basis at most. As I write this, I note Liz Trust has capped the energy bill at £2,500 (for a typical household) plus there are additional support schemes, but I would advise each person to contact their supplier to find out exactly what you will be paying and we are keeping a close eye on inflation and all the matters that I have discussed and how that effects the housing market.

The residential lettings market continues to forge ahead and I am amazed that we are approaching nearly 9 prospective tenants for every property we have available. This is almost a 40% increase from last year.

As help to buy is coming to an end on the 31st October, we have seen a flurry of activity and we would urge anyone to contact us now regarding any of the developments we have and their incentives there in.

I am going to finish this months market comment with the obvious sad news at the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Queen Elizabeth was greatly admired by all, for her enormous contribution over 70 years and will be sadly missed by all our staff and the world over. My staff and I wish King Charles III a great and successful reign.