HB 121 Solicitors

The House price increase seems to be ever continuing. Almost every article in the press, or on television, seems to confirm that house prices are still continuing. I can recollect only one that indicated things are slipping back a little. Personally, I would like to see a slow but steady rise which is sustainable rather than a dramatic upward surge which bubble then bursts. You also have to think about the young end of the market who are being pushed off the home buying ladder – if indeed they ever can get on it. If there is no “new blood” coming into the market it will inevitably stall higher up the ladder eventually. A new report by the Resolution Foundation found that the current house prices boom was not caused by the stamp duty holiday but prices will keep rising by home preferences changing and pandemic related factors such as low interest rates (though it could well be argued that we have had historically low interest rates for some time – some of us remember the eye watering

Well despite everything the property market is proving not just resilient but booming. The end of the stamp duty land tax holiday may have been thought to dampen demand but frankly hasn’t been noticed much if at all. In many areas (especially beyond the South East) prices are at their highest ever recorded. North West England leads with prices up 15%has increased and West Midlands is up by nearly 10%. Of course, you always get one report against the trend but the majority reflect the norm. How can this be – well if I could predict the housing market accurately, I would be a very rich person and it is always interesting to note that the Housing Analyst’s predictions given at the beginning of each year vary quite considerably and are rarely “bang on.” There is a shortage of supply of houses – the basic economics of supply and demand provide that prices will therefore go up! Also, one of the outcomes of the pandemic and people working from home is that they tend to want more space and