Property Market Highlights
- Less property on the market fuels quicker and more expensive property sales
- Houses in the suburbs continue to be most popular choice for buyers
- Property affordability gap continues to grow with the rise of inflation
Less property on the market fuels quicker and more expensive property sales
The end of the year is traditionally a quieter time in the property market, with the volume of listings normally increasing in the new year. The start of this year has been no different, and so far January and February have been busy for MOV8.
However, there have been less properties coming on the market across the board. ESPC reported that when comparing November 2020 to January 2021, to November 2021 to January 2022, property listings were down 11.4%.
The Registers of Scotland (ROS) also noted in their December House Price Report that the volume of sales in October 2020 compared to October 2021 was down 16.2%. With less properties coming on the market, it’s understandable that there are going to be less property sales.
2020 and most of 2021 was an abnormally busy spell for the property market. During multiple lockdown periods many people had spent time re-evaluating their living circumstances and decided to sell their homes and make a move, to a new area, to be closer to family or to a larger property. It was inevitable that we were going to experience some reduction in listing volumes from such a high level back in 2020 and 2021.
However, there is still a very strong appetite for people looking to move, there are just not as many properties coming onto the market. With less properties available, people are waiting longer to find their dream home, and then in turn feel ready to list their property, which can feed into the cycle of their being lower volumes of property on the market overall.
This means that the properties that do come on the market are very sought after, ESPC reported that between November 2021 to January 2022 properties sold two days faster compared to the same period the previous year.
Properties outside the city are selling especially fast, for example those in East Fife took 22 days between November 2020 and January 2021 to sell, whereas during the same period 2021-2022 they sold in only 14 days.
This is also fuelling higher selling prices. ROS noted in their December House Price Report that in October 2021 property prices were up 11.2% year on year. This increase was seen across all local authorities, with Fife showing the largest increase of 16% and Aberdeen showing the smallest increase of 3.5%.
Houses in the suburbs continue to be most popular choice for buyers
Since coming out of the first lockdown in 2020 there has been strong demand for larger properties, outside city centres, and this appetite doesn’t appear to be dampening. If anything, it continues to grow, with houses in the suburbs being the most popular for home buyers.
ROS reported that in October 2021, detached houses showed the biggest price increase year on year of all properties, rising 16.7%, closely followed by semi-detached houses at 13% and terraced houses at 12.1%, this is in comparison to flat selling prices rising 5.9% year on year.
ESPC noted that when comparing November 2020 to January 2021 to November 2021 to January 2022, the average selling price of properties in Edinburgh city centre decreased 5.1%. This is in comparison to properties in West Lothian which increased 37.6%, East Lothian which increased 8.1% and three bedroom houses in Currie, Balerno and Juniper Green increasing 19.9%.
Property affordability gap continues to grow with the rise of inflation
The cost of living hit a 30 year high in January 2022, with The Office for National Statistics reporting that prices rose 5.5% in the months to January. They reported that electricity bills were up 19% and gas bills were up 28% during the same period.
With property prices rising and the cost of living rising, a gap of affordability is continuing to grow as wages aren’t increasing at the same rate.
Some people simply aren’t able to afford to save up for moving costs, such as deposit or legal fees, with other essentials in their lives getting more expensive. This gap is likely to affect those on lower incomes, such as first time buyers, the most.
Navigating the property market
As you can see from our report this month, there are many complex variants in the property market at the moment, but there are ways to navigate these.
Government schemes, such as the LIFT scheme can help first time buyers get on the market, plus working with the right agents can help you secure that dream home.
We also offer a number of payment options. Our conveyancing fees are always fixed from the point of quote, and you can also choose our no upfront fee option, to help spread the cost of moving.
Our passion is to help people move home, so please do reach out to us with any questions, as we are here to help you navigate the property market.
If you are thinking of selling your home or investment property, get in touch with us by calling 0345 646 0208 (Option 1) or by emailing [email protected] to organise a free valuation of your home or to get a full, transparent breakdown of the costs of selling your home.
If you are looking to buy a property as a home or investment, please call 0345 646 0208 (Option 2) or email [email protected] and we will be happy to help.
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