New Year New Home – 2022
Steve Cook – Partner Clarke Gammon
For those suffering from a mild case of cabin fever, having put off moving for the past couple of years, mostly, due to the frenetic pace of the market and the uncertainty of the pandemic. You are not alone, as from my conversations with many of our clients and local people that were considering a move last year, they just didn’t have the appetite to brave the vagaries of such an erratic property market.
The good news is that 2022 looks likely to be a more civilised experience for local property buyers and sellers, certainly in the areas in and around our offices in Guildford and Haslemere in West Surrey and Liphook in East Hampshire, as we see the signs of normality beginning to slowly return.
As years go, last years property market is best described as a rollercoaster, with the highs and lows of the early lockdown, the stamp duty holiday and the frenzied search for space by power buyers. These extraordinary market conditions were often not conducive to those buyers and sellers looking for a civilised move, without the stress and anxiety associated with a super-heated property market.
Whilst there are still some highly motivated buyers out there, it seems that the exodus by upwardly mobile urban buyers and their newfound freedom from working, or having to attend, a central workplace, is on the wane. Indeed there is some anecdotal evidence of those who jumped ship in their search for space in a more rural setting, are now selling up and returning to the smoke. Seemingly, country life has proven too remote and the idea of social distancing has not quite fulfilled the utopian dream, when faced with a 20 minute drive to get a coffee…
What this means for local buyers and sellers is a little more time to make what is, after all, a very big life decision, perhaps one of the biggest decisions most people will make. And certainly not a time to have to deal with even more stress of the type experienced during much of the second half of 2021.
Availability of new homes coming to the market
The age-old dilemma for most people thinking of moving is whether to sell or buy first. Last year, this wasn’t an option, as there were so many buyers that had previously sold their property and were ready to move as soon as the right property became available. To a lesser extent, today this can still be the case, but this is due mainly to the fact that there is little stock available and proceedable buyers are snapping up properties as they came to the market.
January is, as in most years, has been slow to get started but our experience over the past month or so suggests that there is a pent up supply of property slowly coming to the market. Over the coming weeks, we expect to see this steadily increase and for the market to return to something resembling normality.
Should I buy or sell first?
Getting back to our earlier question, should I buy or sell first? There is no right or wrong answer to this, you have to do whatever you feel most comfortable doing. Towards the end of last year, there was little choice, as buyers had to be in a proceedable position, often before the property owner would allow them to view their home, as was the frenetic pace of the market.
Today, the market is still very active and it maybe that buyers with a house to sell will lose out to proceedable buyers on homes they are interested in, and ultimately decide to put their home on the market to give them a chance of competing. My view is though, that over the coming weeks, more stock will come to the market and things will settle down, giving people a little more time and opportunity to make the right decision.
Pro’s tip
My advice, is not to put yourself under pressure, as I see many do, by finding the home of their dreams without being able to proceed immediately and losing out to someone that is. By all means, look around to see what’s available in your price range, then put you home on the market and when you receive an acceptable offer, then you are in a prime position to go and find that new dream home.
Why move home in 2022?
There are some fairly compelling reasons to move in 2022 –
- A strong sellers’ market – The best time to sell your home is in a sellers’ market. With current stock levels, now would be a great time to sell if the time is right.
- Mortgage interest rates – Mortgage interest rates are still low, despite the Bank of England increasing interest rates in December from 0.1% to 0.25%. And as mortgage lenders compete for business, there are still some very low fixed-rate mortgages available, with the uncertainty around inflation and the possible further increase in Interest rates, now is a good time to be in the mortgage market.
- Property value percentage increase – it’s widely reported that the property market increased by over 10% in 2021, and as most of us buy higher than we sell. So, as an example – If your current home was worth £500k this time last year and considering buying at £1m. Today with a 10% increase £500k is now £550k but £1m is £1.1m, that’s an additional £50k you have to find… and as prices increase, the bigger the gap gets, the more expensive your new home gets.
The moral of the story is, that if you are going to move, the sooner the better, as the gap between what you sell or and buy at is only getting bigger…
If you require any help or advice, please contact me at our Liphook Office.
Until next month, happy house hunting.
Steve Cook
Partner Clarke Gammon
