UK property market recovers after bottoming out during height of lockdown
Shaun Church, Director at mortgage broker Private Finance comments on UK property market recovering after bottoming out during height of lockdown.
Highlights:
- House prices jump 1.7% in just a month, rising to £220,936 in July 2020, up from £216,403 in June 2020
- Annual house price growth increases 1.5% in July 2020
Shaun Church said:
“The latest pricing data suggests the UK property market is beginning to recover after it bottomed out during the height of lockdown.
“The slight rise in house prices over the last month could be partly driven by the Government’s decision to raise the stamp duty threshold incentivising hesitant buyers to commit to purchases.
“The loosening of lockdown restrictions that are seeing some people return to work may have resulted in a larger proportion of households viewing their short to medium term financial position more favourably, encouraging them to push ahead with property purchases. However, many households are still under financial strain due to reductions in working hours and income.
“Although economic activity is slowly recovering, lenders remain cautious. Cuts to rates on lower loan-to-value (LTV) products suggest lenders are keen to reduce their risk appetite to offset high uncertainty in the housing market. This is likely to create a barrier to entry for first-time buyers, adding to the heavy financial burden the pandemic has placed on many people in this age group.”
1Source: https://www.nationwide.co.uk/-/media/MainSite/documents/about/house-price-index/2020/Jul_2020.pdf
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Main article photo courtesy of Pixabay
