Friday bulletin 8th January 2020
No sooner had we surfaced from the Christmas break than the UK was placed into a national lockdown for the third time since the pandemic began. Though similar to the lockdown in November, the property market remains very much open for business.
Construction continues on building sites, viewings are taking place across the country, transactions are proceeding through to completion, people are able to move home and investors can happily continue will their plans to purchase buy-to-let properties.
It’s business as usual for us here at TD. Prior to the pandemic we conducted most of our business virtually and continue to advise our clients this way. Whether you’d like to hear our views on the best strategy for success as an investor or need guidance on where to buy in 2021 we’re available to offer our expertise.
Here’s what we’ve seen in the news this week:
Annual house price growth hit six-year high of 7.3% at end of 2020: Average house prices in December were up 0.8% on a month-on-month basis after taking account of seasonal factors figures from Nationwide have shown. Read more.
Will Britain’s 2020 house-price boom continue in 2021? Let’s say someone had told you this time last year that within a few short months Britain would suffer the biggest plunge in its economic activity in modern history. What would you guess might happen to house prices? I’m betting that you would assume the same thing as most banks and estate agents did – which is that they would go down, potentially quite hard. And yet as 2020 draws to a close, it has proved to be the best year for the UK housing market – in terms of activity at least – in a long time. Read more.
Mortgage lending surges to 13-year high: UK lenders approved more than 100,000 mortgages in November, the most in 13 years. House purchases dropped in April and May as pandemic restrictions took hold. But a stamp duty holiday, which expires in March, sparked a flurry of homebuying activity and helped buoy home prices. Read more from the BBC.
Landlords optimistic about buy-to-let in 2021: Despite the challenges of coronavirus 45% of landlords are optimistic about the state of the buy-to-let market this year, a survey from Property Master has found. Read more.
What is the current state of the UK property market? Considering all the factors at play and the events over the past 12 or so months we consider the condition of the UK property market. Read our latest blog to learn more.
