HOT PROPERTY OR COOLING DOWN?

UK house price growth has dropped to its slowest pace in four months, new data shows, as the temporary stamp duty holiday ended a boom in the property market. Halifax said on Friday that annual house price growth in the UK slowed to 7.6% in July, down from 8.7% in June. July’s reading was the lowest since March. The slowdown came as a tax break on property transactions came to an end. The chancellor announced a stamp duty holiday in July 2020 that ended in June.

You will be perfectly aware that property prices and location make little sense. It is still perplexing to see the prices that people will pay for a home and what we all think our pile of bricks is worth. So when reading data about property prices, take with a pinch of salt as the variance in “rising prices” is considerable not simply across the country, but within a local London borough.

It is also evident that the property “crisis” is not going to end soon and the only way most people in their twenties in southern England can afford a home is if a relative leaves them funds.

I thought you might find the tables below (sorry I have not mastered posting excel tables here) of some interest. These are places our clients live or have some connection or visit and so on. You can play “spot where Waitrose might be”. The average values information is from Zoopla today. The larger cities and towns are likely disadvantaged by the number of housing which is more likely to push down the average value. However you are all quite able to realise this for yourselves and will more likely remark at the vast differences in general across the country from Ascot to York.