Latest: August property market report

July provided the experts at Zoopla with the perfect opportunity to evaluate how the last two years have affected the UK property market. Its headline statistic – pandemic housing boom creates 270,000 property millionaires – won’t apply to the majority of homeowners but the rest of its analysis will.

The portal found a third of UK homes increased in value by more than £50,000 during the pandemic, with homeowners seeing an average of £48 a day added to their property’s value since February 2020. In fact, £1.3 trillion was added to the property market during the pandemic. 

Transaction levels are returning to normal

Newly released figures show that the property frenzy is, however, largely over and a more normal rhythm is returning to the UK market. A report by HM Land Registry released at the end of July featured a provisional figure revealing how many property sales were completed in June 2022 – an estimated 96,290 transactions 

While some experts have been quick to contrast June 2022’s transaction level with that seen in 2021 – when over 200,000 completions were recorded – it’s worth remembering that last year saw the stamp duty holiday create a falsely inflated market. In fact, transaction levels of around 100,000 per month have been historically recorded in 7 of the last 10 June months.

Going green to get selling

Energy efficiency within the home remained a hot topic in July, with responses to a new survey by The Mortgage Advice Bureau revealing why homeowners want to make eco improvements. With fuel bills soaring, it came as no surprise that 23% of those questioned wanted to make changes to cut household bills, while 17% said they wanted to improve their EPC rating. 

Homeowners have, however, twigged that making their property as eco-efficient as possible can boost the dwelling’s desirability among buyers. The survey found 21% want to make green home improvements to increase the value of their property, with 13% saying a more energy efficient home would increase the saleability of their home.

When asked what energy efficient improvements they would like or intend to make, nearly one in six (16%) said they would install double or triple glazed windows, while one in seven (14%) said energy efficient fittings were top of their list. Other popular additions and alterations included draught proofing, insulation and solar panels.

Record rents continue

Data from two respected sources concur that rental values have hit a new high this summer. The latest analytics from Rightmove revealed UK rents have risen by 13.9% in the last year, with an average per calendar month price of £1,126 as of July. 

HomeLet’s most recent rental value analysis, published in July and reflecting June 2022, reflects the above. It shows the average rental price for a new tenancy in the UK was £1,103 per calendar month, up by 1.1% when compared to May 2022.

If you would like to know how the current property market conditions would affect the sale or letting of a property you own, please contact us today.