2021 Has certainly been an eventful year when it comes to the property market. What with the stamp duty holiday coming to an end, records were broken when it comes to house price growth and sales volumes, the year really has been unprecedented!

The question on many people’s lips is ‘what will 2022 bring?’ and we have done some digging into the various predictions that people have been making regarding how the market for 2022 could look.

Here are our top four:

Average asking prices could increase by 3%-5%

It is widely reported that whilst we are unlikely to see the record-breaking house price increases that happened during 2021, the expectation is that property prices could increase by an average of 3% – 5%.

Areas such as London are predicted to see the lower end of the bracket when it comes to price rises with areas such as The Northwest, Midlands, East Anglia, and Essex being likely to see higher than average growth.

Average rents are likely to continue rising

When we look at the rental market, predictions indicate that there is likely to be an increase in rent prices largely due to a supply gap. This is likely to be partially fuelled by some landlords choosing to sell their property in a very good sales market.

Estate agency Hamptons, for example, predicts that rents will rise by 2.5% in 2022 compared to a 3% rise during 2021.

Mortgage rates may begin to increase

This point largely depends on the decision by the Bank Of England to increase the base rate as the economy recovers from the effects of the pandemic.

A rise in interest rates could mean homeowners end up paying more for their mortgages and whilst we have seen some lenders increasing rates, the recent COVID variant has changed the landscape somewhat.

High demand for homes is likely to continue

With demand for sales, Zoopla has predicted that the high levels of demand we have seen in 2021 is likely to continue into 2022.

Looking at specific numbers, although housing transactions can be expected to decline by 20% from a high of 1.5m in 2021 to 1.2m in 2022, they still remain relatively high when compared to the past decade.

Can we help?

If you are purchasing a property or a developer needing access to finance and have any questions, then we will be more than happy to help where we can. The FCA does not regulate development finance and we act as introducers for it.

Our team are experienced in providing homeowners, investors with the most suitable mortgage products and you can either call us on 01322 553282 or contact us online.