As we came into 2021 full of hope that we could soon forget about the pandemic, the nation was greeted with the news of a third lockdown being put in place. The prime minister compared the latest lockdown to be similar to the one we experienced in March last year, where the property market was forced to close and nearly collapsed.
Thankfully, Boris Johnson made the decision to follow in the footsteps of the second lockdown, and allow the property market to resume as usual. This means that estate agents can continue to operate, with home moves and viewings being permitted as well.
Property experts are predicting that the high surge in demand for the market will continue in 2021, as we see stamp duty sales being finalised, as well as built-up demand from lockdown.
In a report from the Bank of England, the number of mortgage approvals made to home buyers was at a 13-year high at the beginning of December. Many agents are claiming that this shows the incredible resilience of the property market during lockdown, despite additional COVID measures being put in place.
The majority of house buyers that are currently going through the process of finalising their purchase, are likely to make the stamp duty deadline and benefit from a saving of up to £15,000. Those looking to buy a home in an attempt to beat the deadline, who haven’t already started the process, should only continue if they can afford to without the savings. This is due to the increase in demand making it difficult for agents, surveyors and conveyancers to push deals through quickly.
With the arrival of both the Oxford and Pfizer vaccines that are beginning to be rolled out within the UK, this is set to boost the property market. Jamie Durham, an economist at PwC, said “The realistic prospect of a vaccine, and the potential to return to a version of ‘normal’ by Easter, may help to mitigate the risk of a more severe downturn in house prices in 2021 than would otherwise have been the case.”
With the demand in properties only rising, you could be missing out on lots from new and old customers in your database.
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