Goodbye Grumpy… hello Sleepy?
In the words on the brilliant headline writers at The Sun: “Goodbye Grumpy… hello Sleepy. The world sighed with relief as ‘Sleepy’ Joe Biden replaced Donald Trump in the White House,” earlier this week.
‘Sleepy’ might also be the right word to describe what all the observers of property prices are also saying will happen to the housing market, from April.
According to The Guardian, “Average London property prices are up year on year 9.7% to £514,000.
Zah Azeem, Partner at Scrivener Tibbatts says, “November saw an interesting milestone in that average London property prices passed the £500,000 barrier. Average prices reached a record £514,000.
“The temporary Stamp Duty holiday has prompted a surge in sales and pushed up the average price. However that ends on March 31, the same day as a new surcharge on non-UK resident buyers is also introduced. Demand across London has definitely been boosted by people coming from Hong Kong with overseas investors making purchases before new taxes start.
“The Treasury needs to start raising money from somewhere so, whilst there will be more tax to pay on houses from April, we don’t see the Government’s policy changing on that or the housing market becoming ‘sleepy’ at all. Demand was strong before the pandemic. Imagine what it will be like when it is over and people decide it’s time to change the same four walls they’ve been staring at for over a year.”
If you would like to discuss something related to a valuation please contact Zah via email at zah@scrivenertibbatts.co.uk or call 020 8947 7040.
