Property Prices To Plummet After COVID-19?

As if the process of moving homes wasn’t stressful enough, over the past 6 months, the world has experienced an unprecedented pandemic, plunging the market into a dark abyss of uncertainty.

With all the doom and gloom around the economy and predicted job losses after the furlough scheme finishes at the end of October, you may be worried that the property market and prices are going to tank as well. My 30 years of experience in the property industry leads me to believe otherwise.

As a property lawyer, property developer, landlord and professional who has built up and sold a property leasing business back in 2012, I’ve accumulated my experience by buying and selling over 3000 properties for clients and studying and understanding the property market. That experience leads me to believe that the country will be split into industry specific locations and non-industry specific locations which will be affected in different ways but will follow the same formula for similar areas.

What could that look like?

There probably won’t be an across the board, city by city same digit percentage rise or fall in property prices. It will more likely be industry specific, linked to job losses where particular industries are linked to particular areas. For example, areas such as Crawley and Luton are linked to the travel industry, Aberdeen with energy, and some of the Midlands with manufacturing and automotive. Hospitality and retail job losses will on the whole affect non-homeowners and be spread across the country as chains such as M&S, Boots, and the Upper Crust Group shed jobs over multiple locations.

If you happen to live in one of these industry specific locations, then bad news breeds a lack of confidence and uncertainty. Uncertainty being the enemy of the property market, as seen with the Scottish Referendum in 2014 and Brexit from 2016-2019 where both events led to stagnation in the property market.

If you’re a homeowner trying to get your family by on one wage, I doubt selling your house is going to be your first thought. Lenders are also likely to take on more sympathetic approaches with regards to mortgage reductions and extensions. As such, the supply and demand dynamics of the property market may not shift. In a demand-based market, i.e. a non-industry-specific location that will probably keep prices steady or, at worst in an industry-specific location, they may experience only a 1-3% decline.

Over the coming week, I’ll be releasing new posts breaking down how I believe property prices may fare over the next 18 months in specific locations.

Help is at hand

If you’ve got any questions or concerns, you’d like to discuss, just Ask the Angel and we will provide support and guidance during this time.

If you’re in a potential Property Price Lockdown location, it’s likely that you’re going to be in for a rough ride over the next couple of years. If you’re considering moving home and uncertain of what to do, I’m more than happy to jump on a free zoom call with you for 30 mins and have a chat through your options. Just visit ThePropertyAngel.com or get in touch at [email protected].

If you don’t live in an potential Property Price Lockdown and  are thinking of moving and want some guidance about what to do next, who to speak to and where to look, then likewise, I’m always happy to jump on a free zoom call with you for 30 mins and have a chat through your options. Just get in touch at [email protected].

I look forward to hearing from you!

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Kevin Davidson

 

Founder and CEO, The Property Angel.