Housing Market Update

Estate agents, like many other businesses have been facing major struggles during the pandemic lockdowns, however the housing market has bounced back very strongly over the summer/autumn months, with the stamp duty cut being a huge benefit to the industry.  The stamp duty thresholds across the UK  continue to be raised until March 2021 with the government hoping that the housing market will remain buoyant into the winter months.

However with unemployment numbers increasing daily and renters struggling to meet their monthly payments will the housing market remain busy and robust?

Low interest rates have definitely helped matters, with rates at their lowest levels in 400 years, down to 0.1% , this combined with the so-called race for space, with many people reconsidering their lifestyles, needing home office working space and looking for bigger gardens or rural homes, has also fuelled demand for bigger properties with outdoor space.

On another positive note, a vaccine is now a very realistic and optimistic exit from this crisis too, with the announcement yesterday that a COVID-19 vaccine, being developed by Pfizer and BioNTech, has been found to be 90% effective in preventing people from getting the virus.

The challenges still remain and the future is unclear but there are also chinks of light at the end of a very long tunnel.