Interested in buying something like a four-bedroom family home in London in 2017? Well, you’ll still need pretty deep pockets.
Whilst asking prices for this kind of property dropped by 8.7% over the last year, as property site Zoopla revealed, they’re still rather expensive for most. However, house prices experienced a much faster growth in England’s East and the West Midlands, Zoopla also stated.
London’s house price growth throughout 2016 was at 3.7%, which is somewhat below the country’s average of 4.5% for the first time since 2008, Nationwide says.
So is London 2017’s bargain property hotspot? Well, the answer is relative.
There are a couple of new developments in London coming to the market this year where a three-bedroom home will set you back just over £3m. According to the developers all of them are realistically priced.
So if £3m seems like a good price to you, then yes, London might offer a bargain or two for you in 2017.
London’s property market has, however, seen some other factors influencing the high-end sector. Additional stamp duty that property investors have to pay since April 2016 and the rise in normal stamp duty costs for homes of £1m-plus have led to a drop in interest.
Whilst the stamp duty change has had a bigger impact on the property market than the Brexit vote, uncertainty that comes for this surprising political decision can still be felt.
One would imagine these two factors could keep a lid on house price growth, but they may have forgotten to also consider the extreme lack in supply. This growing gap has meant that over the last 12 months prices were still growing, despite any tax and political changes.
Global uncertainty will boost the UK property market in 2017
Some property experts have revealed to the BBC what they think will happen to property prices in 2017.
“First-time buyers still underpin the wider market. So long as the government continues to support them either directly via Help to Buy or by further tax changes then the market should not plunge but this is not completely in the gift of politicians who frankly have more pressing matters to attend to,” says property buying agent Henry Pryor.
Like last year if you already own a home then you are probably better off than someone who doesn’t. If you don’t, then it seems unlikely that 2017 will see a swift solution emerge.”
Opinions are very broad for property predictions for the year ahead: from falling prices to rises matching or even outstripping the current level of inflation.
“The relatively wide range for the forecast reflects the higher-than-normal degree of uncertainty regarding the prospects for the UK economy next year,” Martin Ellis, housing economist at Halifax, says.
