Estate Agent Today – the website for the house-selling industry – says that leading experts predict that the performance of the housing market in 2018 will be broadly similar to its performance in 2017.
Despite the uncertainties of Brexit, an unexpected general election (with an even more unexpected result), and Donald Trump entering the White House in the USA the housing market in the UK remained buoyant with generally modest increases in prices. The first interest rate rise for several years and a cut in Stamp Duty for first time buyers at the end of 2017 – together with other measures announced in the budget aimed at stimulating house building – came too late in the year to have much impact.
Nationwide Building Society figures quoted by Estate Agent Today show national average house prices grew by 2.5 per cent in 2017. In the East Midlands though – where Allison Homes is most active – prices rose by 4.5 per cent.
The forecasts from experts for 2018 is another year of generally ‘flat’ prices with some regional variations that may see homes in London fall in value while those elsewhere – maybe the East Midlands again – see rising values. Property market analyst Hometrack suggests that Leicester and Nottingham will be particular ‘hot spots’. Allison Homes has developments near both of these cities.
The experts also predict that the number of new houses built in 2018 will be higher than in 2017 – which itself was 10 per cent higher than in 2016. We certainly plan to build more Allison Homes properties next year. But with only 166,000 new homes started during 2017 the industry is still a long way from delivering the government’s target of 300,000 new homes annually.
