Many buyers and sellers have been asking, what is going to happen in the property market in the coming months. Rather than trying to predict the future, we took a look into the data on hand.
According to the Land registry for the past 5 years for the Southwark Council which includes:
London Bridge, Borough, Bermondsey, Rotherhithe, Canada Water, and Surrey Quays, SE1, and SE16 we can see that the leasehold prices have been stable since 2017. On the other hand, freehold properties have increased significantly in terms of pricing.
We have seen rental prices skyrocketing from last year, up to a 30% increase in some cases, and consequently, many renters decided to get onto the property ladder rather than pay inflated rental prices. While, perhaps, this is not the best time to sell leasehold flats for those people who have bought a property less than 5 years ago and want to relocate overseas, it is a good time for those selling freehold properties and for all those sellers of apartments looking to upsize within our neighbourhood, considering prices have been pretty much stable despite the rise of inflation.
We are confident when we say that this is probably the best time for the last decade for first-time buyers to get onto the property ladder. Granted, the interest rates are considerably higher than before, but property prices have been stable for the last five years, which is something unprecedented for London. In the short term, property prices could decrease, but they could also rise, leaving many first-time buyers missing a very good opportunity. In London as a whole, prices always increased in the long term (if we take into consideration a slab of 10 years), so we believe it could be a great opportunity to buy now if you are looking to live in London from the medium to long term.
Prices of freehold properties outside London generally speaking went up consistently following the pandemic. It was an unprecedented trend, making it hard for those looking to relocate to the outskirts of the capital and in other UK regions. However, we are seeing many people coming back to London because they needed to go to the office at least three days a week, or others that realised the city life is what they preferred over living in the outskirts. The increasing price of fuel and train fares played a very important role in that, not to mention the increase of utility bills. So we could enter a new trend where the price of those properties that performed greatly in the last 2 years will finally start to stabilise while we could see an increase in prices within London.
Speaking in particular of our locations, we are seeing a lot of projects going on. We have written many blogs about the up-and-coming Canada Water Masterplan and Biscuit Factory redevelopment, which are only a few examples of what is developing in the area.
If you’re thinking of buying or selling a property in Bermondsey, Canada Water or Rotherhithe, and surrounding areas, Alex and Matteo are your local property experts.