The UK housing market has been described as “red hot,” “surging,” and “booming” a lot over the last year and a bit, but while those who own property have been able to cash in, those looking to buy for the first time, in particular, have found it increasingly difficult. Current house prices are unprecedented, but it’s certainly not a case of British exceptionalism.
Around the developed nations of the world, people are seeing house prices rise, but more and more people are seeking to buy – or are at least willing to buy even at the grossly inflated prices. Liverpool has not escaped this market trend. Even though properties average a fairly reasonable price point, particularly for a major city, there have been drastic increases.
Liverpool house-hunters looking at a £15,000 uptick
While many source the start of the surge in UK house prices as being in mid-to-late 2020, even the figures reported from March 2021 to February 2022 spell huge upticks in prices. Through the collection of property sales data and comparisons, Plumplot finds that the average property price in the Liverpool postcode area is now £194,000, showing a nine percent price change or an average price change of £15,500.
These hikes occurred over the space of one year. While not the hardestt-hit area of the UK, Liverpool does outpace the average in this regard. In England and Wales, average price changes in that same time span were around five percent, but the average property price did hit £342,000. As of January 2022, the average price in the North West region was around £213,000, which does keep the houses on the more reasonable side of average pricing in Liverpool.
Catalysts to the Liverpool price rises
Many reports continue to pour out over how quickly houses are selling when they hit the market. Many want to get in on the action as quickly as they can, and they have the ability to do so at reduced risk with modern tools. One of these is Trussle’s streamlined mortgage in principle that only uses soft credit checks, which don’t impact credit scores. It still delivers an accurate MIP, it’s just available for free online, without needing all of the usual documentation to be completed.
Modern services like this, as well as online real estate agents and housing marketplaces, make the process of finding and buying a new home much faster, which is what potential buyers need, given the core of the house price surge. The main reason behind the rise in house prices and rent prices, for that matter, is a supply shortage, per Forbes. This doesn’t necessarily mean that not enough residential properties are being built: more often than not, the problem is people using multiple properties as investment vehicles.
In Liverpool, some of this tension could be alleviated a bit in the coming years. While the initial plans were quashed, a community-led housing project is preparing a second attempt for this summer. Initially slated to bring 107 affordable family homes to Bootle, Sefton Council rejected the plans, with them now going to the Planning Inspectorate on 14 July for an inquiry hearing.
As house prices continue to rise across the UK, Liverpool will likely continue to see property values increase across its area.
