Cautiously optimistic – experts’ predictions for 2020
The Conservatives’ general election win and increased certainty on the direction of Brexit have led property experts to predict growing confidence in the housing market in 2020. However, their optimism is cautious. Researchers at Savills have predicted a 1.0% rise, while the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors gave a more confident prediction of 2%.
Nitesh Patel, Yorkshire Building Society’s strategic economist, commented: “sales to first-time buyers are buoyant and now account for around half of all house purchases. A strong jobs market and low mortgage rates are likely to support the market, but concerns around affordability may limit the number of people wanting to move home.”
Britain’s most affordable commuter towns revealed
Rail fares have increased by an average 2.7% across the board, meaning that commuters could be paying up to £132 more for their season tickets this year.
Your location can have a huge impact on your travel costs, as recent research from property website Zoopla has shown. The study combined the average cost of a season ticket with the average yearly mortgage repayment to reveal the most affordable commuter towns to live in this year.
For commuters to London, Grays in Essex is officially the cheapest commuter town, with costs totalling £15,008 per year. The top three for London commuters is then completed by Leagrave in Bedfordshire (£15,339) and Crayford in Kent (£15,662).
Outside London, the best value commuting town for Bristol is actually in Wales – Newport. Wolverhampton offers the best value for Birmingham and commuters to Manchester should look to Hindley. If you want to save money on your commute to Edinburgh, you could consider buying in Dunfermline.
Edinburgh is best city to live in as a young adult
Comparison site, Compare the Market, recently rated the Scottish capital as the best place to live for 18 to 35-year-olds. The site analysed aspects such as rental costs, living expenses, mental wellbeing and nightlife to come up with the final list.
Manchester, Bristol, Liverpool, Newcastle and Glasgow also made it onto the top 10 list. Newcastle was found to boast the cheapest average monthly rent (£567), while, unsurprisingly, London is the UK’s best paid city, with a possible average salary of £47,089.
Gap narrowing between buyers’ and sellers’ expectations
In Q4 of 2019, Savills conducted analysis on its prime regional markets to come up with a list of top factors likely to influence the residential property market in 2020.
72% of Savills regional sales teams identified Brexit uncertainty as a major challenge for 2020, while 54% said that a lack of housing stock would become problematic as buyer demand increased.
Importantly though, many teams observed that buyers and sellers’ pricing expectations were becoming more closely aligned, with sellers willing to accept more realistic offers and buyers happier to pay asking prices.
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