Huddersfield
house prices up or Huddersfield house prices down? ... and if so, by how much?
Those of you who read the Huddersfield Property Blog will know I am not the
sort of person who pulls punches nor someone who ever fails to give a
forthright and straight talking opinion – so here are my thoughts for the 43,744
Huddersfield homeowners and landlords.
The average Huddersfield
property is 2.6% higher today than it was a year ago, which doesn’t sound a
lot, but when you consider inflation is currently running at -0.1% (ie consumer/retail prices are dropping)
and average salary growth is only around 2.5% pa, this is bad news for first
time buyers as property affordability continues to decrease (although I was
reading in The Times the other day that wage inflation (ie salary growth) is showing signs of weakening).
Some
commentators have said the higher stamp duty taxes announced a few weeks ago in
the
Autumn Statement for buy to let landlords, concerns over first time buyer affordability
and the outlook of UK interest rate rises in 2016 will really dampen the
property market. I hope you all read my previous article about what the new
stamp duty rule changes would REALLY mean for Huddersfield landlords in my
blog, but I believe the real issue in the Huddersfield property market is the
shortage of property to buy, as people either worry there will be no suitable
house to move to, or cannot afford to upgrade. However, on the supply side, Mr
Osborne said in his Autumn Statement that he will change the planning laws to
ensure the government meets the pledge made at the General
Election (back in
May) of 200,000 new homes a year. All I
can say is .. good luck George hitting those numbers!
Why? Because houses take years to build .. not months .. so George
and his fabled house building aside .... where does that leave us in Huddersfield
in 2016?
Well, talking of supply ... whilst Mr Osborne builds his
properties (and let’s be honest - a week doesn’t go by without him being filmed
on a building site with a high viz jacket and hard hat building a house here
and there!), let us look at the shortage of properties for sale. Back in October
2011, 1,243 properties were for sale in Huddersfield .. today that figure is 788.
On the face of it, this means there is less choice for Huddersfield buyers –
but it also means with a restricted supply of properties for sale .. it keeps
property prices high for Huddersfield house sellers.
Everything isn’t all doom and gloom though ... again back in
October 2011, the average property in Huddersfield took 139 days to find a
buyer .. latest figures state this has dropped to 128 days .. a drop of 8% in
how long it takes to find a buyer. However, when you delve even deeper, the
best performing type of property today in Huddersfield is the 2 bed, which
takes 109 days to find a buyer (on average) compared to the 1 bed, which takes 140
days. It just goes to show, even though the average has dropped since 2011, how
varied that change has been!
So, back to the question everyone is asking .... What
will happen to property values in Huddersfield in 2016? I am going to suggest they will rise between 2%
and 3% ... nothing out of the ordinary, but unless something cataclysmic
happens in the world, 2016 will be like 2015! For more thoughts, opinions and
views on the Huddersfield property market .. visit the Huddersfield Property
Blog
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