PROPTECH-X ‘Proptech & Property News’ Weekly Roundup: Selling on social media | ONS House Price Index | Homeowners downsize | Investors continue to invest

ONS UK House Price Index reveals average price increase of 10.3%

The Office of National Statistics (ONS) has released its latest House Price Index report, revealing monthly house price inflation in the UK, calculated using data from HM Land Registry, Registers of Scotland, and Land and Property Services Northern Ireland.

Key takeaways from the report include the following:

• Average UK house prices increased by 10.3% in the year to November 2022, down from 12.4% in October 2022.
• The average UK house price was £295,000 in November 2022, which is £28,000 higher than this time last year but a slight decrease from last month’s record high of £296,000.
• Average house prices increased over the year to £315,000 (10.9%) in England, to £220,000 in Wales (10.7%), to £191,000 in Scotland (5.5%) and to £176,000 in Northern Ireland (10.7%).
• Scotland’s annual house price inflation has generally been slowing since April 2022, reaching 5.5% in the year to November 2022, down from 14.2% in the year to April 2022.
• The North West saw the highest annual percentage change in the year to November 2022 (13.5%), while London saw the lowest (6.3%) of all English regions.

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Why the cost of heating a home is forcing many to downsize

Rising numbers of homeowners are looking to downsize so they can save money on heating, a property group has revealed. 

The National Association of Property Buyers (NAPB) said the soaring price of domestic bills coupled with the cost-of-living crisis is leading many to put their homes up for sale. 

Jonathan Rolande, a spokesman for the NAPB, said: “In the last few months we’ve noticed a rise in activity linked to sellers saying the cost of heating larger homes is leading to them downsizing.

Country houses, particularly those that rely on oil for heating are among the worst hit. The average price of oil last year was 82% higher than it was in 2021. The price has fallen lately but many struggled either to pay, or to keep their property sufficiently warm.”

Many city dwellers moved out to the countryside during the pandemic in search of larger houses with bigger gardens, in what estate agents called the “race for space”.

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Over 50% of Property Investors Set to Further Invest in 2023

Over 50% of property investors set to further invest in 2023  The uncertainty of the UKs economic stability is now becoming an increasingly prominent factor for those operating in the real-estate market, despite this, over 50% of property investors are looking to further expand their portfolio in 2023.

A recent survey of over 1,000 property investors completed by bridging finance broker Finbri, has discovered that despite economic uncertainty in the UK, 50.45% of all investors are planning to make further purchases in 2023 and there is even more activity planned by more experienced investors. 

There is also likely to be an increase in investment property availability too as 23.07% of investors with less than 5 properties have said that increasing interest rates would cause them to sell their properties. In contrast, 67.92% of more experienced investors with over 5 investment properties, do plan to invest further in 2023.

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More people are cutting out traditional estate agents to buy and sell property using social media

Soaring numbers of people are now ditching estate-agents and are choosing to buy or sell using social media instead. And the attraction is obvious – Instagram, the preferred property platform for most often sees a listing get more than 100,000 daily impressions. 

That’s more than TWENTY TIMES the 4,000 views which is reportedly what the best performing advert on RightMove can generate.

But although the rise of the Insta-agent brings obvious benefits – one expert says those entering the market this way need to be mindful of the risks. 

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The Proptech-X Weekly Roundup in association with Estate Agent Networking.