What will happen to house prices in Maghull in 2022?

If you’d not sold your home by the first week in November in years gone by, then you’d normally be waiting for the market to pick back up, starting with the Boxing Day rush on the portals (Rightmove, Zoopla etc) to get potential buyers interested.

It’s been different this year. We’ve listed 3 this week on the run up to Christmas and have been inundated with viewing requests. Like most properties we’ve marketed this year, we could have sold them 10 times over, even when most people are wrapped up watching Home Alone.

But how will things look next year? Will the market be as frantic? Will prices continue to rise?

The last couple of years in the Maghull property market have been different in a few ways, it’s been difficult to know what to do for the best. So much so that some people reading this will be deliberating whether they should put their home on the market in January or wait until later in the summer.

We speak with many local buyers and sellers every day, and in the last couple of weeks in the run-up to Christmas, many were asking the very same question.

What is going to happen to Maghull house prices in 2022?

Some people asking this question are buyers worried that they are about to buy their Maghull home just before a potential property crash and will end up under water. Others are homeowners wanting to know where the top of the market is before they sell. Even a handful of landlords unable to either start buying or start selling some of their rental portfolio.

Nobody has a crystal ball that can tell what 2022 holds, but most property experts are not forecasting doom and gloom for the British property market. Quite the opposite. But there are variables that play their part.

The final numbers won’t be known until Easter 2022, but it is estimated that in 2021 one in fifteen privately owned homes in the UK are expected to have changed hands, being the busiest year in the last 14 years.

Locally?

232 properties have changed hands in the last year in Maghull

Although that is only up to October 2021, so numbers will be much higher once all the final counts are in by March/April. We’ve had a few over November and December to add to that in Maghull, and across Aintree, Walton, and across the rest of Liverpool.

The pandemic made many families re-evaluate what they wanted from their home, with many wanting more, and bigger rooms. Many in the press dubbed this ‘the race for space’, meaning the property market was flooded with home buyers, most bringing forward the home move they had planned between now and 2025.

The issue though, was a lack of properties on the market in Maghull to satisfy every buyer, meaning house prices have unsurprisingly been driven up. Makes sense.

The average price of a home today in Maghull is £240,730

Although it is still premature to say what will happen in 2022, most property commentators seem assured that we are not heading towards a house price crash, mainly due to one reason.

There aren’t enough properties on the market in Maghull. Simply supply and demands economics!

The property crash in 2008 was caused by everyone dumping their property on the market – there were reasons for that, and we’ll look at them – but supply and demand has such an impact on the swing in prices.

In January 2007, there were 333 properties for sale in Maghull, one year later in January 2008, that had risen to 772 properties, whilst today, that stands at 98

And I can’t see that changing for 2022.

In 2007, mortgage interest rates were 6.5% to 7.5%, so when the economy started to falter, everyone looked to sell their homes to reduce their outgoings as unemployment rose by over 60% in just a couple of years. This time round most people have mortgage rates of around 2% to 2.5% and unemployment is dropping, meaning they don’t need to sell their home.

Now of course the stamp duty holiday came to an end months ago, and Bank of England base interest rates are expected to rise moderately in the coming year, yet not to the level they were in 2007 (5.75%).

Nonetheless, demand for homes in Maghull, Lydiate and the area in general will still be there. I have even read some reports suggesting that more than 20% of British households are seriously thinking of moving between now and the summer of 2023, and this will support Maghull house prices whilst demand continues to exceed supply.

Maghull house prices will be 3.5% higher by the end of 2022

Another reason why I believe that will be the case is the return to home working. If, as a country, we will need to work from home each winter for the foreseeable future because of new variants, then this will cement the need for people wanting to move home for remote working.

It might be that prospective buyers are looking for a dedicated office at home or that they feel they now no longer need to be in large built-up areas that are near to their work.

This increase in house prices in Maghull is expected to entice even more house sellers onto the market, which will steady the house prices slightly (as supply increases), yet I still believe there won’t be enough properties coming onto the market to satisfy the colossal demand.

What about the rental market in Maghull?

Rents tend to grow in line with tenants’ wages. So, with many people getting decent pay rises and not enough properties being built, many economists are suggesting rents will be 14% to 19% higher by 2027. Even with the house price growth, the numbers for rental investments still look rosy. We’re seeing some of our landlords being able to increase their rental income slightly in real terms.

Is it the right time to buy your first property in Maghull?

This rise in house prices in Maghull has had many people asking whether 2022 is the right time to buy their first home? Should they buy now before prices rocket even further or delay in the hope that house prices come back down?

As with any important decision in life, this will mainly depend on your own personal circumstances and your motives for wanting to move.

If the home that you want to buy is on the market, available and you can afford the mortgage, then delaying could be detrimental. It’s like holding off for the ‘next generation TV’, it then coming out; then just as you are about to buy the TV, the next ‘next generation TV’ gets announced for six months’ time ... and the cycle is constantly in motion – so you end up never buying a TV … just like you will never buy your own home!

Buying property is a long-term game

Sometimes you just have to make your decision, get something bought and start the journey of the next 25 to 35 years of living in your family home whilst paying off your mortgage.

The present low interest rates for first-time buyers means that there are some very low mortgage deals available for those with a decent deposit, making it a good time to buy a property, especially if you fix the interest rate.

If your deposit pot isn’t quite there, then the Government’s 5% deposit mortgage guarantee scheme will still enable you to buy a property, albeit at a slightly higher interest rate.

And remember, these are only my opinions – but if we look at the bigger picture, and if inflation doesn’t get too out of hand and interest rates don’t go above 2% to 3%, it looks like house prices will continue to rise into 2022 and a few years beyond, but with a slower trajectory than 2020/21 and probably with a few short, sharp up and down spikes on the way.

The bottom line is, ensure that any house move that you intend to make is something that you can afford, allow for future rises in interest rates and make plans for as many eventualities as possible.

Do that, and you should be just fine.