Matthew Pulford's views on the property market in Wokingham 2022
Happy New Year.
Wow its 2022! So what does that mean for the housing market? 2021 was an amazing year for increases in the value of property in the UK but specifically Wokingham. The average price for property in Wokingham stood at £557,507 in January 2022. This is a rise of 2.47% in the last three months (since October 2021) and rise of 8.21% since 12 months ago.
Even with transactions being high for completed sales last year there are still vast amounts of buyers still looking for their next homes. The key area I am seeing based on buyer request is for properties between £500,000 and £800,000. This price brackets makes up over 50% all buyer registrations with me so far this year, showing there is a real demand for family homes.
What are families looking for?
The most commonly asked for is school catchment. As you probably alreay know, Wokingham is blessed with great schools and families from in and outside of Wokingham just want to get within those specific catchments, for example Hawthorns in Woosehill, Wescott Primary and Floreat in Montague Park.
Secondly, it’s all about the opportunity a home presents, whether that’s an extension, conservatory, garage conversion or home office in the garden. Most buyers are looking to get all they can from their next home whilst seeing an opportunity to improve its size and make it their forever home. Coupled with the fact that a house purchase of £600000 will cost roughly £20000 in stamp duty, most people are looking to make the move for at least 10 years, so the next home needs to show potential and sustainability.
Is 2022 the right time to move?
Yes. Property experts have suggested that values remain somewhat static this year, maybe with a maximum of a 5% growth. It could be exactly the right time to make a move, house price growth over the past 12 month gives home owners more capital to play with plus with home possibly stagnating compared to last year this means the fear of over paying won’t be so much of a concern.
My tip
“Most people's scariest thought is trying to find their next home, the benefit of working with Avocado and following my socials is that you will see properties I’ve instructed before they go live online. Click here to follow me and you'll always be one step ahead. If however what you are looking for isn’t as obvious to find, let’s do it together. As they say team work makes the dream work.”
If you want to know more, pick my brains about the market in general or just want a quick look at your home could be worth, just drop me a line and I’d be more than happy to help you.
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