Market analysis from Zoopla has shown that the March Budget has caused a 24 per cent spike in buyer demand for property compared to the four-year average, as house hunters focus on finding bigger homes.
Property Industry Eye also reports that demand for flats and apartments is down across most of the country in favour of houses, which has also been boosted by the extension to the stamp duty holiday, and the 95 per cent mortgage guarantee for first-time buyers from the government.
According to Zoopla, the average buyer demand levels since the start of 2021 are 13 per cent higher than the average levels across the whole of 2020.
Three-bed houses are attracting the largest levels of demand in England and Wales in the days following the Budget announcements.
However, London and the South-East have experienced a spike in demand for one and two-bedroom flats, which suggests buying intent among first-time buyers and those looking to take advantage of the tapered stamp duty holiday.
As the lockdowns ease and vaccination programme continues to be rolled out, Zoopla says that it expects more pent-up supply to come back to the market as vendors feel more comfortable opening their homes for viewing.
Increasing activity levels among first-time buyers, especially as they take advantage of more 95 per cent mortgages from 1 April, will keep pressure on the demand/supply imbalance as these buyers have no properties to sell.
Liverpool and Manchester continue to show the strongest levels of annual house price growth at a city level, at 6.6 per cent and 6.4 per cent respectively, while prices in Aberdeen are down 1.3 per cent on the year.
If you’re looking for free property appraisals in Liverpool, talk to us today.