Impact of COVID-19 on Real Estate

 The COVID-19 pandemic has had a huge impact on different sectors, you’ve seen and heard about how it has impacted hospitality, retail and other businesses but a lot of people do not know about how much it has affected real estate.

Everything was stopped during the pandemic, however what about that place you stayed the whole of lockdown, your very own house. what about those who wanted to buy a house? Those who wanted to sell and Those that were in the last processes of having their keys handed over, the ones who put deposits down but then all of a sudden they had to wait months to move into their houses.

A lot of the sector went online similarly to schools which meant that some people were buying a house that they had not even viewed in person.

The government mentioned a huge economic crash which luckily didn’t happen. If you were to research online you can see that the house prices in London have increased by more than 6%, it’s one of the quickest house prices have ever risen. Many factors could have caused the increase such as the Stamp duty being frozen. More homeowners would sell their houses because they would end up being financially more stable because they didn’t need to pay tax for up to £500,000 of their property, these schemes were introduced mainly to increase the property market and help those who had been financially impacted by covid.

Since being in lockdown more homeowners have renovated their houses giving their properties more value on the property market. That being said because of the demand for gardens, playrooms and more space these houses had soared in price whilst houses without a reasonable amount of space, those with balcony’s and no gardens actually decreased by 10%. As many know if you go to London there are tons of apartments and they just were not sought after.  Houses with extra space and large gardens were so sort after that it increased prices however because of the whole pandemic it was causing these houses to be unaffordable as a lot of residents were on the furlough scheme.  Not only this but since the pandemic, it’s made us all think a little bit harder and our needs and wants have changed just like everyone else’s personal or work-related.

House prices are set to decrease again later this year but at such unpredictable times, no one really knows.

In a few years, I hope to be looking to buy my very first home and doing your research really does pay off.

Good Mortgage deals have been really hard to come by since the beginning of the pandemic but good deals are about if you have a higher deposit and you’re willing to search.

Mortgage rates will be competitive but I have been looking at a mortgage calculator and this helps you figure your payments and you’re able to see loan repayments and it really gives you an idea on affordability by your income. which actually gives you a head start and an insight on how, when and if you’re going to become a first-time house buyer.