Another New Year, another overview of the year gone by in terms of the housing market, interest rates and mortgages Belfast and further afield the UK. The year 2021 was an extraordinary year in many ways, especially for the housing market the UK wide. With on and off lockdowns, holidays cancelled or restricted and a focus of the people across the nation into their homes and current situations, re-evaluating what exactly they wanted from life – there was unprecedented change and spikes in the price of property.
Let us take a quick look, with an overview of the property and mortgage market changes that spanned 2021 and some insights into what might lie waiting throughout 2022.
Climbing Property Prices
Despite all of the craziness of the pandemic unfolding, the property market stunned experts with the highest rise in value in over 15 years. House prices the UK wide rose by over 10% throughout 2021, leaving a rise of 16% from the onset of the pandemic.
Looking specifically at the Northern Irish property market, there was much the same rise in Q3 2021, with reports of a 10.7% percentage increase in the 12 month lead up, with 7,529 properties sold within Q3 alone.
Source: NISRA Statistics
However, there are signs that the unprecedented rise in the property market could be coming to an end, which is likely to be good news to those first time buyers hoping to get onto the property ladder.
Investors seizing the opportunities
When there is opportunity, there is no doubt that the investors will come in their thousands and this was no different. Getting a slice of this rising market was on the cards for many and a huge increase was seen across the nation in loans.
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Interest rates – what can we expect?
The Bank of England set the standard and the interest rates rose to 0.25% in 2021 in a desperate bid to stop the rising inflation across the nation.
If you are one of the many that have a variable or standard variable interest rate mortgage then your mortgage would have seen an increase to the monthly payment based on the new interest rate – it’s all in the small print and with standard variable, it is at the discretion of your mortgage lender as to how much these payments will go up.
The mortgage interest rate across the UK is that of the fixed rate mortgage, if you are included in this bracket of people, then you will see no change in your monthly payments.
2022 and what lies ahead
Looking at the year ahead, unfortunately COVID remains with us for the foreseeable. To every dark cloud, there is a silver lining., in this case it is the continued moderate growth of the property market and the reopening of the world of travelling.
If you are taking your first steps on the property ladder, hoping to get a home abroad or are simply looking for advice on re-mortgaging or investing in a second property, then we are the people you need to talk to. We provide expert mortgage advice and are the mortgage brokers Belfast know and trust. With unscathed 5 star reviews, you know you can rely on us to advise you on the best property deals available to you.
