It’s been a turbulent time for the housing market this year.

Thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, the market has undergone a series of changes with house sales and property prices fluctuating this year.

The UK also experienced a property boom in the summer and Rishi Sunak announced a stamp duty holiday for properties less than £500,000.

Gráinne Gilmore, Head of Research at Zoopla (real estate company), said people are also reassessing their living needs and the repercussions of staying inside have encouraged people to search for homes with gardens and more space.

She explained: “The desire for additional space is reflected in our data which shows that houses with three or more bedrooms are selling fastest.

“Gardens are at the top of the list of many home buyers’ requirements, but keywords such as ‘annexe’ ‘detached’, ‘rural’ have also started to move up the search-term charts this year - in a further sign that more people are looking for additional space.” 

While we are well aware of the UK’s property market have you considered how it compares to Worcester’s?

Here is a rundown of how Worcester’s property market has changed and fluctuated this year:

The number of property transactions made in Worcester

According to Land Registry, 1301 property transactions have taken place in Worcester between January and September which is 43 per cent less than last year’s figures (2313)

Research by We Buy Any Home also found that house sales enquiries in Worcester decreased by 25.5% this year when compared to last.

As you can see from the graph, property transaction figures were relatively buoyant before lockdown was announced.

Between February and March, this figure even saw an increase of 10 per cent.

When lockdown was announced in March, this figure decreased by 60%; people were asked to stay inside and property viewings were unable to go ahead.

The rest of the UK experienced a mini housing boom during the summer months, when there was a surge in interest of people buying houses.

The same can be said for Worcester which experienced an increase in property transaction between May and July when figures increased by 100%.

While transaction figures increased, they were still no way near July 2019’s figures- in fact, July 2020’s figures were 36.9 per cent lower.

Worcester’s property boom was short lived and transaction figures decreased by 62 per cent between July and September.

How house prices have changed in Worcester

A representative for Zoopla (real estate company), said the housing sales market is set to have its busiest Christmas period in more than a decade- hence the increase of property price.

She explained: “As a result of the increased demand and activity in the market, average UK house price growth is currently up 3.5% on the year and could rise to 4% growth by the end of December”.

Property experts also predict an increase of house sales early next year as people try to make the stamp duty deadline- something that could also contribute to increased property price.

While average house prices increased across the UK- can the same be said for Worcester?

As you can see from the graph, the average property price in Worcester has fluctuated significantly this year.

In January of this year, property prices were already 2.1 per cent higher than they were in January 2019.

However, the average price of a Worcester property took a dip when lockdown was announced in March.

Between March and June, the average property price in the city decreased by 3.7 per cent.

However, this dip in house price was short lived and between June and September the average price for a property in Worcester has increased by 7.6 per cent.

When you compare January’s figures to September’s, the average price of a house has increased by 3.8 per cent.

What do the experts predict for the future?

As with many things in the current climate, experts predict that the future of the property market is uncertain.

Mark Irwin, Marketing Director at WeBuyAnyHome said: “The property market, like the global economy, has gone through unprecedented changes in 2020- and the truth is that no one can be exactly sure what will happen next.

“We anticipate lower value properties that don’t benefit from the stamp duty reduction to be more acutely impacted, especially as they tend to belong to lower income residents who may be more susceptible to job losses and need to sell as a result.”