House prices: UK towns where property owners will avoid 2020 recession plummet
08-31-2020
HOUSE prices have hugely important, for the property market and the prosperity of every home-owning Briton. With coronavirus and now a recession, where are house prices in the UK most recession proof?
By EMILY HODGKIN
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Many British people will be concerned about their finances currently. Coronavirus and a recession have battered the economy.
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A home is by far the largest investment the vast majority of Britons will ever make in their lifetime.
The health of the economy will impact how well those investments fair, with a potentially huge impact.
Looking at past recessions and their impact on the property market could give some insight, however.
Property Reporter published a report by estate agent Benham and Reeves.
It revealed certain places in the UK where property prices declined the most in the 2008 recession and where prices fared better.
House prices: UK towns where property owners will avoid 2020 recession plummet (Image: GETTY)
An estate agent
House prices: Coronavirus and a recession have battered the economy (Image: GETTY)
Some areas saw their value increase during the recession.
They were Powys in Wales, 3.1 percent, Moray, 2.7 percent, and the Scottish Highlands, 1.4 percent, the Western Isles, 18.4 percent and the Orkney Island, 21.7 percent.
In England, the areas least impacted by the recession were South Lakeland and Allerdale, where prices dropped by just 3.6 percent and 3.7 percent respectively.
The Derbyshire Dales saw a decrease of 4.1 percent, Middlesbrough 4.4 percent and Chorley, 4.5 percent.
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In Scotland areas that didn't fare too badly included Ceredigion, were prices fell 0.3 percent and Fife, 1.9 percent.
Director of Benham and Reeves, Marc von Grundherr, commented: “News of a recession will no doubt bring another wave of doom and gloom from house price profits but that simply isn’t what we’re seeing on the ground and with such a tidal wave of activity returning, it’s unlikely to materialise for many many months, if at all.
"Of course, homebuyers would be forgiven for thinking twice given the recent figures from the Office for National Statistics, but as our research shows, a recession doesn’t necessarily mean a cataclysmic decline in property prices.
"In fact, some areas weathered the last recession pretty well considering the wider economic picture and the vast, vast majority of areas saw a quick recovery in property prices in the years that followed."
Property for sale
House prices: Some areas saw their value increase during the recession (Image: GETTY)
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However, there are a number of factors at play in today's property market that were not in the 2008 recession. Coronavirus and the subsequent lockdown, Brexit and the new Stamp Duty holiday devised by Rishi Sunak to combat stagnation in the market as a result of the two former factors.
According to reports Rightmove has claimed the region is seeing house prices rise at the fastest rate across the UK.
In that past year house prices in Shropshire are up 6.3 percent.
The average price is a record high of £243,260.
House prices
House prices: In England, the areas least impacted by the recession was South Lakeland (Image: GETTY)
Most will be wondering, will house prices drop in 2021? What a recession means for house prices.
According to Rightmove, monthly sales agreed in July were the highest seen in ten years, with 29 percent in the first-time buyer sector, 38 percent in the second stepper sector and 59 percent for larger, top of the ladder homes
Miles Shipside, Rightmove director and housing market analyst said: “There have been many changes as a result of the unprecedented pandemic, and these include a rewriting of the previously predictable seasonal rulebook for housing market activity and prices.
"Home movers are both marketing and buying more property than we have recorded in any previous month for over ten years, helping push prices to their highest ever level in seven regions."