My latest analysis, using the Land Registry and Office of
National Statistics, shows that overall, month on month, Harlow property values
increased by 0.7%. The year on year figures showed the value of residential
property in Harlow has increased by 10% in the year to the end February 2016,
taking the average value of a property in the council area to £234,600.
It gets even more interesting when we look at the last few months’
figures and see the patterns that seem to be emerging.
January 2016 -
a rise of 0.7%
December 2015 - a rise
of 1.1%
November 2015 - a rise
of 1.1%
We have talked in many recent articles about the lack of
properties being built in Harlow over the last 30 years. This lack of new
building has been the biggest factor that has contributed to Harlow property
values still being 256.85% higher than in 1995. At the risk of repeating
myself, until the Government addresses this issue, and allows more properties
to be built, things will continue to get worse as the UK population grows at just
under 500,000 people a year (which is a combination of around 226,000 people
because of higher birth rates/people living longer and 259,000 net migration)
whilst the country is only building 152,400 properties a year – no wonder
demand is outstripping supply.
Another reason intensifying the current level of property
values in Harlow, is the fact that people aren’t moving home as much as they
used to, meaning fewer properties are coming onto the market for sale, so in consequence,
there is a lack of choice of property to buy, meaning people thinking of moving
are discouraged from putting their property on the market ... thus perpetuating
the problem, as the scarcity of possible properties to buy in order to move
also deters people from offering their home for sale. This unevenness between
demand from would-be purchasers and the number of properties coming on to the
market for sale is causing pressures in Harlow (and the rest of the UK).
So what of the future of the Harlow property market and this
man’s daughter? I firmly believe the property market in Harlow and the country
as a whole is changing its attitude about homeownership. Back in the 1960’s,
70’s, 80’s and 90’s, getting on the property ladder was everything. Since the
late 1990’s, we as a country (in particular, the young) have slowly started to
change our attitude to homeownership. We are moving to a more European model,
where people choose to rent in their 20’s and 30’s (meaning they can move
freely and not be tied to a property), then inherit money in their 50’s when
their property owning parents pass away, allowing them to buy property
themselves ... just like they do in Germany and other sophisticated and mature
European counties, meaning his daughter will end up owning property, just later
in life than we did. So, whatever the vote on the 23rd of June, if you think
about it, we might be more European than we think!