2022 forecasts

‘Tis the season for making fools of ourselves, waving a wet finger in the air and having a guess at what might happen to house prices next year. Personally I am expecting the ONS barometer to rise by 5% in 2022 but like most people I’ve been wrong and right before!

First out of the traps is Strutt & Parker with a bullish assessment of the prospects for the housing market. Pretty darn good (if you already own a home) or pretty depressing if you had hoped one day you might be able to afford one one day. Like all of us Strutts had to re-state their predictions for 2021 (in some cases several times!) so these prognostications are subject to change over the coming months as reality of interest rate changes, inflation, new Covid outbreaks and political meddling smacks the authors in the face.

Meanwhile website Rightmove predicts that the national average price of property coming to market will rise by 5% next year, as strong buyer demand and a historically low level of available property continue to push up prices in 2022 and by 3% in London. Zoopla are expecting 3%, Halifax expects 0-2% while Nationwide confirms “nothing is certain”.

Savills released its five-year house price forecast and projected house price growth in 2023 at 3% next year and by 8% across Prime Central London. My old firm expect prices across the UK to rise by 13% over the next 5 years and 23.9% in London.

Interestingly Cluttons warn that in parts of London prices might fall by as much as 10%. James Hyman recommends ‘My advice to anyone thinking of exiting the London market is to do so ASAP’.

The Times has collated the predictions from the main brands for 2022.

2022 forecasts

Check back here over the coming weeks to find out who else wants to have a stab at predicting prices in 12 months time 🔮

Telegraph March 2020