Carmarthenshire’s estate agents don’t need to think too hard about words to describe the property market of 2022.
‘Vibrant’, ‘bouyant’, ‘incredible’ and ‘energised’ are just four that jump out of their mouths with ease, and from what the market is displaying, those words will remain popular for the rest of this year.
“In all the years that I’ve worked as an estate agent, I’ve never experienced anything quite like what happened in the property market in 2021,” said Anna Ashton of the Ammanford estate agency which she established in 1985.
“It genuinely took us all by surprise. Two of us came back to the office on June 27 after the first lockdown expecting a fair bit of activity but by day three, I was ringing my other members of staff and asking them to get back to the office as quickly as possible. It was crazy.”
The surge in property momvement continued right up until Christmas but when estate agents returned after their festive break, once again sales escalated. And this time it was with even more vigour.
What makes this property boom so exceptional is the fact that it’s affected every sector of the property market. And it all stems from the nation’s diverse experiences of Covid 19.
“It’s chiefly because people were stuck in their houses,” continued Anna.
“First-time buyers couldn’t see one another other so they decided to buy their first property together while more and more people realised the benefits of working from home so decided to move to more rural areas which had extra space and a garden.”
Yet despite the fact that lockdowns are becoming a thing of the past, the property market remains vibrant.
The good news for buyers is that prices appear to have reached a plateau and estate agents are convinced that further increases are unlikely.
The bad news is that as people continue to queue up for the property of their dreams, there aren’t enough houses to go round.
Stocks are drying up, particularly in areas such as Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire where buyers are looking for complete lifestyle changes and bjuyers are advised to decide on their purchase within seven days rather than a month which was the trend before lockdown.
The latest research from two online property portals indicate a number of areas within counties of the south Wales valleys emerging as property hotspots into 2022, thought to be largely due to their lower than average asking prices. According to Rightmove, their latest research reveals that the top two property hotspots for 2021 within their top 20 UK list are Mountain Ash and Porth, which are both in the county of Rhondda Cynon Taf.
It is expected that the south Wales valleys will continue to emerge in 2022 as top locations with the biggest increases in house prices.
Website Zoopla revealed that in Wales, Blaenau Gwent, Merthyr Tydfil and Rhondda Cynon Taf, Neath Port Talbot and Caerphilly were the top five most affordable counties in Wales, supporting the prediction that in 2022 the valleys will be some of the hottest spots in the UK for house price increases.
James Thomas from Savills, Cardiff said: “Looking ahead we anticipate that Omicron is likely to give a slightly longer tail to the very robust housing market we have seen, especially if we continue to experience a gap in supply and demand. There is a large pool of unmet demand that is particularly prevalent among buyers with £750,000 and above to spend.
“In an increasingly less seasonal market, If you are thinking of selling in 2022, our advice is not to delay.”
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