Halifax House Price Data - December 2021

ended 06. January 2022

Tomorrow (Friday) morning at the crack of dawn the Halifax is publishing its December HPI. We want your thoughts on where the property market was at in December and where you think it's going to go in 2022 (and why). With stupidly high inflation and interest rates set to edge up further, are the wheels going to come off the property market? You know what to do…. but don't write an essay - four to five sentences MAX.

7 responses from the Newspage community

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Andrew Montlake
Managing Director at Coreco
"2021 ended strongly and while 2022 will not have the dramatic growth headlines of last year, the general underlying trends remain in place. The past two years have radically transformed what people want from their homes and even though rates are rising they are still exceptionally low in historical terms. The market is also being propped up by a chronic lack of supply. Although rising rates and the general cost of living due to the energy crisis will derail some people's plans, we will remain in a generally low interest rate environment for the remainder of the year and this will not, therefore, be enough to cause house prices to fall dramatically. Any growth in house prices in 2022 will be more conservative in nature and rises and falls will vary regionally."
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Paul Neal
Mortgage Specialist at Missing Element Mortgage Services
"December 2021 was not as standard December, with demand unusually strong. Even though lenders are slowly nudging up their interest rates, this doesn't appear to put the brakes on buyers. A lack of properties is still supporting prices and competition is as intense as ever when the right property comes onto the market."
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Scott Taylor-Barr
Financial Adviser at Carl Summers Financial Services
"Despite rising inflation, interest rates and energy costs, it's hard to see property prices going backwards in 2022 due to the sheer lack of supply. 2020 and 2021 saw some staggering property price increases, as demand surged on the back of the Stamp Duty holiday and the shift to home working. I don't think this will continue into 2022 as the market shifts from having tailwinds to headwinds. I believe we'll see a flat market for most of 2022, with very little in the way of price rises in general."
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Rob Peters
Principal at Simple Fast Mortgage
"Traditionally in December, even the most staunch first-time buyers take a break from house hunting. So unsurprisingly the December HPI is expected to show a slowdown compared to previous months. With demand high and supply low, a further rise in interest rates won't upset the property market."
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Andrew Simmonds
Director at Parker's Estate Agents
“Having defied expectations throughout the year, it was no real surprise that December saw much of the same. Although prices this year will grow at a slower rate than in 2021 due to rising rates, taxation and the energy crisis, the market certainly won't go off a cliff due to the lack of supply. I am expecting to see many vendors sell and move to rented with a view to onward purchasing later in 2022 or 2023.”
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Graham Cox
Founder & Director at Self Employed Mortgage Hub
Halifax's December figures could be the last hurrah for runaway house price inflation in quite some time. People are starting to batten down the hatches, facing a financial tsunami of higher fuel and food bills, national insurance increases and rising interest rates. And let's not forget the ongoing uncertainty around Omicron. House prices are notoriously hard to predict, but after being artificially pumped higher by the stamp duty holiday, it's difficult to imagine prices rising for much longer. I suspect they will actually fall in 2022, as the pandemic payback bill kicks in and the energy crisis bites."
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Lewis Shaw
Founder & Mortgage Expert at Shaw Financial Services
"December was quieter than usual for new business yet unusually busy for completions as people dived for the finishing line before Christmas. We saw continued house price growth due to unprecedented demand, a shortage of housing stock and cheap mortgage rates. However, with inflation raging and rates on the up, 2022 is not going to be a 2021."