Demand for flats surges as price growth slows

The pace of property price growth across the UK has started to slow, figures from Zoopla have revealed. Average prices increased by just 1% in the three months to December 2021. The average price tag of a home coming up for sale is now £242,000, still £25,500 more than at the start of 2020. Demand for flats outside London has reached the highest level for five years, and demand for family houses outside London is four times higher than the five year average. In total, demand from buyers was around 49% higher in the month to 16 January than over the same period from 2018 through to 2021. Terraced, semi-detached and detached homes now average £289,500, while flats average £175,700, up 8.8% and 2.2% respectively. Zoopla said: "Even after nearly two years, the pandemic-led "search for space" is one of the factors creating record demand for homes. The market is also being boosted by office-based workers... as offices re-open, some demand is flowing back into city centres."

City A.M. Daily Mail The Independent UK