Cumbria’s property trends during the coronavirus pandemic

Thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, the market has undergone a series of changes with house sales and property prices fluctuating this year.

The UK also experienced a property boom in the summer. In August Rightmove’s house price index reported a record high in the number of monthly sales; it was up more than 20 per cent on the previous high.

However, there were some positive developments; Rishi Sunak announced a stamp duty holiday for properties less than £500,000- a scheme which ends in March.

Gráinne Gilmore, Head of Research at Zoopla (real estate company), said people are also reassessing their living needs and the repercussions of staying inside have encouraged people to search for homes with gardens and more space.

She explained: “The desire for additional space is reflected in our data which shows that houses with three or more bedrooms are selling fastest.

“Gardens are at the top of the list of many home buyers’ requirements, but keywords such as ‘annexe’ ‘detached’, ‘rural’ have also started to move up the search-term charts this year - in a further sign that more people are looking for additional space.” 

While we are well aware of the UK’s property market have you considered how it compares to Cumbria’s?

Here is a rundown of how Cumbria’s property market has changed and fluctuated this year:

The number of property transactions

According to Land Registry, 4588 property transactions have taken place in Cumbria between January and September which is 37 per cent less than last year’s figures (7370)

Research by We Buy Any Home also found that house sales enquiries in Cumbria decreased by 36.5% this year when compared to last.

As you can see from the chart, property transactions were buoyant at the start of the year; 111 more transactions were made in January of this year compared to last.

However, when lockdown was announced in March 2020 Cumbria’s property transactions took a dip.

Between March and April, property transactions decreased by 53 per cent.

However, activity started to pick up during the summer months and property transactions increased by 92 per cent between April and June.

Despite this, this figure is still 30 per cent lower than June 2019’s figures.

How property transaction figures compare in each district (January to September)

While every Cumbrian district suffered a blow when it came to property transactions, some areas fared worse than others when compared to 2019’s figures.

Eden’s property transaction figures saw the biggest drop at 44 per cent.

While still a significant drop, Barrow fared the best with property transaction figures dropping by 26 percent.

Here is the full list of figures:

Allerdale- property transactions decreased by 38 per cent

Barrow-in-Furness- property transactions decreased by 26 per cent

Carlisle- property transactions decreased by 42 per cent

Copeland- property transactions decreased by 33 per cent

Eden- property transactions decreased 44 per cent

South Lakeland- property transactions decreased 40 per cent

Cumbria’s property prices

A representative for Zoopla (real estate company), said the housing sales market is set to have its busiest Christmas period in more than a decade- hence the increase of property price.

She explained: “As a result of the increased demand and activity in the market, average UK house price growth is currently up 3.5% on the year , and could rise to 4% growth by the end of December”.

Property experts also predict an increase of house sales early next year as people try to make the stamp duty deadline- something that could also contribute to increased property price.

While average house prices across the UK- can the same be said for Cumbria?

As you can see, average house prices in Cumbria have fluctuated significantly throughout 2020.

During the first lockdown figures suggest there was a slight slump in property prices, decreasing by 0.5 per cent between March to May.

Other parts of the UK reported a boom in house prices during the summer months- and Cumbria was no exception.

The average property price increased by 4.4 per cent between May and September.

When you compare January’s figures to Septembers’, property prices have increased by a total of 3.6 per cent.

How Barrow’s average property prices compare

As you can tell from the graph, Barrow’s average house price stayed consistently low throughout lockdown.

The average house price began to plummet in February and were at their lowest (of the year) in April.

Between January and April, the average house price in Barrow fell by five per cent.

However, in May this average house price began to climb and increased by 10 per cent between May and August.

Compared to the rest of Cumbria, house prices didn’t fluctuate nearly as much.

While the rest of Cumbria saw a peak in house prices between February and March, the average house price in Barrow continued to fall.

In September, the average house price was £162,908 and in Barrow it was £125,822- which is 22 per cent lower.

What do the experts predict?

As with many things in the current climate, experts predict that the future of the property market is uncertain.

Mark Irwin, Marketing Director at WeBuyAnyHome said: “The property market, like the global economy, has gone through unprecedented changes in 2020- and the truth is that no one can be exactly sure what will happen next.

“We anticipate lower value properties that don’t benefit from the stamp duty reduction to be more acutely impacted, especially as they tend to belong to lower income residents who may be more susceptible to job losses and need to sell as a result.”