Prices buoyed as we keep on moving
05 Jul 2021
The stamp duty holiday has ended for some buyers but the effect on the market could be minimal.
As reported in the Yorkshire Post on Saturday 3rd July including industry opinion from our very own Fergus Purtill, Beadnall Copley’s Area Manager.
Price indices, updates on activity and forecasts this week reveal that the turbo-charged housing market in Yorkshire looks set to remain buoyant, even though the stamp duty holiday has now ended for some.
The tax break, announced by Chancellor Rishi Sunak a year ago, was rocket fuel to what became a remarkably buoyant housing market.
In July last year, the stamp duty threshold in England and Northern Ireland was raised from £125,000 to £500,000 which meant that home buyers paid no stamp duty on the first half a million pounds of a purchase price as long as completion of the deal was by June 30, 2021.
On Thursday this week, the stamp duty threshold fell to £250,000 and will return to its pre-pandemic level of £125,000 at the end of September, 2021.
First-time buyers get special treatment in an effort to help those struggling to get onto the property ladder. From July 1 until the end of September, they can purchase homes costing up to £300,000 without paying stamp duty. On the portion between £300,001 and £500,000 the tax is 5%. You are eligible if you and anyone else you are buying with are first-time buyers.
First-time buyers purchasing a property over £500,000, which is not the norm here in Yorkshire, pay the full amount of stamp duty.
From October 1, 2021, stamp duty rates for all will be £0-£125,000 0%; £125,001-£250,000 2%; £250,001-£925,000 5%; £925,001-£1,500,000 10; £1,500,000+ 12%.
While the tax break has boosted the property market, its loss won’t be catastrophic, according to estate agents, who are exhausted after an unprecedented period of frenzied home buying and selling.
Ferus Purtill, area manager at Beadnall Copley estate agents, says “Whilst the mid to high end of the housing market could potentially cool we fully expect the market around the £250,000 mark to continue to be buoyant.”
The desire to move for a change of lifestyle is the main driving force for buyers who crave more space, gardens and rural settings.
Whilst the end of the furlough scheme in September is a concern, house prices are unlikely to fall in the short term as the supply of houses for sale is not keeping pace with demand plus mortgage rates are almost at an all-time low.
Property News article by Sharon Dale which originally appeared in the Yorkshire Post on 03.07.2021