This week on the blog we wanted to address the cost of the living crisis on the economy and the local housing market. It’s something that people have started to ask about with questions of what will happen to property prices across Lancaster and Morecambe.
Take a look at the graph above which shows the real household disposable income per capita (average per person). Real disposable household income is a good measure of the cost of living. It tracks the impact on average incomes of changes in inflation, tax and benefits. As you can see it has ups and downs.
The economy has suffered a unique set of differentiating circumstances. Inflation soared as economies reopened after Covid. Then we have had supply chain disruption and a global energy crunch exaggerated by the war in Ukraine.
Before the £15bn support package was announced in May, the cost-of-living crisis seemed very likely to dent confidence in the housing market however the £15bn alleviation measures will help offset the increase in energy costs with less well-off households helped most.
Clearly, other cost pressures remain, but this assistance should help limit the negative impact on the economy and the housing market.
It is also worth noting that whilst property price growth has slowed in Lancaster, property prices are still 3.3% higher than they were in 2021. Whilst there continues to be a shortage of properties for sale in Lancaster combined with plenty of job opportunities and high buyer demand, we expect to see a more stable market as we head into the Autumn months.
If you would like to chat about what all of this might mean for the value of your home, please get in touch. At JDG we are here to help.
You can call us on 01524 843322 or email me at michelle@jdg.co.uk
Thanks for reading
Michelle x