Stockport’s property market has been named as one of the UK’s fastest-growing during the Covid pandemic.
New data shows the borough had 1,887 home surveys carried out in Stockport from January to July 2021 — 507 percent more than the total for last year.
That percentage change is the largest in the UK, Property Inspect, the firm which undertook the research, says.
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The data is based on the number of RICS surveys commissioned, which check properties for damp, subsidence, and other structural issues that buyers may not have seen when initially viewing the building.
Now, those working in the property industry say sales will ‘continue to climb’ for the remainder of 2021 — despite other areas locally seeing falls in survey numbers.
“The UK’s property market has been skyrocketing throughout 2020 and 2021 following the initial pandemic lockdown when the market was closed,” Warrick Swift, commercial director of Property Inspect, said.
“House inspections are typically conducted by a buyer before contracts are exchanged to understand more about the fabric and condition of the property. Inspections are not mandatory but can sometimes save buyers thousands by revealing issues that may not have been evident upon initial viewing.
“Though favourable market conditions like the stamp duty holiday have been somewhat rolled back, properties are still in high demand across the country, pushing prices up.
“It’s unclear how the market will develop in the final few months of 2021 but it’s clear that the number of properties exchanged will continue to climb, surpassing exchanges carried out last year.”
Elsewhere, Tameside, along with Stockport, is bucking the trend in Greater Manchester.
While Stockport’s huge increase is the UK’s best, Tameside only saw a 17 percent rise — but the other eight areas of the city-region all saw the number of surveys fall.
In the largest decline, Salford saw 43 per cent fewer surveys, with Manchester’s figure falling by 29 percent.
