‘We’ve been inundated’: UK housing market frenzy shows no signs of slowing

theguardian.com:

It took less than a week to sell a two-bedroom garden flat in north London, with a guide price of £950,000. Featuring a large patio, garden, oak floorboards and underfloor heating, it is in a mixed area on the outskirts of Islington and Camden.

“We’ve been inundated with people wanting to see it,” says Andrew Groocock, a regional partner at the estate agents Knight Frank, which helped organise 23 viewings. “It ticks the boxes of exactly what’s hot in the market at the moment. It’s still an incredibly buoyant market. The last two years have been remarkable.”

UK inflation has hit a 40-year high of 9%, the cost of living crisis is worsening as food and energy bills soar while real wages are falling, and UK interest rates are on their way up – but the housing market is still exuberant. House price growth may well have peaked, but the “race for space” that started during the Covid pandemic continues. Many people have embraced hybrid working and spend more time at home, driving up demand for bigger properties with a garden.

Andrew Perratt, the head of country at rival estate agent Savills, says commuter belts around big cities remain property hotspots – and the commuter zone has been stretched because people who do not need to be in the office every day are prepared to travel further.

Estate agents say demand is far outstripping supply as many properties get snapped up within a week or two, while it takes new sellers longer to put their homes on the market. Agents talk of bidding wars, and would-be buyers sending personal letters with pictures of their children and pets to market themselves to sellers, in a desperate effort to secure a purchase.

Lucy Joerin, a joint managing director of the Oxfordshire-based Stowhill Estates, says