How long does a property downturn typically last?
Sian Hiatt, Sales Manager, highlights some historic data that reveals property market downturns are often short-lived in the grand scheme of things...
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
With all the chat of property prices potentially succumbing to some degree of decline during the foreseeable - something we touched on ourselves during our review of what the property market may have in store for 2023 - we’re sure there are many homeowners wondering how long they may have to weather any oncoming storm, particularly those who are thinking about selling.
It may seem like a fair amount of doom and gloom is doing the rounds and the old adage says that what goes up must come down - experts may be applying this to property prices, but as far as the housing market is concerned it can also be argued that what goes down never stays down for too long.
Majority of property market declines are short-lived
Research from estate agency comparison site GetAgent reveals that there has been 32 periods of property price slumps since 2005, with the majority being singular monthly declines and the longest period lasting a total of just 10 months.
When comparing all slumps, the average period of property market decline lasted a mere 2.2 months, with an average of 154,704 transactions taking place. This means an estimated 69,766 home sellers per month were potentially impacted by the decline in house prices.
At the other end of the scale, there were also 32 periods of house price growth that lasted an average of 4.4 months per surge, with the longest lasting a whopping 19 months around 7-8 years ago. During these more buoyant periods, there was an average of 381,452 properties sold, meaning an estimated 85,961 sellers per month were able to benefit from an appreciation in the value of their property.
Read: Should I drop the asking price if I can’t sell?
Property prices in Wales could be considered most stable in the UK
When looking at the UK as a whole, Wales could be considered perhaps the most stable nation as here we experienced the lowest average period of property price decline at just 1.5 months, though periods of property price growth typically last just a little longer with an average of 2.3 months - so, periods of both decline and growth are shorter than the overall UK average.
Although past performance isn’t a guarantee of how the future will unfold, what this does indicate is that historically property market downturns over the best part of the last two decades have always been very short lived, and though experts may refer to these current times being very different to the majority of those previous periods that experienced value declines, the downturns have still always lasted less than a year and usually by a considerable margin.
Despite many voicing causes for concern in the short term, the chances are there is little to worry about in the longer term.
Are you thinking about selling your home in the future? Perhaps you’re after some reassurance and to know that there are buyers out there looking for a property just like yours? If so, do get in touch with our expert sales team here at CPS Homes in Cardiff. With branches across the city, we’ve been helping homebuyers just like you sell their home for the best value possible since the turn of the millennium. Simply contact us by calling 02920 668585, e-mailing enquiries@cpshomes.co.uk or by popping into one of our three branches.
The information contained within this article was correct at the date of publishing and is not guaranteed to remain correct in the present day.
