House prices forecast to drop 13% this year as transactions dive and incomes are hit by coronavirus lockdown
- Average house prices to slump by £38,000, or 13%, in 2020, Cebr says
- Yorkshire and East Anglia set to be the hardest hit with prices dropping 16.5%
- The market has also stalled because buyers are unable to purchase
- Scotland and South East tipped to fare best with 10.5% fall in house prices
- Learn more about how to help people impacted by COVID
The housing market is expected to fall by up to a sixth as thousands of Britons lose their jobs.
Yorkshire and East Anglia are expected to be the hardest hit with house prices dropping 16.5 per cent this year.
Next come the North-West and West Midlands with 16 per cent falls. The collapse in prices would take up to £38,000 off the price of an average UK home.
Struggle: The collapse in prices would take up to £38,000 off the price of an average UK home
The crash will be driven by the rental sector as the amount tenants can afford to pay plummets due to wage cuts and unemployment.
The market has also stalled because buyers are unable to purchase. The figures, published by the Cebr today, come after the same think tank warned that lockdown has shrunk economic activity by 31 per cent.
The report said: ‘Shortfall in incomes has a tremendous potential to disrupt the housing markets.’
Hardest hit will be regions like Yorkshire and Humberside with many workers in manufacturing, construction, retail and leisure.
Overall, the average UK house prices will fall 13 per cent. Scotland and the South East will fare best with drops of 10.5 per cent and 11 per cent.
The South West is expected to fall 13 per cent, Wales 14.5 per cent, the East Midlands 12.5 per cent and London 11.25 per cent. Northern Ireland will drop 16.5 per cent.
