Forecasts

Knight Frank's research team assesses what the Bank of England's slashed forecasts mean for the property market.

"Underlying fundamentals suggest house prices are reasonably priced at current levels," says Neal Hudson, but "the fundamentals may be about to change – potentially quite quickly."

Influential forecasting house expects average property values to drop by 5% overall through 2023 and 2024.

Where is all the stock; what will happen to prices; and which areas are buyers flocking to right now? Seasoned buy-side pros have been giving their hot takes on the first few months of 2022, which is shaping…

"Developers will need to absorb new costs, and tighten margins in order to secure sites in what we expect to continue to be a competitive market," says Savills' head of regional development.

House price inflation is likely to "unwind" back to single figures across the UK, predicts Knight Frank, although Prime Central London is set for higher price growth as global travel resumes.

Average house prices are likely to rise by 7.4% this year, predicts the Office for Budget Responsibility, and by 15.8% over five years.

Knight Frank is predicting continued price rises for international luxury property markets in 2022 - although the pace of growth is likely to be significantly lower than 2021's extraordinary performance.

"We expect to see a very competitive market this year," says Guy Robinson, Head of Residential at Strutt & Parker

Savills' research team is predicting another strong year for property markets in prime global cities, with Miami and Berlin set for the highest rates of price growth in 2022.

"Following a bit of an exodus from cities during the pandemic we saw prices in regional areas start to soar, but that will stabilise this year," predicts Colliers' Head of Residential - "although areas…