Why the housing market is currently booming in Barking?

The housing market in Barking is beginning to boom once again. After a number of years of dwindling house prices and a bleak economic outlook, house prices in the UK are on the rise, and that includes Barking.House prices are now more than £24,000 higher than they were at the start of 2013 with the average asking price in the rest of the country going above £250,000. However it’s important to note that despite the rise in prices nationwide and the Barking price rising, the average asking number in the borough is £243,000 but it is a rise nevertheless.

March of this year marked an all-time high for prices in the property market across the UK thanks largely to the economic recovery of recent years and confidence returning to sellers and buyers. The rising prices have meant that more sellers have been enticed into entering the market and the healthy outlook for the future will encourage people to buy.

In March alone, the average price of a house rose by 1.6 per cent. While this increase is encouraging, it’s more important to take into account that is consistent with previous months and was the third straight month of growth. However, the growth is down on the rise recorded in February, which was 3.3 per cent, according to property tracking firm Rightmove.

The growing market doesn’t just affect houses though with some flats on the market reporting a rise too. In Dagenham, the average asking price for a flat is £135,000. To put that in perspective, in 1999 a two-bedroom ground-floor flat in the area sold for £50,000.

The growth in the nation’s market had been expected but it’s taken some people in Barking by surprise. One of them is Drew Pindoria from Barking estate agents Bairstow Eves who spoke with Barking and Dagenham Post when the upsurge began. “Prices are changing by the week at the moment…it’s going crazy. Traditionally the majority of movement was people from east London moving further out, but we’re getting people from all over London moving to the area now,” he said to the paper.

Across the country, the average asking price stands at £255,962, a rise of nearly £4,000 in February. It’s the first peak since last summer. With this increase also comes an increase in bank confidence with more mortgages being approved. According to Bank of England, mortgage approvals “increased sharply” in January and, much like property prices, have hit its highest peak since 2007 before the downturn began.

The Land Registry published a report in January that said registrations for houses in England and Wales ranged £10,000 to £28.5 million, showing that budgets big and small were active on the market meanwhile it reported that repossessions had dropped 30 per cent.This paints an encouraging picture for the people of Barking that are looking to get on the property ladder, especially for sellers. It also shows that the health of market is recuperating after what was possibly the worst downturn in recent memory.

Why the housing market is currently booming in Barking?