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Traditionally, if you had not sold your Norwich home by the first week in November, you would normally have to wait for the house sellers to return in the famous Boxing Day rush on the portals (Rightmove, Zoopla, etc) to get potential buyers interested.
Yet matters have been different this year as the various lockdowns have caused a surge in house buying right up until when the Christmas edition of the Radio Times goes on sale.
So, the question is, how will 2022 look regarding the Norwich property market?
The last couple of years in the Norwich property market have been different in many ways. So much so, many Norwich homeowners are presently deliberating whether they should put their Norwich home on the market in January or wait until later in the summer.
Speaking to many Norwich buyers and sellers, (and in fact Norwich buy-to-let landlords) in the last couple of weeks in the run-up to Christmas, many were asking the very same question.
What is going to happen to Norwich house prices in 2022?
Some people asking this question are Norwich buyers troubling themselves that they are about to buy their Norwich home just before a potential property crash, yet others are Norwich homeowners wanting to know where the top of the market is before they sell. Even a handful of Norwich landlords are unable to either start buying or start selling some of their rental portfolio.
Therefore, let’s see what has happened in 2021 to make a better judgment of what should happen in 2022.
Nobody has a crystal ball that can tell what 2022 holds, however most property experts are not forecasting doom and gloom for the British property market.
Whilst the final numbers won’t be known until Easter 2022, it is estimated that in 2021 one in fifteen privately owned homes in the UK are expected to have changed hands, being the busiest year in the last 14 years. Locally,
3,979 properties have changed hands in the last year in Norwich
Although that is only up to October 2021, so numbers will be much higher once all the final counts are in by March/April.
The pandemic made many Norwich families re-evaluate what they wanted from their Norwich home, with many wanting bigger rooms (and more of them). Many in the press dubbed this ‘the race for space’, meaning the property market was flooded with home buyers, most bringing forward the home move they had planned between now and 2025.
The issue was, there weren’t enough Norwich properties on the market to satisfy every Norwich buyer, meaning Norwich house prices have unsurprisingly been driven up.
The average price of a home today in Norwich is £304,800
Although it is still premature to say what will happen in 2022, most property commentators seem assured that we are not heading towards a house price crash, mainly due to one reason.
There aren’t enough properties on the market in Norwich. Simply supply and demand economics!
The property crash in 2008 was caused by everyone dumping their property on the market.
In January 2007, there were 1,642 properties for sale in Norwich, one year later in January 2008, that had risen to 3,932 properties, whilst today, that stands at 863
And I can’t see that changing for 2022.
In 2007, mortgage interest rates were 6.5% to 7.5%, so when the economy started to falter, everyone looked to sell their homes to reduce their outgoings as unemployment rose by over 60% in just a couple of years. This time around most people have mortgage rates of around 2% to 2.5% and unemployment is dropping, meaning they don’t need to sell their Norwich home.
Now of course the stamp duty tax holiday came to an end months ago, and Bank of England base interest rates are expected to rise moderately in the coming year, yet not to the level they were in 2007 (5.75%).
Nonetheless, demand for Norwich homes will still be there. I have even read some reports suggesting that more than 20% of British households are seriously thinking of moving between now and the summer of 2023, and this will support Norwich house prices whilst demand continues to exceed supply.
Norwich house prices will be 3.8% higher by the end of 2022
Another reason why I believe that will be the case is the return to home working. If, as a country, we will need to work from home each winter for the foreseeable future because of new variants, then this will cement the need for people wanting to move home for remote working.
It might be that Norwich buyers are looking for a dedicated office at home or that they feel they now no longer need to be in large built-up areas that are near to their work.
This increase in Norwich house prices is expected to entice even more Norwich house sellers onto the market, which will steady Norwich house prices slightly (as supply increases), yet I still believe there won’t be enough properties coming onto the market to satisfy the colossal demand.
What about the Norwich rental market?
Rents tend to grow in line with tenants’ wages. So, with many people getting decent pay rises and not enough properties being built, many economists are suggesting rents will be 14% to 19% higher by 2027. Even with the house price growth, the numbers for rental investments still look rosy.
Is it the right time to buy your first property in Norwich?
This rise in Norwich house prices has had many people asking whether 2022 is the right time to buy their first home? Should they buy now before Norwich prices rocket even further or delay in the hope that house prices come back down?
As with any important decision in life, this will mainly depend on your own personal life and your motives for wanting to move.
If the Norwich home that you want to buy is on the market, available and you can afford the mortgage, then delaying could be detrimental. It’s like holding off for the ‘next generation TV’, it then coming out; then just as you are about to buy the TV, the next ‘next-generation TV’ gets announced for six months’ time … and the cycle is constantly in motion – so you end up never buying a TV … just like you will never buy your own home!
Buying property is a long-term game
Sometimes you just have to make your decision, get something bought and start the journey of the next 25 to 35 years of living in your family home whilst paying off your mortgage.
The present low-interest rates for first-time buyers mean that there are some very low mortgage deals available for those with a decent deposit, making it a good time to buy a Norwich property, especially if you fix the interest rate.
If your deposit is humbler, the Government’s 5% deposit mortgage guarantee scheme will still enable you to buy a property, albeit at a slightly higher interest rate.
Looking at the bigger picture, these are only my opinions. If inflation doesn’t get too out of hand and interest rates don’t go above 2% to 3%, it looks like Norwich house prices will, for 2022 and a few years beyond, continue upwards albeit with a slower trajectory than 2020/21 and probably with a few short, sharp up and down spikes on the way.
The bottom line is, ensure that any Norwich house move that you intend to make is something that you can afford, allow for future rises in interest rates and make plans for as many eventualities as possible. Do that, and you should be just fine.
Traditionally, if you had not sold your Norwich home by the first week in November, you would normally have to wait for the house sellers to return in the famous Boxing Day rush on the portals (Rightmove, Zoopla, etc) to get potential buyers interested.
Yet matters have been different this year as the various lockdowns have caused a surge in house buying right up until when the Christmas edition of the Radio Times goes on sale.
So, the question is, how will 2022 look regarding the Norwich property market?
The last couple of years in the Norwich property market have been different in many ways. So much so, many Norwich homeowners are presently deliberating whether they should put their Norwich home on the market in January or wait until later in the summer.
Speaking to many Norwich buyers and sellers, (and in fact Norwich buy-to-let landlords) in the last couple of weeks in the run-up to Christmas, many were asking the very same question.
What is going to happen to Norwich house prices in 2022?
Some people asking this question are Norwich buyers troubling themselves that they are about to buy their Norwich home just before a potential property crash, yet others are Norwich homeowners wanting to know where the top of the market is before they sell. Even a handful of Norwich landlords are unable to either start buying or start selling some of their rental portfolio.
Therefore, let’s see what has happened in 2021 to make a better judgment of what should happen in 2022.
Nobody has a crystal ball that can tell what 2022 holds, however most property experts are not forecasting doom and gloom for the British property market.
Whilst the final numbers won’t be known until Easter 2022, it is estimated that in 2021 one in fifteen privately owned homes in the UK are expected to have changed hands, being the busiest year in the last 14 years. Locally,
3,979 properties have changed hands in the last year in Norwich
Although that is only up to October 2021, so numbers will be much higher once all the final counts are in by March/April.
The pandemic made many Norwich families re-evaluate what they wanted from their Norwich home, with many wanting bigger rooms (and more of them). Many in the press dubbed this ‘the race for space’, meaning the property market was flooded with home buyers, most bringing forward the home move they had planned between now and 2025.
The issue was, there weren’t enough Norwich properties on the market to satisfy every Norwich buyer, meaning Norwich house prices have unsurprisingly been driven up.
The average price of a home today in Norwich is £304,800
Although it is still premature to say what will happen in 2022, most property commentators seem assured that we are not heading towards a house price crash, mainly due to one reason.
There aren’t enough properties on the market in Norwich. Simply supply and demand economics!
The property crash in 2008 was caused by everyone dumping their property on the market.
In January 2007, there were 1,642 properties for sale in Norwich, one year later in January 2008, that had risen to 3,932 properties, whilst today, that stands at 863
And I can’t see that changing for 2022.
In 2007, mortgage interest rates were 6.5% to 7.5%, so when the economy started to falter, everyone looked to sell their homes to reduce their outgoings as unemployment rose by over 60% in just a couple of years. This time around most people have mortgage rates of around 2% to 2.5% and unemployment is dropping, meaning they don’t need to sell their Norwich home.
Now of course the stamp duty tax holiday came to an end months ago, and Bank of England base interest rates are expected to rise moderately in the coming year, yet not to the level they were in 2007 (5.75%).
Nonetheless, demand for Norwich homes will still be there. I have even read some reports suggesting that more than 20% of British households are seriously thinking of moving between now and the summer of 2023, and this will support Norwich house prices whilst demand continues to exceed supply.
Norwich house prices will be 3.8% higher by the end of 2022
Another reason why I believe that will be the case is the return to home working. If, as a country, we will need to work from home each winter for the foreseeable future because of new variants, then this will cement the need for people wanting to move home for remote working.
It might be that Norwich buyers are looking for a dedicated office at home or that they feel they now no longer need to be in large built-up areas that are near to their work.
This increase in Norwich house prices is expected to entice even more Norwich house sellers onto the market, which will steady Norwich house prices slightly (as supply increases), yet I still believe there won’t be enough properties coming onto the market to satisfy the colossal demand.
What about the Norwich rental market?
Rents tend to grow in line with tenants’ wages. So, with many people getting decent pay rises and not enough properties being built, many economists are suggesting rents will be 14% to 19% higher by 2027. Even with the house price growth, the numbers for rental investments still look rosy.
Is it the right time to buy your first property in Norwich?
This rise in Norwich house prices has had many people asking whether 2022 is the right time to buy their first home? Should they buy now before Norwich prices rocket even further or delay in the hope that house prices come back down?
As with any important decision in life, this will mainly depend on your own personal life and your motives for wanting to move.
If the Norwich home that you want to buy is on the market, available and you can afford the mortgage, then delaying could be detrimental. It’s like holding off for the ‘next generation TV’, it then coming out; then just as you are about to buy the TV, the next ‘next-generation TV’ gets announced for six months’ time … and the cycle is constantly in motion – so you end up never buying a TV … just like you will never buy your own home!
Buying property is a long-term game
Sometimes you just have to make your decision, get something bought and start the journey of the next 25 to 35 years of living in your family home whilst paying off your mortgage.
The present low-interest rates for first-time buyers mean that there are some very low mortgage deals available for those with a decent deposit, making it a good time to buy a Norwich property, especially if you fix the interest rate.
If your deposit is humbler, the Government’s 5% deposit mortgage guarantee scheme will still enable you to buy a property, albeit at a slightly higher interest rate.
Looking at the bigger picture, these are only my opinions. If inflation doesn’t get too out of hand and interest rates don’t go above 2% to 3%, it looks like Norwich house prices will, for 2022 and a few years beyond, continue upwards albeit with a slower trajectory than 2020/21 and probably with a few short, sharp up and down spikes on the way.
The bottom line is, ensure that any Norwich house move that you intend to make is something that you can afford, allow for future rises in interest rates and make plans for as many eventualities as possible. Do that, and you should be just fine.
Traditionally, if you had not sold your Norwich home by the first week in November, you would normally have to wait for the house sellers to return in the famous Boxing Day rush on the portals (Rightmove, Zoopla, etc) to get potential buyers interested.
Yet matters have been different this year as the various lockdowns have caused a surge in house buying right up until when the Christmas edition of the Radio Times goes on sale.
So, the question is, how will 2022 look regarding the Norwich property market?
The last couple of years in the Norwich property market have been different in many ways. So much so, many Norwich homeowners are presently deliberating whether they should put their Norwich home on the market in January or wait until later in the summer.
Speaking to many Norwich buyers and sellers, (and in fact Norwich buy-to-let landlords) in the last couple of weeks in the run-up to Christmas, many were asking the very same question.
What is going to happen to Norwich house prices in 2022?
Some people asking this question are Norwich buyers troubling themselves that they are about to buy their Norwich home just before a potential property crash, yet others are Norwich homeowners wanting to know where the top of the market is before they sell. Even a handful of Norwich landlords are unable to either start buying or start selling some of their rental portfolio.
Therefore, let’s see what has happened in 2021 to make a better judgment of what should happen in 2022.
Nobody has a crystal ball that can tell what 2022 holds, however most property experts are not forecasting doom and gloom for the British property market.
Whilst the final numbers won’t be known until Easter 2022, it is estimated that in 2021 one in fifteen privately owned homes in the UK are expected to have changed hands, being the busiest year in the last 14 years. Locally,
3,979 properties have changed hands in the last year in Norwich
Although that is only up to October 2021, so numbers will be much higher once all the final counts are in by March/April.
The pandemic made many Norwich families re-evaluate what they wanted from their Norwich home, with many wanting bigger rooms (and more of them). Many in the press dubbed this ‘the race for space’, meaning the property market was flooded with home buyers, most bringing forward the home move they had planned between now and 2025.
The issue was, there weren’t enough Norwich properties on the market to satisfy every Norwich buyer, meaning Norwich house prices have unsurprisingly been driven up.
The average price of a home today in Norwich is £304,800
Although it is still premature to say what will happen in 2022, most property commentators seem assured that we are not heading towards a house price crash, mainly due to one reason.
There aren’t enough properties on the market in Norwich. Simply supply and demand economics!
The property crash in 2008 was caused by everyone dumping their property on the market.
In January 2007, there were 1,642 properties for sale in Norwich, one year later in January 2008, that had risen to 3,932 properties, whilst today, that stands at 863
And I can’t see that changing for 2022.
In 2007, mortgage interest rates were 6.5% to 7.5%, so when the economy started to falter, everyone looked to sell their homes to reduce their outgoings as unemployment rose by over 60% in just a couple of years. This time around most people have mortgage rates of around 2% to 2.5% and unemployment is dropping, meaning they don’t need to sell their Norwich home.
Now of course the stamp duty tax holiday came to an end months ago, and Bank of England base interest rates are expected to rise moderately in the coming year, yet not to the level they were in 2007 (5.75%).
Nonetheless, demand for Norwich homes will still be there. I have even read some reports suggesting that more than 20% of British households are seriously thinking of moving between now and the summer of 2023, and this will support Norwich house prices whilst demand continues to exceed supply.
Norwich house prices will be 3.8% higher by the end of 2022
Another reason why I believe that will be the case is the return to home working. If, as a country, we will need to work from home each winter for the foreseeable future because of new variants, then this will cement the need for people wanting to move home for remote working.
It might be that Norwich buyers are looking for a dedicated office at home or that they feel they now no longer need to be in large built-up areas that are near to their work.
This increase in Norwich house prices is expected to entice even more Norwich house sellers onto the market, which will steady Norwich house prices slightly (as supply increases), yet I still believe there won’t be enough properties coming onto the market to satisfy the colossal demand.
What about the Norwich rental market?
Rents tend to grow in line with tenants’ wages. So, with many people getting decent pay rises and not enough properties being built, many economists are suggesting rents will be 14% to 19% higher by 2027. Even with the house price growth, the numbers for rental investments still look rosy.
Is it the right time to buy your first property in Norwich?
This rise in Norwich house prices has had many people asking whether 2022 is the right time to buy their first home? Should they buy now before Norwich prices rocket even further or delay in the hope that house prices come back down?
As with any important decision in life, this will mainly depend on your own personal life and your motives for wanting to move.
If the Norwich home that you want to buy is on the market, available and you can afford the mortgage, then delaying could be detrimental. It’s like holding off for the ‘next generation TV’, it then coming out; then just as you are about to buy the TV, the next ‘next-generation TV’ gets announced for six months’ time … and the cycle is constantly in motion – so you end up never buying a TV … just like you will never buy your own home!
Buying property is a long-term game
Sometimes you just have to make your decision, get something bought and start the journey of the next 25 to 35 years of living in your family home whilst paying off your mortgage.
The present low-interest rates for first-time buyers mean that there are some very low mortgage deals available for those with a decent deposit, making it a good time to buy a Norwich property, especially if you fix the interest rate.
If your deposit is humbler, the Government’s 5% deposit mortgage guarantee scheme will still enable you to buy a property, albeit at a slightly higher interest rate.
Looking at the bigger picture, these are only my opinions. If inflation doesn’t get too out of hand and interest rates don’t go above 2% to 3%, it looks like Norwich house prices will, for 2022 and a few years beyond, continue upwards albeit with a slower trajectory than 2020/21 and probably with a few short, sharp up and down spikes on the way.
The bottom line is, ensure that any Norwich house move that you intend to make is something that you can afford, allow for future rises in interest rates and make plans for as many eventualities as possible. Do that, and you should be just fine.
WHILE several property industry forums this week have been headlining gloomy predictions from analysts who caution a UK house prices’ crash ‘is looking extremely likely’, closer to home, independent property consultancy Galbraith reports strong demand in Scotland’s rural property sector.
The firm reveals it agreed sales on 39 properties in the past 14 days – slightly higher than the average for this time of year, which it says indicates the resilience of the rural property market.
Dominic Wedderburn, senior associate, comments: “Despite the turmoil on the financial markets, the Scottish property sector is performing well, and demand is still good. Whilst the period of very intense competition between buyers immediately after lockdown has now ended, I would characterize the market as steady, with a good number of buyers across most price bands. The most popular properties are those that are well-presented and in an appealing location. Demand for these is good and, in most cases, offers more than the asking price are received within a few weeks.”
In Perth, colleague Scott Holley is similarly upbeat. “There remains a determination and motivation from serious buyers to find a suitable property,” he says. “This is clear from the volume of enquiries and viewings received on newly launched property during the last seven days. Buyers are prepared to act quickly when the right house becomes available and they remain committed to the transaction, due to limited supply.
“For sellers, sensible pricing and a focus on presentation are crucial. A good quality family home recently launched has had 16 viewings booked in and two offers in under one week – we believe this is proof the market remains fundamentally sound.”
THE recent passing of the highly contentious Cost of Living (Protection of Tenants) (Scotland) Bill – which includes imposing a freeze on rent increases and a moratorium on evictions – has been roundly denounced by many of the landowners and organisations who provide homes for a large percentage of the Scottish population.
Riccardo Giovanacci, managing director of Glasgow-based property management service Newton Letting, says the Bill “appears to be another knee-jerk reaction to measures the UK Government has been introducing in Westminster.” He continues: “The landlords’ voice has been pre-emptively dismissed and they will, once again, have to like it or lump it. There is only so much of this high-handed – not to say oppressive – political behaviour the sector can take.
The scales have been tipped in favour of tenants’ rights for a considerable time
“The new measures will further disadvantage them while incentivising unreasonable tenants not to play ball. The tragic irony is that most landlords are perfectly capable of self-regulation. Most will forego rent increases if they have a good tenant in place and be satisfied with reasonable increases when properties are re-let.
“The scales have been tipped in favour of tenants’ rights for a considerable time, but now it is not a gram or two at a time, but kilos. The inevitable effect will be that landlords will sell up, supply will be reduced and prices will soar – exactly what the administration professes that it wants to avoid.”
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London Evening Standard (West End Final A)
IT IS a full generation since the era of negative equity, mass repossessions and general property market misery in the early Nineties.
Since the market turned around 1995 owning property in the UK has been largely a one-way bet, particularly in London, with the exception of a blip after the global financial crisis. Average prices in the capital are now at all time highs of well over £500,000 despite, well, everything.
Today the spectre of a return to a Nineties-style sustained fall in property values was raised in a thought-provoking analysis from Panmure Gordon economist Simon French in a note eyecatchingly titled “Bricking It”
He argues that a fall in prices of 14% — or twice that in real terms — over the next three years would be consistent with long-term interest rates stabilising at around the 4% mark -— an entirely reasonable assumption. Adjusted for inflation that would take average prices back to levels last seen in early 2013 when the Help to Buy programme was launched by George Osborne
This would be a major headache not just for home owners faced with rising mortgage bills and sinking equity but also another huge obstacle for Liz Truss in her ambition to put Britain on the path of “growth, growth, growth”.
As French explains, a “negative wealth effect” on that scale would translate to a £35 billion a year hit to consumer spending equivalent to a 1.4% reduction in GDP.
He concludes: ”This would be a very challenging headwind to a Government trying to double the trend rate of UK growth.” To put it mildly.
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LONDON: UK estate agents turned pessimistic about the housing market, anticipating prices will decline over the next year for the first time since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) said its measure of price expectations for the next year fell to minus 18% in September from 3% the month before.
Inquiries by potential home buyers fell for a fifth month, and some sellers were reluctant to bring properties to market.
The figures reflect a surge in interest rates and turmoil in mortgage markets stemming from the Bank of England’s measures to raise borrowing costs and quell inflation.
While a lack of supply of properties on the market kept prices buoyant, RICS said many agents expect sentiment to deteriorate with headwinds facing the UK economy.
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● A historical pinch point
The rate on a typical fiveyear fixed mortgage rose above 6% last week for the first time in 12 years – upsetting a standard
“given” in the UK property market, said Joe Easton on Bloomberg, that paying a mortgage is cheaper than renting. According to a report by investment bank UBS, soaring interest rates have pushed repayments past 40% of the average homeowner’s income.
The report notes that average monthly mortgage payments were £800 at the end of 2021; now they’re in excess of £1,100. The 40% benchmark is a “historical pinch point” that is a key indicator for house price falls, said UBS. The bank has joined a growing group of experts, including Capital Economics and Oxford Economics, warning that house prices are likely to fall 10% or more in 2023.
● The return of gating
It isn’t just homeowners who are suffering, said Tom Howard in The Times. Property funds are also in trouble. Calastone, the fund-data provider, reckons that “more than £100m was withdrawn from UK property funds in the ten days after the Chancellor’s mini-Budget” – almost eight times the amount withdrawn in the previous three weeks. Cue the return of the “gates” that asset managers put up after the Brexit vote, and in the early days of the pandemic, to stop investors stampeding for the exit. Last week, Schroders, BlackRock and Columbia Threadneedle all took steps to limit withdrawals from their real-estate funds.
● Fears of fire sales
The imposition of “gates” is a scary prospect for investors, said the FT, but fund managers argue that they have no choice – because rapid withdrawals pose an existential threat for funds “which can take several months to offload assets”. A big problem, Roger Clarke of property exchange IPSX told the FT, is that funds are often forced “to sell their best assets” to meet redemptions – at the expense of the other people who are still invested. “So the rational investor puts in a redemption request.” Soaring withdrawals are now raising fears of fire sales. The most likely buyers, according to Clarke, are institutions with pockets deep enough to skirt the debt markets. “UK institutional capital [and] UK savers are losing their trophy assets again.”
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Growing a property portfolio in the UK (without flying back) gave her the freedom she needed as an expat stay-at-home mother of two. “It gave me time freedom because I could be present for my children, make every school pickup, and build an income for our family. I could be spontaneous to be able to say yes to activities the kids wanted to do or to, make fairy cakes, or roll with changes of plans. Because it was my business, I controlled what I did and when.
“One of my rules for making this work was that I didn’t want to fly back to the UK. So that meant the business gave me location freedom — as I can carry on growing the portfolio from wherever I am. It gave me time and freedom to be with my family and to be able to live where we wanted, which for many years was Abu Dhabi, whilst working towards financial freedom.”
How did she start a business remotely?
Talbot managed all her business set-up costs in the UK, where she registered a ‘ltd’ company with Companies House to provide additional services and support other property buyers. (‘Ltd.’ is a standard abbreviation for ‘limited’, a form of corporate structure available in countries including the UK, Ireland, and Canada. It is a suffix that follows the company name, indicating that it is a private limited company.) “In the UK, I needed to get insurance, register with the Information Commissioners Office, register with a property redress scheme, and register with the government’s HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) department.”
She provided services to a limited number of other investors who wanted to grow a UK property portfolio, but didn’t have the time (due to work or other commitments). “I was able to help a few other people grow their UK property portfolios by overseeing everything, and they paid me a fee. It helped me to fund my portfolio growth and business.”
Set rules for how you balance your life.
Talbot didn’t want to fly back to the UK to make it work and didn’t want her phone to ring during her kids’ dinner time. She said, “Being clear about my goals helped me see what I had to find solutions for and decide how things got done.”
She learnt that not everyone could handle working with someone who wasn’t physically present. “Some people need you to be face to face. That’s okay, but if you’re out of the UK, and they’re in the UK, they’re probably not the best person for you to be interacting with. It’s okay to move on and find suppliers or contractors who can handle working with someone who isn’t in the same room or town as them.”
After overseeing 28 UK property purchases in the last four years, she considers, “I’m learning every week.”
Her advice to others who desire time and location freedom is to make it a daily habit to work on their goals. “My time is mainly spent with my family, especially after we left the UAE in January this year. My husband retired, and we set off on a slow world trip whilst homeschooling the children and carrying on growing the UK property portfolio.”
“I’m in Malaysia at the moment, we’ve been here since July. We’re going to Thailand in a couple of weeks. Then probably Vietnam in December, although not sure, that may change,” added Talbot, as she detailed her current nomadic lifestyle of her family of four.
Her experience shows it doesn’t need much time, but only a little time daily, to move things forward and follow up. “Make sure the tasks you are doing in your business are ones you love — and partner, contract, work with others or bring virtual assistants (VAs) to do the rest.”
Leeds has the better balance between being big enough and lively enough to have everything I want from a city without being 'too big'. Being easier to get out in to the country from Leeds is also a big plus for me. I always thought Manchester was getting too much of a 'London' vibe but that brought a lot of the downsides with it like the traffic and crowdedness, lack of green space, towers everywhere which made the centre feel even darker and grey-er. Weather was worse too which didn't help. I reckon if you love places like London and city life and don't mind the crowdedness, you'll like Manchester more but otherwise I'd go with Leeds.
You should try to stay close to the train line into the airport. There's a tram line too but it has so many stops and is pretty slow as a result, I wouldn't want to use it for a commute. So somewhere between Ladybarn / Didsbury is probably the best mix of easy access into work, decent things to do nearby, and affordability. Maybe if you bought a folding bike or scooter that would expand where you could look, as you wouldn't need to be in walking distance of said stations.
It depends wether you'd like city centre or more on the outskirts! Outside the centre, Didsbury, Withington, Levenshulme, Chorlton are all pretty nice and kind of between the airport and the centre with train/ metro link connections.
I think if you want lively and diverse check out Whalley Range, Fallowfield, Longsight, Levenshulme, Hulme, Withington/East Didsbury, and Ancoats. All of these areas are being/have been gentrified to a lesser or greater degree but there remains a rich, friendly social and cultural mix, and rents are still very reasonable.
Trafford 、Old Trafford Salford Quays
In Manchester city, Castlefield is a bit cheaper than more central areas. Ancoats is nice as well. It's the city centre close to bars. I'm not sure if Deansgate and Spinningfields have 1 bed flats in that price range as they are sought after areas, but you might find a studio though. For suburbs you have more options in that price, like Didsbury, Altrincham, Sale, Prestwich etc. They have a more residential feel to them with good transport links.
Castlefield, Deansgate, Ancoats and Spinningfields
Sale, Timperley, Altrincham. All nice areas, good for transport, lots of parks and woodland walks if that's your thing. Nice bars. Altrincham is the most expensive, I pay 760, but its nice to go out with friends and there's a tram station and a train. Just depends on each individual person but I pay more to feel safer in my area. I avoid Levenshulme and parts of Salford
08/10/2022
“ALITTLE TURBULENCE” is how Kwasi Kwarteng, the chancellor of the exchequer, later described the effects of the now-notorious “mini-budget” which he delivered on September 23rd. In the housing market Mr Kwarteng has unleashed a bonanza of bumpiness.
According to Moneyfacts, a data firm, between September 23rd and October 4th over 40% of mortgage products disappeared from the market as lenders avoided getting on the wrong side of spiking interest rates. Demand has surged for those pro
ducts that remained available. Paul Timmins of Quick Mortgages, a broker, says that most customers used to get in touch perhaps a month before their fixed-rate mortgage was due to expire. Now he is hearing from panicking customers as much as a year before.
Interest rates were on the rise long before Mr Kwarteng’s fiscal statement. On January 31st the average rate on new mortgages was 1.59%; by August 31st that had risen to 2.56%. But recent increases have been much faster. Between September 1st and October 3rd expectations for where the Bank of England’s base rate, which influences mortgage rates, will be in two years rose by 1.5 percentage points. Andrew Wishart of Capital Economics, a consultancy, expects average new mortgage rates of 6% in the first quarter of next year (see chart). That would be the fastest annual jump since 1989.
The risk is that this jump in rates will set off a nasty downward spiral. Some people may be unable to keep repaying their mortgages, prompting a rise in repossessions. Mr Wishart predicts arrears to rise from 0.7% of mortgages now to 1.6% in 2024. Rather than falling behind on dearer mortgage payments, other households will pull back on spending elsewhere. Prospective buyers will find themselves unable to afford what they could before. That, combined with a darkening macroeconomic backdrop, will push down house prices, making homeowners feel poorer and further crimping their spending.
Some reassurance comes from the fact that lending standards have been relatively stringent, at least compared with those before the global financial crisis of 2007-08. For example, stress-testing to see if borrowers can withstand a big change in their mortgage rate has been much more common. Because house prices have risen by over 25% since June 2020, it would take a large correction to propel lots of borrowers into negative equity. Those unfortunate enough to be struggling with their interest payments should get a sympathetic reception from their banks, who do not want the bad press of evicting people.
Even so, higher interest rates will hurt. Mr Wishart expects average mortgage costs to grow from 2% of total household income to over 5% by mid-2024. That shock will be concentrated on the third of British households that have an outstanding mortgage on a home they own. Neal Hudson of Residential Analysts, a consultancy, reckons that currently around 300,000 mortgages each quarter are coming to the end of their fixed-rate period, rising to 375,000 in the second quarter of next year. Yet even for those who do not have to remortgage immediately, spending now will be dampened in anticipation of much higher bills in future.
House prices already seem to be turning. Mr Timmins has noticed a sharp dropoff in enquiries from new customers over the past month as affordability constraints bite. Although Nationwide’s house-price index showed that prices in September were 9.5% higher than a year earlier, monthly growth has stalled. Gabriella Dickens of Pantheon Macroeconomics, a consultancy, calls it “the start of a prolonged fall”. In May 2021 Jon Cunliffe, deputy governor of the Bank of England, cited evidence showing that a one-percentagepoint increase in the bank’s policy rate would lower house prices by 6-9%.
If prices plummet uniformly then those in the toughest bind will be those who bought recently (meaning they have not had the benefit of rises in house prices), as well as homeowners in London, where recent price increases have been relatively modest and where the ratio between loans and incomes tends to be highest. Mr Hudson estimates that a 20% fall in house prices would leave nearly 10% of mortgages in London larger than the value of the underlying property.
From the perspective of monetary policymakers at the Bank of England, whose next meeting is due in early November, higher interest rates are meant to cause pain. They are worried about high inflation becoming embedded in the economy, a concern that the government’s fiscal splurge will only have exacerbated. But they usually prefer to pull policy levers slowly and thoughtfully. The next increase is likely to be a wrench. ■
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而那款用戶不足3位數的游戲，就是其中以虛擬地產作為核心玩法的Decentraland，不過這只是元宇宙游戲用戶流失的冰山一角。
雖然從資本市場來看，元宇宙游戲依然欣欣向榮，但對統計數據越來越嚴格的審查已經暴露出它們繁榮背後的底褲。
01 用戶跑了，代幣跌了 盡管世界各地的公司進行了大量投資和努力，但元宇宙游戲玩家仍在不斷流失。
從Steam的30天平均用戶數來看，這三款游戲的每日活躍用戶數都發生了下降，在過去 30 天裡，The Sandbox失去了29%的活躍用戶（降至1,180人），而Decentraland失去了15%（降至 978人）。
📸️ Axie Infinity © 必應
Axie Infinity雖然是三者中最成功的，但也僅擁有107,240名玩家，與3月初相比人數下降了 30%。這顯然不是什麼好消息，當這些DAU數據與Counterstrike、DOTA2和PUBG：Battlegrounds等熟悉的傳統游戲代表作展開較量時，情況就變得一目瞭然。
至少就目前而言，非區塊鏈的傳統游戲依然吸引著大量用戶來玩。
📸️玩家數量的顯著差距 © 必應
高情商的說法是：這些數據表明元宇宙游戲有著巨大改進的空間與增長潛力，低情商的說法則是大眾對頂著元宇宙噱頭的游戲並不感冒。
這些平台還沒來得及為無法吸引新的活躍用戶而苦惱，另一個殘酷的事實就已經擺在了面前：
📸️ 不過ROBLOX不太有這些苦惱 © 必應
不論Sandbox的SAND、Decentraland的MANA，還是Axie Infinity的AXS，這三個平台的交易用代幣都在發生了迄今為止最為嚴重的價值下降：其中MANA下降了 26%，AXS下降了38%，SAND更是下降了46%——可謂最大的輸家。與此同時，穩定波動的比特幣雖然下跌，但美元估值僅下跌了5%。
換句話說，如果加密愛好者只是將他們的價值保留在比特幣中並且什麼都不做，而不是投資於新興的元宇宙代幣，他們的損失會少得多。
📸️ Sandbox © 必應
這些聽起來頗為誇張的數據，與它們獲得的曝光與熱度相比落差簡直不要太大。其實只要簡單瞭解一下這三個平台，就能將它們如今面臨窘境的原因窺知一二。
02 三大元宇宙游戲，怎麼玩 Axie Infinity Axie Infinity是一款數字寵物世界形式的去中心化游戲。玩家通過虛擬貨幣購買三隻小寵物（Axie），使用它們繁殖出新的寵物進行戰斗，並且與其他玩家戰斗賺取加密代幣，或將自己多餘的寵物賣給他人獲取收益，此外玩家也可以在游戲中購買虛擬地產。
Axie以NFT的形式存在且可在游戲內和公開市場交易；土地是游戲內的另一種NFT，供應總量90,601塊。
📸️ © 百度
Play To Earn是Axie Infinity吸引玩家的核心要素，簡單來說就是通過游戲即可賺錢。游戲開發團隊也可以從玩家出售游戲內資產的每筆交易當中收取4.25%交易費用，作為自身的收益。在之前的文章中小藍對這款游戲有過詳細介紹，歡迎閱讀瞭解：
Decentraland 與Axie Infinity虛擬對戰的形式不同，Decentraland基於以太坊構建，是一個由用戶共同擁有並構建的虛擬世界平台。
它是一個為用戶們提供了一個創建個人形象、與其他用戶互動社交、參與音樂會或藝術表演等娛樂活動並在數字土地上建造房屋等活動的地方。簡單來說，Decentraland 就像是一個升級版的《我的世界》。
📸️ Decentraland © 百度
在這裡用戶可以隨意探索虛擬空間，還能夠通過以太坊區塊鏈平台購買土地，成為這片土地的擁有者，擁有對土地的所有權，從而在領地上創造出獨一無二的使用體驗。 玩家可以在Decentraland中自由走動並與其他玩家互動、交談、逛展。不過目前 Decentraland的用戶體驗遠遠算不上精細，甚至連流暢都達不到。
半個多月之前，Decentraland剛剛舉辦了首屆元宇宙時裝周。
The Sandbox The Sandbox是一款構建在以太坊上的沙盒游戲。玩家可以在游戲中自由探索與創造，而游戲本身並沒有主線劇情，與《Decentraland》並沒有太大的不同。
玩家可以先購買The Sandbox的地塊，然後在這個地塊上創造一個像素化的世界。The Sandbox還為創作者提供了一套工具，可以讓他們發揮自己想像力去創造屬於自己的世界。
📸️ © 必應
在The Sandbox中，任何玩家都可以100%的擁有自己的創作，並且可以將自己的創作製作成NFT，上傳到市場上供他人購買，又或者可以將自己創作的游戲供他人遊玩，並獲得其中的收益。 12 4
史泰龍利柳 • 2h 在The Sandbox中，任何玩家都可以100%的擁有自己的創作，並且可以將自己的創作製作成NFT，上傳到市場上供他人購買，又或者可以將自己創作的游戲供他人遊玩，並獲得其中的收益。
其實從介紹中我們便能發現它們的共同點：這些游戲都可以實現邊玩邊賺錢，也就是以Play To Earn作為核心玩法，通過出售游戲過程中創造的NFT來獲得利益。但就是這個看起來錢景滿滿的核心玩法，卻在如今進入窘境。
03 不止是不好玩這麼簡單 這些之前風頭一時無兩的游戲面臨如今狀況的原因，從用戶最多的Axie Infinity最近出現的種種狀況即可窺知一二：氪金的玩法、低下的收益率與安全性的漏洞，都成為近期Axie Infinity勸退玩家的因素。
📸️ Axie Infinity對戰界面 © 必應
Messari此前分析稱，Axie Infinity的NFT以及付費貨幣選項為這款游戲帶來了一種相當嚴重的付費取勝（pay-to-win) 概念：這是一種在傳統游戲市場中絕大部分的游戲公司都會竭盡所能避免的情況，因為靠氪金帶來的勝利往往都會遭到大部分玩家唾棄。
除了玩法硬傷外，半個月前，作為Axie Infinity自營的區塊鏈平台，Ronin因驗證節點遭黑客入侵而損失了價值超6億美元的加密資產，這讓Axie Infinity的處境雪上加霜。
📸️ Axie Infinity對戰界面 © 必應
然而此次攻擊帶來的影響並沒有結束，由於有用戶稱無法從游戲中解押相關資產導致的玩家信心受損，Axie Infinity的交易數據也全面滑坡：Dappradar數據顯示，截至4月12日，Axie Infinity游戲內原生NFT的地板價下降至20.47美元，30日下跌了38.02%；游戲內NFT的整體交易額降至6099萬美元，30日內接近腰斬，下跌了46.87%。
上週五，Axie Infinity的開發公司Sky Mavis表示，將對黑客攻擊導致的用戶損失“承擔全部責任”，Sky Mavis已經籌集了1.5億美元，以補償受攻擊事件影響的用戶損失。
📸️ Axie Infinity界面 © 必應
雖然做出了彌補，但是壞消息並沒有停止。作為以Play To Earn模式為核心噱頭的游戲，這一關鍵玩法也開始面臨著挑戰：資產通脹導致的收益率下降，已經在破壞著玩家們繼續參與游戲的動力。畢竟除去可以賺錢這一因素外，Axie Infinity的從游戲性角度來看其實十分枯燥。
此外，因游戲資源分佈不均而帶來的階級差異和收益差距也在沖擊著玩家們的心態。在游戲中，大部分玩家依然只是玩游戲為投資者賺取收益的打工人。這一模式批評人士犀利地稱之為“鏈上農奴制”。=
📸️ The Sandbox的世界 © 必應
同樣採取Play To Earn模式的Decentraland與The Sandbox自然也面臨著這樣的問題，當然後兩者由於與眾多企業達成的合作，受到的沖擊還在可以接受的范圍。
不過從目前的整體情況來看，各大公司在虛擬世界中的投資似乎並沒有產生價值，無論是玩家數量還是NFT的交易量：畢竟整個市場的大行情也會沖擊到這些依託NFT產生收益的平台。
一份報告顯示，NFT交易量自去年11月達到峰值以後，不到一個月便下降了80%，導致NFT損失了近一半的價值。公眾對NFT的強烈反對被認為是導致NFT銷售崩潰的原因，但關於黑客和詐騙的報道同樣起到了一定作用。
📸️ The Sandbox的 © 必應
雖然這些平台都在不斷修復著出現的問題並完善著游戲機制，但要解決由於核心玩法缺陷導致的問題並不容易，更何況大環境的風向早在去年便出現了降溫的跡象。不過並不是所有人都失去了信心，畢竟Axie Infinity依然留存著10萬級的玩家。
在接受NBC新聞的采訪時，24歲的Axie Infinity玩家Gravelle表示：
我認為這些是我們這個領域早期必須經歷的，我不打算賣任何東西。我會等著看這些恐懼會帶來怎樣的下降，並試圖用一些較低的價格（獲得想擁有的NFT）。
另一位去年6月開始進入Axie Infinity的玩家Evans也表示：
我仍然相信Axie Infinity, 我仍然喜歡這個空間的一切。
或許，這真的只是元宇宙游戲發展過程中的一段彎路？