Work from home, the race for space, countryside and house prices

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Since all the lockdowns, work from home, no travel abroad etc, there has been the much discussed "race for space" and a movement of people to buy in country village locations or even the proper countryside. Buyers chasing proximity to shops, pubs, restaurants, public transport and work has completely flipped to chasing walks, beach, home offices and large gardens - outside main centres.

Meanwhile, business and government seem to be about to begin to pull us back to the office (at least a few days a week), back to the town centres, back to restaurant and entertainment quarters and appear keen to encourage allow us to resume holidays abroad.

This now has me wondering - we've seen house prices move recently - up or down - based on the pressures of work from home and zero travel...do we think this will last, especially if there is a trend to return at least part time to the office and resume city night life and travel?

What are our predictions for the next 12 to 24 months?

I think places with no private outside space will drop in price. I think the usual pressures of school, work etc will keep some areas high, I think outdoor space accessibility/fewer neighbours will make some areas see prices rise

My prediction is a generally overheating market.
London will always hold appeal but I think we will see rural locations boom too.
People have been holding out for a lonnnng time brexit uncertainty and then covid so the market is going to run fairly hot certainly over the summer at least.

We tried to buy a 2 bed near us recently it was marketed at 535k which we though rather punchy but offered 515k because it really suited what we wanted (we were looking for family) and just wanted to do a deal and get moving. Within a week there were 5+ offers and it went for over 550k... we are a nice but fairly boring zone 6 suburb of London..

For all those looking to move out for bigger homes and outdoor space sce, I can tell you that I am doing the reverse snd there was a lot of competition. Houses going under in just a couple weeks.
I think as furlough ends and people start getting back in to the office (and shops etc - and many people are fed up with the isolation of wfh) that the market will slow, partly because people will be busier. Prices will flatten a bit, but I don't see them going down much. Flats in cities with no space may be harder to shift, but as offices reopen I think there will be a new demand for them, though not enough to move prices up much.
There's always been a trend to move out of the city when starting a family, but I think empty nesters want to move back in.
Hopefully by this time next year the market will be back to normal - no huge jumps in prices and no stressful rushes to complete before certain deadlines.

I think it really depends on what the definitive future of WFH/back in office looks like. There definitely seemed to be very much why not continue on as is forever, through to everyone back in, and seems to have stuck on a blended approach. I do also feel places without gardens regardless of where will fall in price.

We are in Cambridgeshire and it’s completely bonkers. 800k houses are going SSTC in a couple of days.

Quite a few houses near me (suburbs, tier 2 city) are going to SSTC in less than a week. I could see this happening last summer with terraces in the £300s with a garden, especially near greenspace. I don't think I've seen this here before? Not outside London anyway?

I can't work out if it's bigger city (e.g. London) people moving out here or locals upsizing/upgreening, but it's madness. I'm so glad I'm not buying and especially that I'm not a FTB, it must be so stressful.

I just remembered the other wild card - Hong Kong buyers. They've started buying already, or so I've read.

*detached houses

I've just signed a new contract, permanent work from home. I'm thrilled. All the afternoon school run hassle has just disappeared. Huge relief. Now I can do my job without stressing.

Ds doesn't need a playroom anymore so it's being repurposed

I have this discussion at home as well as we are looking to buy. DH also has some short term options to WFH most of the week. But his view is that in 3 years time this pandemic will be a distant memory. The rat race in the city will be back on and those aspiring for career growth will be back networking over after work drinks, meeting people face to face and maintaining high visibility. In his office lot of jobs are being relocated to Poland from high cost locations in Europe, so those who choose to work from the country will find their roles under increased scrutiny.

The question also is, who is buying the houses of people that are moving from London to the country. Unless these people have loads of extra savings sitting around and are buying a second property.

Ah, I just found an anecdote over in the comments section of a (reputable) newspaper which may explain some of what we're seeing.

The commenter states that woman they know sold her home, but couldn't find anywhere to rent, even when she bid £200 over the rental asking. When she approached the LL, he informed her that the successful bidder had bid £200 over, plus 12 months rent in advance, plus £5000 cash in hand. Why? He was divorcing and desperate to leave the family home.

That account could obviously be made up, but if true it could be an indictator that one of the 3 "D"s which normally force houses sold and therefore house prices down in an economic crisis, is actually working in the opposite direction now, as lockdown has made people more desperate than usual to get away from their now-ex.

Perhaps some of the sales are family homes, with 2 smaller homes being bought from mortgage and proceeds?