One in four say they are people are more likely to move house in the next 12 months as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a global survey by Knight Frank.
The international estate agency survey polled 700 clients across 44 countries and found that the UK, Spain and France, are the top three locations for those considering a move abroad.
Improved access to quality of healthcare is now the second most important motive behind moving, just behind the desire to upgrade the family home, according to the research.
Buyers expect property prices to decline over the next 12 months, although 53 per cent of respondents say their budget has remained the same or increased since the start of the crisis.
Over a quarter of respondents say they are more likely to buy a second home as a result of the pandemic and foreign governments’ handling of the Covid-19 crisis has become a key consideration.
Forty-five per cent of respondents say they are more likely to buy a detached family home than they were prior to Covid-19, while 66 per cent say large gardens and outdoor space are important.
Nearly two-thirds of respondents say they are more likely to work from home post-lockdown, which explains why 64 per cent say a home office is now more important.
The survey found that buyers expect prices to fall over the next year in 16 of the 20 global cities tracked.
Of the 56 per cent of respondents who expect prices to fall over the next 12 months, 27 per cent expect prices to fall by less than 10 per cent, but 25 per cent expect no change and 19 per cent expect prices to increase.
Knight Frank head of international residential research Kate Everett-Allen says: “The crisis has fundamentally changed the way we live our everyday lives with the home now a hub from which we work, exercise, learn, socialise and relax.
“With demands on the home expanding and people having had time to reflect on the way they live and use their space, it is inevitable that as we ease out of lockdown these changes will have repercussions on property markets around the world.”
