How does the 2024 Property Market look?
New year, new property market. What will the next 12 months hold for buyers, sellers, investors and renters? The latest statistics reveal a moderating market backed by a rapidly improving mortgage sector.
We start 2024 with an average new seller asking price of £355,177, according to Rightmove. The average house price – issued by Nationwide and calculated based on owner occupier house purchase transactions involving a mortgage – was £257,443. The UK’s average monthly rent was £1,270 – a figure released by HomeLet.
So, is this year the right time to buy or sell? For some, it may be a case of they can’t hold off any longer. When experts talk about the property market, a recurring phrase is ‘pent up demand’. This refers to a build-up of moving intention, which has been delayed as a result of negative market influences.
Buyers and sellers put plans on hold as far back as October 2022, when Liz Truss’s mini-Budget caused a domestic financial crisis. Seemingly overnight, mortgage rates doubled – rises that were against a backdrop of high inflation and a cost-of-living crisis.
Thankfully, the new year brings better news and it’s fair to say we start 2024 with pent up demand bubbling away. Setting the tone was an announcement by Propertymark’s Nathan Emerson, the CEO of the leading membership body for sales and letting agents. He was widely reported as saying his organisation is ‘optimistic’ and that it believes the ‘peak of turmoil’ in the property market has passed.
Brighter days have arrived because the Bank of England’s base rate failed to hit predicted highs and inflation is trending down, giving lenders room for manoeuvre. As a result, January’s finance headlines have been dominated by mortgage rates reducing by the day.
Halifax and HSBC started the New Year by slashing some rates by as much as 1%, which sparked competition. Brokers are predicting five-year fixed mortgages will be available below 4%, with two-year fixed products below 4.5%.
Lower mortgage rates are just the positivity injection the market needs and we should see increased activity from borrowers who have put off a purchase until repayments became more affordable.
It appears the anticipation of better conditions has already had an effect. The latest Homebuyer Hotspots Demand Index by comparison site GetAgent revealed buyer demand across England edged up 0.3% in the final quarter of 2023.
GetAgent’s research dovetails with post-Christmas statistics released by Rightmove, which bodes well for anyone thinking of moving soon. The portal claimed a new record number of sellers came to market on Boxing Day 2023 – a 26% increase when compared to the same day in 2022.
Buyers were also in the mood to find a new home, with the number of purchasers contacting estate agents about homes for sale 17% higher on Boxing Day 2023, when compared to 2022.
With such figures pointing to more home movers in 2024, it comes as no surprise that Knight Frank predicts a rise in transactional activity over the next six months. The agent’s head of UK residential research, Tom Bill, also feels the worst of house price corrections are behind us, with demand strengthening and a stable job market imparting confidence.
As well as returning confidence in the sales market, there is a new sense of positivity among landlords as we start 2024. A new survey by The Mortgage Lender found 74% of residential buy-to-let landlords felt confident about the performance of the property market over the coming year. In addition, 27% felt very confident.
Drilling down to establish what type of landlords felt the most optimistic about 2024, landlords who owned homes in multiple occupancy were the most bullish (86%), followed by student accommodation landlords (84%) and portfolio landlords with more than five properties (82%).
When it came to the performance of their own rental properties over the next 12 months, 71% of landlords felt confident, with portfolio landlords (five-plus properties) feeling the most confident at 78%.
It should be noted that there could be a fresh delay in transactional activity in the first quarter of 2024. Rumours are circulating that a favourable change to stamp duty rates may form part of the pre-election Spring Budget. This is due to take place on 6th March and anyone planning to buy a property – especially additional home purchasers – may wait to see if the Chancellor will make their purchase cheaper.
Happily, indications show that 2024 will be a year when home movers gleefully find a new home more affordable, rather than more expensive. With this in mind, Viewber is prepared for an increased number of accompanied viewing requests and property visits.
We work for buyers, investors, agents and auctioneers – anyone who needs to see inside a property. Contact the Viewber team to discover how we can help as the market swings into New Year action. Our network is nationwide and works seven days a week, including evenings and national holidays.
