PROPERTY MARKET UPDATE – WINTER 2023/24
As we approach the end of 2023 and move into 2024, the local residential property market is seeing more activity which has been influenced by the Bank of England holding the bank base rate at 5.25% which has led to lenders continuing to reduce the rates on their mortgage products.
The market has been affected by the increased cost of borrowing compared to 12 months previous when buyers could obtain a fixed rate mortgage for below 2% – rates for similar products are now just below 5% so the extra cost on a buyers loan can be significant and people put off the thought about moving to a larger or new home. This coupled with the general cost of living increases and world events such as the Ukranian war and the recent conflict in Israel has created a nervousness which affects peoples decisions.
We have seen higher numbers of properties being placed on the market with many people waiting to downsize and reduce the size of their mortgage, or even become mortgage free and what we are now seeing is that to attract interest, people are reducing their asking prices after a short period of time after placing their home for sale.
However, we are still seeing good buying activity from first time buyers who want to purchase their own home so they don’t have to live with parents or rent a property which has seen a significant cost of renting. This lower end activity which includes properties up to £300,000 will hopefully encourage second and third time buyers to move up the property ladder and purchase a larger home.
It will be interesting to see what happens to house sale numbers during the early part of 2024.