Residential Property Review – January 2025

What to expect in 2025… Property experts Savills are hopeful that 2025 will be a positive year for the housing market, despite some challenges. The average house price is expected to increase by 4% over the course of this year, partly due to improved mortgage affordability restoring confidence among potential buyers. In 2024, performance in London was better than expected; Read More

Economic Review – December 2024

Headline inflation at eight-month high Release of the latest inflation statistics showed consumer prices are now rising at their fastest rate since March 2024, while last month also saw Bank of England (BoE) policymakers become more divided over the need to cut interest rates. Data published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) 12-month Read More

Residential Property Review – December 2024

Property market trends in 2024 As we approach the new year, Zoopla has highlighted trends in the UK property market in 2024. It is expected that, by the end of the year, there will have been 1.1 million sales completed – 10% more than last year. Meanwhile, January was the busiest month for visitors to the Zoopla site, followed by Read More

Economic Review – November 2024

Interest rates set to fall more gradually Last month, the Bank of England (BoE) cut interest rates for only the second time since 2020 but also warned future reductions were likely to be more gradual due to the prospect of inflation creeping higher next year. Following its latest meeting, which concluded on 6 November, the BoE’s nine-member Monetary Policy Committee Read More

Residential Property Review – November 2024

Budget caused uncertainty in the market There was some uncertainty within the housing market ahead of the Autumn Budget at the end of October, which was reflected in muted consumer activity. House price growth slowed ahead of the first Labour Budget in 14 years according to Savills. Mortgage rates rose slightly at the end of October as lenders repriced their Read More

Economic Review – October 2024

Economy set for short term Budget boost New economic projections produced by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) suggest the Labour administration’s first Budget will provide only a ‘temporary boost’ to UK economic output.  Chancellor Rachel Reeves revealed the independent fiscal watchdog’s latest forecast during her Autumn Budget delivered to the House of Commons on 30 October. The updated figures Read More

Residential Property Review – October 2024

Improving conditions in the residential market Activity in the residential property market is picking up as house prices continue to show modest growth, according to Savills.   In August, mortgage approvals were only 3% below pre-pandemic levels. In September, sales agreed and new instructions were 8% and 9% above their respective 2017-2019 averages, highlighting that supply and demand are growing Read More