Home sales to rebound?

I think consumers are playing the long game and waiting to see how the rest of the year pans out. The last meeting of the Bank of England in December will set the precedence for 2024 and the condition of the marker overall. If there is an element of stability with the base rate remaining as it is, I think consumer confidence will increase, resulting in a boost in house sales.

But only time will tell....

I think a lot of confidence has returned to potential movers as mortgage rates can now be secured on a rate 'starting with a 4'. For many borrowers, and especially anyone who has had a mortgage in the last 10 years (+) probably had a rate that started with a 1. So to then be quoted a product that is 5.something has been quite a shock to the system.
So while more of a psychological barrier, we have seen clients quite bolstered by being offered a sub 5% mortgage rate. Moreover, I think it is more that we seem to be over the peak of this mortgage pricing cycle. When movers were told in the last 12 months - the best rate you can get is 3.something, then 4.something and finally 5.something - the rate rises seemed endless so more people were inclined to wait/stay where they are. As mortgage rates are now decreasing, many movers now aren't afraid that their mortgage won't be unaffordable when they come to refinance in 2-5 years.

Consumer confidence is expected to return towards the end of this year and going into next year. The dream of home ownership has not gone away and many clients have been saving towards their deposit for years. It is understandable that many consumers are waiting for lower interest rates before proceeding, and when these new deals start to filter through i am confident of a busy period for the housing market.

Predictions are wrong or lucky and in this case, optimistic. We have a tough few months coming up and although markets seem to have calmed down, confidence is still some way off. Trying to guess the next twelve months property market is like threading a needle sitting on a bucking bull. People want to buy homes, but, they also want confidence they can afford the payments. We are some way off seeing the impact of rate rises filtering through house prices. But, my view is no more reliable than DeVere Group's.

Like many financial markets, the main driver behind the property market is confidence. With the increases in mortgage rates and reports of house price falls over the previous months, confidence has been sadly lacking and that's therefore translated to market activity. However, now that we are seeing more positive economic news, mortgage rates are falling, the Bank of England has held its base rate and the predicted property crash hasn't occurred, confidence is returning and so people are returning to their plans to buy, move, or extend, resulting in an increase in activity in both the property and mortgage markets.

I think house sales will recover slightly early next year, but I doubt they'll recover to anywhere near 2022 transaction levels. Mortgage rates are unlikely to fall below 4.% for at least a year, if at all, and with house prices falling, many people will be sitting tight for a good while yet.

After consulting with local property experts, it's clear that the lower end of the market is thriving and significantly contributing to sales figures. Additionally, the recent stability in interest rates has bolstered client confidence in making their purchases. Indeed, there's a limit to how long one can postpone such decisions.

Its similar to after lockdown, people are waiting and waiting for the perfect time, but then demand gets so pent up that they will begin house hunting as soon as they feel the market improves and there is some stability, which we are now beginning to see already.
We are seeing an increase in enquiries from first time buyers who are beginning to do the initial ground work before they look at buying, working out affordability with a plan to start buying in the next few months.market seems to have turned a corner now that we have crested the wave of interest rates and they are on a slow but steady decrease at the moment, giving people much needed certainty for the future. with builders building less new builds its creating a further reduction in supply, something that was already failing to meet demand, couple this with pretty stagnant activity in the last 12 months and finally some stability and all the signs are pointing to the dam finally bursting and people looking to move again.