9:26 AM, 20th January 2025, About 4 hours ago
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The average price of property coming to market in the UK has risen by 1.7% this month to £366,189, the largest jump at the start of the year since 2020, Rightmove has revealed.
This increase follows a record number of early-bird sellers entering the market since Boxing Day, offering buyers the highest level of choice since 2015.
The number of new properties is 11% ahead of the same period last year, while buyer enquiries and sales agreed are also up by 9% and 11%, respectively.
Rightmove has recorded its busiest start to a year for Mortgage in Principle applications, indicating strong buyer intent.
The platform’s property expert, Colleen Babcock, said: “New sellers have started the year with a bang, with a record number coming to market not only on Boxing Day itself, but across the start of the year to date.
“We’ve also seen a strong start to the year in new seller asking prices, though given the higher-than-anticipated seller competition, we would expect this to slow down over the next few months.”
She added: “The record number of sellers we’re seeing is a double-edged sword.
“It’s encouraging to see so many sellers with the confidence to come to market, providing buyers with fresh choice.”
Ms Babcock says sellers will need to work even harder to stand out from the crowd and attract a buyer.
Despite this promising start, uncertainties remain with Rightmove saying that mortgage rates remain ‘sticky’, with the average five-year fixed rate at 4.75%, limiting affordability for many buyers.
The impact of the stamp duty deadline on March 31st and the pace of future interest rate drops also pose challenges, the platform warns.
Rightmove is now forecasting 1.15 million transactions this year and an average asking price increase of 4%.
Propertymark’s chief executive, Nathan Emerson, said: “As we progress into the new year, it’s positive to see many of the variables that help power the housing market continue to align.
“We are still seeing regional disparity with regards to overall house price growth, and contributory factors such as inflation settling.
“What we are witnessing is an encouraging uplift in consumer confidence, with an average 10% leap in prospective buyers registering their interest to purchase.
“This, coupled with a desire for many existing transactions to beat any Stamp Duty increases across England and Northern Ireland before April, has opened the year with pace.”
Tom Bill, the head of UK residential research at Knight Frank, said: “Demand is likely to come under pressure in coming months as the impact of higher borrowing costs feeds through to mortgages.
“In addition to the pace of Bank of England rate cuts, what happens on bond markets in the early weeks of Donald Trump’s Presidency will have a fairly direct bearing on UK house prices this year.”
Jeremy Leaf, a north London estate agent and a former RICS residential chairman, said: “There is one thing that is more highly priced than any other when it comes to buying a home – and that’s stability.
“Stability generates confidence to take on longer-term debt and move home.
“Demand remains strong but worries persist, not so much about the likelihood of a reduction in interest rates but the pace of their decline, as well as Budget implications for the jobs market later this year.
“As a result, some buyers are pressing the pause button, especially as there is so much more choice of property evidenced in these figures.”
Tomer Aboody, a director of specialist lender MT Finance, said: “With a confident start to 2025 bringing more sellers to the market, we are seeing really good levels of activity which is encouraging.
“Of course, the flip side of more choice for buyers will ultimately mean either lower property pricing as the market shifts to the buyers’ side or sellers withdrawing due to lack of interest and not wanting to taint their property by having it languish on the market for an extended period of time.
“With stamp duty changes looming, a big push in the first quarter is likely as uncertainty may creep in. The question is whether we will see banks being more bullish with their mortgage pricing in order to entice buyers. If they are, this could definitely help maintain the early signs of confidence.”
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